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A virtual learning environment (VLE) can be a valuable tool for a physics course that requires significant computer use, is focused on activities and is learner-oriented. The VLE can help computer novices find what they need through a series of computer links programmed using Netscape and HTML language. The homepage containing the links can provide access to homework, applications of current topics, the World Wide Web and in-class activities. An example of a physics course homepage can be found at dp13.phys.psu.edu.

Excellent results were achieved with the Calculator Based Laboratory (CBL) and traditional computer-based probes in a project for teaching physics and math in playgrounds at a workshop organized by the University of Texas, Burlington. The workshop was attended by three math and two physics teachers in July 1994. The student- and program management techniques that were employed by the instructors are discussed.

A microcomputer-based phase-change experiment can be used for university physics students to acquaint them with the use of computers to make measurements that would be tedious if made unaided. Students use a small beaker of Crisco heated in a microwave oven to about 60 degrees Celsius, at which temperature it is liquid. The beaker is clamped beneath a flashlight and above a Vernier light sensor, a photometer. A Vernier standard temperature probe is inserted into the liquid and the photometer and probe are connected through a Vernier universal lab interface (ULI) to a Macintosh computer. Students select data acquisition rates and durations.

Individualized computer problems can be generated for each student in a large introductory physics course by using student ID numbers as the seed to generate numerical parameters. No two problems have identical results, requiring each student to participate. A teacher copy that prints and graphs the results for each ID number can help the grading process. Two examples of this technique are modeling statistical fluctuations with the ID numbers in a random number generator and modeling projectile motion subjected to drag with the ID numbers used for speed, initial height and the drag coefficient.

A valuable introduction to the physics of sound can be performed using a mailing tube with a speaker in one end. Inserting a microphone in the other end will allow physics students to measure the speed of sound in air as well as measuring the frequency of sound and detecting resonances. If a computer is used to record the information, Fourier analysis and sound wave harmonics can also be taught. Experiment procedures and questions are included.