Old Wine in New Bottles: Reengineering the elementary physics sequence at Illinois

Gary Gladding
Department of Physics
University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana

Over the past few years, we have completely revised the calculus-based elementary physics sequence at the University of Illinois. Accepting that we must "educate in bulk" (approximately 2000 students are enrolled in these courses each semester), we have adopted a combination of strategies that include multi-media active lectures, web-based homeworks, and discussion and laboratory sections that feature collaborative learning, all with the intent of actively engaging the students in all aspects of the course. I will describe the main features of this revision, including the changing role of faculty in the program. For more information, consult: http://webug.physics.uiuc.edu/courses.