Tutorials in Introductory Physics: Homework

I am a student at the University of Washington, where the tutorial books were developed. Most students naturally have common-sense misconceptions or difficulties in certain areas of introductory physics and the tutorial exercises are specifically designed to focus on these problem areas. They often guide the student by starting out with a simple physical situation and asking the student to predict what will happen, which exposes what biases/beliefs the student already holds. Then, the rest of the tutorial reveals whether these beliefs are mistaken or accurate and why. The tutorial homework provides an opportunity to practice what was learned in the tutorial class-work and solidifies the student's understanding of the material. The questions are extremely clear, well-written, and unambiguous, in large part because the Physics Education Group constantly revises the tutorials based on how the students respond. They are usually simple and relatively easy if you know what you are doing; the goal of the tutorials is not to be "busy work" but to make sure students truly understand the topic. They are mostly conceptual and qualitative rather than calculation-driven. Another reviewer said that the tutorials were extremely challenging because there was no textbook to refer to. The thing is, the tutorials aren't meant to stand alone. At the UW, there are three components to the introductory physics courses: lecture, lab, and tutorial. Lecture involves a heavy, "official" physics textbook. Students are supposed to learn the basic material from the textbook, and use the tutorials as a supplementary way to explore the topics and to make sure they really understand the "dry" reading in the textbook. The tutorial books are also definitely not supposed to guide labs, so I'm not surprised the reviewer found them hard to use. Another important component of tutorials is that the class has about 24 students working in groups of 4. Then there are 2 tutorial instructors per class specifically trained in guiding the students through the work. They are an integral part of the tutorial system, because they are really familiar with the tutorial and are able to talk you through any issue you don't understand. They also help you see the significance of the tutorial. Tutorial class-work isn't meant to be solitary, with one student just trying to flounder their way through the stuff. In all, the tutorial books are excellent, but they have to be used in the right context. They are really meant to be a supplementary part of the educational process, not a substitute for the textbook. Also, I doubt the books would be as effective without the class structure/tutorial instructors they are used with; they have to be fully integrated into the curriculum for their potential to be realized.

I used this book as a junior-year physics major, while I coached (kinda like TA'd) for the introductory calculus-based mechanics course. Although I'd taken this course myself two years before, I found this book enormously helpful for review, and the students also seemed to learn very well from it, too. It doesn't give you or ask for the answers right away, but leads you through your own intuition to find the correct answer as well as the correct ways of thinking. I wish they had similar books for more advanced courses like quantum mechanics!

These books are a GREAT tool for any physics teacher! It is true that they are very challenging, and sometimes not very pleasurable for the students as they are working through the tutorials, but the reward in the end IS worth it! It is very apparent that the physics education research team at UW spent many semesters putting together these sets of tutorials. I have seen my students retain earlier concepts much better after using the tutorials. This is a must have in any college physics class.Just a warning... these tutorials are ment to be performed in small groups, and typically need a lot of guidence from an instructor or a lab aid. In a class of 24 studnets, there should be at least 2 "instructors" or an instructor or and a helper that can guide groups through the process.