A new concept in physics laboratory instruction is described in which the experiments are available to the student in much the same fashion as books in a library. The general nature of the experiments is explained and the philosophy underlying the use of the laboratory for instruction is discussed.
Present demands, which result from the growth of physics in content and depth, will be satisfied only if we use our teaching time more effectively. The movement of material previously taught in graduate school into the undergraduate curriculum can be allowed for if we take full advantage of improved preparation in the high schools, particularly in mathematics. It is suggested that intermediate courses might be organized about problems that are connected by common principles and methods, rather than about the particular “quasi-sensory” groups of phenomena that have determined the subject matter in the past, and that stronger emphasis be placed on physical content, rather than mathematical manipulation.
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