A MULTIMEDIA TUTORIAL FOR CHARGED-PARTICLE BEAM DYNAMICS

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AN INTERACTIVE MULTIMEDIA COURSE IN THE PHYSICS OF CHARGED-PARTICLE BEAMS. THE LEVEL OF PRESENTATION CAN BE TAILORED INTERACTIVELY TO THE KNOWLEDGE AND ABILITY LEVEL OF THE INDIVIDUAL PUPIL, MUCH AS THE SKILL LEVEL OF A VIDEO GAME CAN BE CHOSEN. THE STUDENT WILL INTERACT STRONGLY WITH THE TEACHING PROGRAM, AT HIS OR HER OWN PACE. THE TARGET MARKET INCLUDES HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE STUDENTS (E.G. ADVANCED PLACEMENT PHYSICS STUDENTS), COLLEGE SCIENCE STUDENTS, GRADUATE STUDENTS, AND NON-EXPERT SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS INTERESTED IN THE DETAILS OF ACCELERATORS AND CHARGED-PARTICLE BEAMS. IN PHASE I, IN ADDITION TO DEVELOPING SEVERAL SAMPLE LEARNING MODULES, THE FEASIBILITY OF LINKING TOGETHER ALL THE ELEMENTS OF THE MULTIMEDIA TUTORIAL WILL BE EXPLORED. THE BEST WAY OF BRANCHING BETWEEN DIFFERENT SKILL LEVELS OF EXPOSITION AND MAKING EFFECTIVE TRANSITIONS BETWEEN TEXTUAL DISPLAYS, GRAPHICAL DISPLAYS, AND VIDEOS, POSSIBLY WITH ACCOMPANYING SOUND WILL HAVE TO BE DETERMINED. THE INNOVATIVE ASPECT OF THE DEVELOPMENT IS TO LEARN HOW TO INTEGRATE A NUMBER OF INTERACTIVE, MULTIMEDIA TOOLS FOR THE EFFICIENT TEACHING OF CHARGED-PARTICLE DYNAMICS. THE EVENTUAL PRODUCT RESULTING FROM THIS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT WILL BE A COMPUTER TUTORIAL THAT RUNS ON MICROSOFT WINDOWS PERSONAL COMPUTERS. THE COURSE WOULD BE DELIVERED ON A CD-ROM DISK, TOGETHER WITH ASSOCIATED STUDENT WORKBOOKS AND A TEACHER'S MANUAL. THE FINAL PRODUCT WOULD BE SOLD TO EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS AND INDIVIDUALS AT A COST SMALL ENOUGH ($500 OR LESS) TO ALLOW FOR A LARGE VOLUME OF SALES. TOWARD THE END OF PHASE I PRELIMINARY MEETINGS WITH POTENTIAL PUBLISHERS OF THIS SOFTWARE WILL BE HELD.