An introduction and our motivation
One of the primary challenges in physical science and engineering education
is the synthesis of theoretical work presented during standard classroom
lectures with experimental and computational work typically performed
during lab periods. Although the motivation for these laboratories
is to give undergraduate students a "real-world" or "hands-on" experience,
their involvement rarely ventures beyond following a set of pre-ordained
instructions. Indeed, the present separation amongst student, classroom
theory, and experimentation is a far cry from the inquiry-based
style of modern engineering design and research, where models are
developed and validated alongside evolving experiments in an iterative
fashion.
True engineering design and analysis is an exciting enterprise,
and unfortunately many students are not exposed to this environment
until after they have left the university. Moreover, although "smart"
classrooms presently provide a means to bring the internet into
a lecture, many of the real-time data and video stream capabilities
are under-utilized.
With the above concerns in mind, the WEAVE project was initiated
at Duke University in the Summer of 2001 with the goal of utiliing
advanced web-based resources to develop a new paradigm in integrated
instruction. The WEAVE acronym stands for Web-based
Educational framework for Analysis,
Visualization, and Experimentation.
The framework provides a means for physical experiments and accompanying
numerical simulations to be controlled, modified, and visualized
through a common website. Importantly, the continuous remote operability
of the system is designed to enable students to perform experiments
and related analysis on their own schedules and effectively give
each student a front row seat with direct control of the lab.
The WEAVE also provides the means to bring experiments directly into
smart classrooms and into a student's own dorm room.
This facility allows faculty to discuss theoretical models
and their limitations while viewing remotely controlled experiments
of the same processes in real time. The WEAVE allows students to
personally control and carry out their lab exercizes at any time of
day or night, and as many times and
in as many different ways as they would like.
Getting started ...
The WEAVE manages of a set of browser-accessible learning modules.
Each module can have a numerical simulation (i.e., a computer model),
a physical simulation (i.e., an experiment), a tutorial, a live video stream, and a set of survey questions.
In each simulation (numerical or physical),
you may modify the behavior and response of the simulated system by
changing numerical values of a set of variables important to the simumlation.
You should feel encouraged to experiment widely with these values in order to observe their effect on the system behavior.
The tutorials provide detailed guidance on how to interpret your observations.
When running a physical simulation (an experiment), view the live video.
After the experiment finishes the measured data is plotted. You may
zoom-in and change the plotting format. In many numerical simulations you may
view an animation of the result. You may also download your data
for off-line processing.
If you have created your own WEAVE account, you may complete an on-line survey.
To get started now, create your user account and/or login, select
a module, read the tutorial, and run your simulations.
View the live video while your experiment is running.
View animations of your computer model.
Finish up by filling out the survey. Each WEAVE user may complete
a survey once for each module.
Our sponsors and partners in this project are: