Table of contents

The emphasis is on the multi-terminal computing system as a valuable educational resource which will permit individualized instruction to be given to students. A brief account given of the hardware and software requirements for a computer-based learning system and a short review of computer-based methods are given. An account of some of the work in progress at Leeds University with special reference to the physical sciences is given.

Any article on the educational uses of computers must seek to answer two major questions. Firstly, why should computers enter the educational scene, and, secondly, just how can they be effectively employed in this context. Brief answers are provided to both these questions, and the enormous range of applications of the computer in education is indicated, with particular emphasis on physics. More specialized treatments are to be found in the recommended documents.

The choice of topics for the lectures is discussed and the lecture material itself is considered in somewhat greater depth. The computer projects and the general organization of the course are considered.

Digital computing facilities are now available in many schools, usually under the auspices of the mathematics department. Science teachers are now engaged in finding ways in which they can make use of a computer in their disciplines. The authors discuss some of the ideas they have tried, which can be used in an A level physics course.

The original experimental arrangement of Nernst involved the introduction of helium gas as a conducting path by which the specimen would rapidly reach the temperature required for the next measurement of STC. Then the gas was pumped away to leave the specimen in vacuo. Some changes in the experiment are described which make it possible to do without the quite elaborate pumping equipment formerly necessary. This results in a loss of precision but this is not important if the experiment is to be used as a laboratory exercise and an aid to teaching.

The penetration of computing techniques into current physics research is indicated by describing in some detail the uses of computers in high energy physics.