RealTime Physics at UCF

RealTime Physics (RTP) is an activity-based laboratory curriculum developed by D. Sokoloff, R. Thornton, and P. Laws which has met with success at other universities and colleges. It was recently been adopted at the University of Central Florida (UCF), a large metropolitan university that is rapidly becoming a major research university. A key question is then if successful physics education practices remain effective in an environment as the one present at UCF. By the completion of the Fall 2008 semester, UCF will have three semesters using RTP in some classes while keeping a traditional format in others. Using a pre and post semester test, as well as student interviews, the preliminary data indicate quite a success at UCF during the initial phase of the project.