The development of an Internet-based learning environment to support physics teaching/learning outdoors

Abstract

The overall aim of this project was to contribute to making the study of physics in teacher education more effective, interesting and more attractive to women student, by developing an activity- and inquiry-based outdoor education approach supported by a web portal http://outdoorphysics.educ.umu.se/. The website has a two-fold function in the project. On the one hand, it is a mediating tool for learning physics, containing suggestions of cases for outdoor activities and interactive computer models and visualisations supporting the understanding of physics. On the other hand, it presents a cumulative result of the project development, containing students and teachers work, ideas and recommendations. It has been developed in the form of a multilingual didactic material so that it can also be used in master courses for international students. This report covers a one-year project supported by the Swedish Council for the Renewal of Higher Education.