Physics
Duke University
Students Master Physics Concepts with NeXT and Mathematica
Reproduced with permission from NeXT
Computer, Inc.
A Reference
Guide to NeXT in Higher Education, Fall 1992
ยช
1992 NeXT Computer, Inc
Until NeXT and Mathematica came along, many
students never thought of physics as fun," says Richard
Palmer, professor of physics at Duke University. "With NeXT
machines, they're having a very positive learning
experience."
Since the fall of 1991, Palmer and other members of Duke's
Physics Department have been implementing NeXT technology
and Mathematica in more than 10 courses, including
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Thermal Physics, Modern
Physics, and Solid-State Physics. Students use NeXT
workstations in Duke's Mathematica Lab for Physics
to complete homework assignments, work on research
projects, and review class materials.
"We're all impressed by NeXT's ease of use and its
graphical interface," says Palmer. "I just give students a
handout about the machine and an account on the network,
and they learn how to use the machine themselves. We
couldn't do that in an X-Windows environment."
For his Mathematical Methods in Physical Sciences II
course, Palmer has developed a series of
Mathematica Notebooks on complex algebra,
elementary functions of a complex variable, Legendre
functions, and Bessel functions. The Notebooks include
text, figures, and exercises. Each semester, Palmer
prepares six to eight Notebook assignments and announces
their availability to students via e-mail.
Although Palmer prepares Notebooks for students to work
through, he notes that other instructors prefer to present
students with general instructions for an assignment and
then have them translate the information into the
Mathematica Notebook format themselves. In some
classes-Quantum Mechanics, for example-students are asked
to write their own Notebooks-the best of which are used by
faculty in future classes.
"Pedagogically, NeXT works wonderfully," Palmer says.
"Students are mastering concepts much better with
Mathematica because they're able to play with
hundreds of variations of the equations we give them. Right
away, on the computer, they can tell if their solution
works or not. Plus we're able to give them more realistic
problems. Before, we were faced with finding problems that
were simple enough to solve on the blackboard."
He concludes, "NeXT is without comparison in terms of price
and performance. Because the machines come with bundled
software, we were able to set up our lab at a reasonably
low cost. Macintosh is the only other platform available
that runs Mathematica Notebooks, but it just
doesn't have the performance features of the NeXT."
For more information, please contact:
Richard Palmer
Professor of Physics
Duke University
Durham, NC 27706
(919) 684-8236
palmer@phy.duke.edu