The World of Physics

Reviewers: Paula Setters and Michelle Gaydik
LaRue County High School.
Mrs. Setters teaches Physics (Intro. and AP) and Intro. to Chemistry & Physics
Mrs. Gaydik is a teacher of Special Education.
Email: psetters@kvnet.org

The World of Physics
Intellectum Plus, Inc., June, 1997
http://www.intellectum.ca
Available only for PCs
$199 for the School Version in the U.S.
Evaluated on a Digital computer at several sittings during the month of February, 1998.
Rating: 9 on a scale of 1 to 10, Way Cool.

Several features of the software were seen to be helpful to students as they progress through the module. These included a glossary, both an abstract and a real depiction of the problem set up (the student can choose which one is viewed), an animated self-running tutorial with sound, and a method of choosing which part of the module and which problem would be displayed. Students are given the choice of letting the program choose the next problem as well as being able to choose for themselves.

When the computer selects the problem, the student will always be given the main problem for the concept under study. If the student correctly answers all the questions in the main problem, the next problem the computer chooses will be the main problem from the next concept or level. Both verbal and visual positive reinforcement is given to the student who performs well. If the student does not choose the correct answer for a problem the program provides helpful hints upon request and the student is encouraged to try again. Suggestions are made about ideas to review, etc. If the student has difficulty with any questions from the main problem, the computer will present more problems dealing with the same concept. The program includes a graphic representation of this sequence, called the KnowledgeEntity, Tree, which can be used to select the starting concept as well as the problem. Students who are visual learners may benefit from this graphic, while the linguistic and mathematical/logical learners may prefer the standard listing of the problems.

There are several features of the program that are designed to help the student as she/he progresses through the module. A calculator and notepad are available within the program. A summary of the problem input and output is available and can be printed out to use as a study guide. The animated tutorials that were accessed were determined to be very helpful for the student. The audio was presented in a very pleasing voice with good enunciation. The animation was coordinated well with the discussion to help the student understand the concept(s) presented. The student can access information about the minimum math and the formulas that are needed to work with the problem as well as a glossary to help with vocabulary. The glossary was found to be a possible problem source for students with learning disabilities because the terminology used is not very basic. The teacher might want to prepare a notebook to supplement the glossary for these students.

Mrs. Setters feels the software will be very helpful in both a tutorial mode and a primary instruction mode. Students in the Introduction to Chemistry & Physics class work in pairs in modules while the teacher acts as a facilitator. It is felt that this software would be appropriate for all the students who would be in such a class, including those with learning disabilities. Students with learning disabilities severe enough to keep them from being placed in the regular science classroom would probably not function well with the software, however. Mrs. Gaydik pointed out that the number of open windows on the screen could be visually frustrating for students with a visual-motor impairment because they might be unable to concentrate as a result of too much information at once. The reviewers were unable to find a way to close any of the windows while keeping only one or two open at a time.

The reviewers can recommend this software for use in the science curriculum at the high school level, with the reservations noted above dealing with students in a resource setting.

Editor's Note 1: The reviewers had difficulty accessing some features of the software. They sent an Email to the Intellectum support service at their Web site, but didn't reeive a response. It turned out that Intellectum did try to respond, but their Email was returned due to some kind of addressing error.

Editor's Note 2: When we first received this software, my inclination was to say it wouldn't be appropriate for youngster's with disabilities. The President of Intellectum Plus indicated that he thought it contained features that would make it appropriate for many youngsters with learning difficulties. This review seems to indicate he was correct and that I was going by an unfortunate stereotype.

Return to ConnSENSE Bulletin