Tutorials In Introductory Physics and Homework Package

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, even for review
Review: I used this book as a junior-year physics major, while I coached (kinda like TA'd) for the introductory calculus-based mechanics course. Although I'd taken this course myself two years before, I found this book enormously helpful for review, and the students also seemed to learn very well from it, too. It doesn't give you or ask for the answers right away, but leads you through your own intuition to find the correct answer as well as the correct ways of thinking. I wish they had similar books for more advanced courses like quantum mechanics!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, even for review
Review: I used this book as a junior-year physics major, while I coached (kinda like TA'd) for the introductory calculus-based mechanics course. Although I'd taken this course myself two years before, I found this book enormously helpful for review, and the students also seemed to learn very well from it, too. It doesn't give you or ask for the answers right away, but leads you through your own intuition to find the correct answer as well as the correct ways of thinking. I wish they had similar books for more advanced courses like quantum mechanics!

Rating:
Summary: VERY challenging...
Review: These are the books I use for my physics lab - I find them very hard/challenging to use. I think the fact that there is no set textbook to refer to makes it difficult. Some of the tutorials & homework are relatively easy and quick, while others are hard and take a long time to complete.

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Learning Tool
Review: These books are a GREAT tool for any physics teacher! It is true that they are very challenging, and sometimes not very pleasurable for the students as they are working through the tutorials, but the reward in the end IS worth it! It is very apparent that the physics education research team at UW spent many semesters putting together these sets of tutorials. I have seen my students retain earlier concepts much better after using the tutorials. This is a must have in any college physics class.
Just a warning... these tutorials are ment to be performed in small groups, and typically need a lot of guidence from an instructor or a lab aid. In a class of 24 studnets, there should be at least 2 "instructors" or an instructor or and a helper that can guide groups through the process.