Development of an Interactive Learning Environment for Introductory Physics in Engineering

We present the development of the project “Física Interactiva” (Interactive Physics) that addresses the special needs of students that enter at a Polytechnic University with a deficient background in Physics. The project tries to make an interactive tool available to the students through a web site. We choose Moodle as the Course Management System due to its cooperative philosophy and its open-source and free development model. The emphasis is put on fundamental concepts of first year Physics: vector character of magnitudes, point mechanics, electric and magnetic fields. Interactive materials (developed as Flash animations) are conceived to reinforce concepts through critical thinking and active enrolment. We discuss our experience developing these materials, with the pros and cons of the tools chosen, and preliminary results of the use of the site with students at our University. Key-Words: e-learning, b-learning, Teaching Physics, Moodle CMS, Flash animations