Physics with "Fizz"

"I created St. Mary's Physics Online to better serve the educational needs of my eleventh grade students," physics teacher Tony Mangiacapre told Education World. "My goal was to make everything on the Web site very practical. I wanted it to be useful, highly organized, and to load quickly."

To achieve those goals, Mangiacapre posts handouts for Labs; weekly Handouts and Agendas; test and quiz tip sheets, with links to Web sites with practice questions and tutorials; links to outside Web resources on various physics topics; links to interactive physics Web sites; physics animations; and current grades and cumulative averages. He also publishes his schedule, so students know when they may arrange meetings to discuss course work.

"The Web site allows parents to become more informed about day-to-day classroom activities by giving them access to grades, weekly agendas, and my e-mail address," Mangiacapre reported. "It provides a forum for online student discussions and activities, and it is an outlet for publishing student work."

Mangiacapre suggests that there is little on his site that could not be modified and applied to other subject areas. He feels that the links to interactive Web sites in the Java Homework section and the interactive Crossword Puzzles created by his students are of particular interest to visitors.

"I especially like the Student Web Pages section," said Mangiacapre. "My favorite Web site in this section is a site called A Day Without Magnetism and the story Magnaville P.I. by Aarti G."

The creative online work of Mangiacapre and his students has received great feedback from students and parents. Two students are currently developing self-grading online quizzes that will help kids identify their weak areas in physics study.

Article by Cara Bafile
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