Students take data and analyze it just as they would in a real lab. Using the CD-ROM reduces the problems of the cost and difficulty of setting up physics lab equipment. The PC also does many things that no other medium can do. Sometimes it's like a textbook where everything moves. If a pendulum is supposed to swing, it swings.
Live labs are more the rule in the second part of the course.
The equipment involved in studying these topics is less expensive, less prone to problem and easier to set up. Students spend the rest of their class time working together on problem solving and taking tests. Tests are given as we go, rather than all at once at the end of a chapter. A typical test might take 5-10 minutes. First of all there is no schedule.