Understanding Physics
“Effective student learning comes from ‘brains-on’ activities—those times when students are thinking hard and struggling to make sense of what they are learning. Effective instruction happens when teachers create environments in which students are encouraged and helped to engage in those kind of activities.”—JOE REDISH, Teaching PhysicsUnderstanding Physics,by Cumming, Laws, Redish, and Cooney, is designed to support this type of instruction and this type of learning. Built on the foundations of Halliday, Resnick, and Walker’sFundamentals of Physics 6e,this text is designed to work with learning strategies such as microcomputer-based labs and interactive lectures that are increasingly being used in physics instruction. In doing so, it incorporates new approaches based upon Physics Education Research (PER), aligns with courses that use computer-based laboratory tools, and supports Activity-Based Physics in lectures, labs, and recitations.A set of related materials collectively known asThe Physics Suiteis available to support active learning in both the lecture and the lab.