摘要:

A few weeks ago, teachers were introduced to a new interactive exhibition near Winchester, ‘Intech’. It was the result of a long and hard campaign spanning many years. In Paris, over 30 years ago the ‘Palais de la Decouverte’ had enticed youngsters to experiment with electricity, mechanics and even relativity with hands-on exhibits. For many years the British science museums have warned ‘Do not touch.’ At last exhibitions such as Intech are starting to spring up, no doubt helped by the growing alarm at the shortage of young students opting for science and engineering specialisations.

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0058

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET

摘要:

Attainment target 1 in the national curriculum for science contains at the highest two levels the requirement for an extended investigation. This is a great delight to those of us who have been arguing for years that investigative modular projects (IMPS) can and should be part of compulsory science. One cheer for the national curriculum! If more time and funding are directed towards the development of appropriate extended projects for schools to use, we shall raise two cheers! This article describes an investigative modular project which taxed the ingenuity of a small team of 15/16 year olds over a period of some 12 months (at lunch times). It was funded by the Standing Conference on School Science and Technology through the Young Engineers Club Scheme.

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0059

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0060

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET

摘要:

Some years ago when the AEB A-level Electronics Systems syllabus was updated, the following work on sampling was introduced:time quantisation, sampling rate and Nyquist criterionamplitude quantisation and resolutionquantisation distortion.This seemed at first sight rather daunting. The sort of material which might appear in second year university courses on communications was to be presented to sixth formers whose maths perhaps stopped at GCSE!

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0061

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET

摘要:

The sine-wave generator is an essential tool for electronics education, indeed it plays a central part in demonstration and experiment. The conventional ‘audio signal generator’ found in most schools and colleges is, however, not always the most convenient instrument to use. How often has a student experiment lost its impact (and caused confusion) through the student having to change frequency range and then to track back across the whole range to start at the beginning, with all sense of continuity lost? And is it not an unwise teacher who puts together a demonstration of, say, resonance, without carefully selecting component values that put the frequency of interest somewhere near the centre of the decade range available for a continuous sweep?

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0062

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET

摘要:

The continuing advances in computer hardware and the consequent capacity to run increasingly sophisticated software packages affect schools as much as they do industry, with precisely the same problems and dilemma when making the selection of equipment. Which is best and what to buy?

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0063

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET

摘要:

Control technology is an exciting new area for many schools and there are many commercial solutions available to solve the two main problems of how to control your motors and how to get your sensors to send suitable signals back to the computer. Just which computer and software to use is another problem. The range of equipment available for PCs for instance is enormous (and so is the cost in many cases!). For most other 16-bit computers there is little available, with the notable exception of the Atari ST (on which this article was written) with the Robokit, although even Apple is waking up to the possibilities of control work with the RESOURCE ‘Beeb-in-a-box’ add-on for the Macintosh.

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0064

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET

摘要:

This is the fifth of a series of articles covering electronics material which is common to A-level physics syllabuses offered by the various examination boards. The articles are aimed at teachers who are not familiar with this area of study. The first two articles dealt with elementary Boolean algebra and logic gates. The third article was written as an introduction to the operational amplifier, while the fourth discussed op. amp. action, negative feedback and the noninverting amplifier system. Copies of these may be obtained from the Editor ofElectronic Systems News. This article derives the working equations for the inverting amplifier system, discusses frequency response, and examines op. amp. action in astable and comparator circuits.

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0065

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET

摘要:

It is now over six years since the launch of Vela and the DTI scheme when 3500 schools purchased Vela for half price. Over 7200 Velas have been sold to secondary and higher education all around the world and there is now a resurgence of interest in the device. This article is a response to recent criticisms levelled at Vela.

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0066

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET

摘要:

There is an increasing awareness amongst teachers, and students alike, of the potential benefits of using microcomputers in the school science laboratory. Ever since the advent of microcomputers with datalogging facilities, conventional experiments are being done in exciting and novel ways. The case for using micros effectively in the class has been well argued by Laurence Rogers.1In this article, the methodology adopted by an A-level student tackling an experiment on the deflection of β particles is analysed to ascertain the likely advantages of automating this experiment.

DOI:10.1049/esn.1989.0067

出版商:IEE    

年代:1989

数据来源: IET