Computers in the Physics Curriculum

The use of computers in the physics curriculum has been steadily expanding. The facilities now available to physics educators can be classified as interactive, semi-interactive, or non-interactive, according to the time required for the student to communicate with the computer. Interactive facilities, with times of the order of seconds, make possible educational use of the computer in a variety of modes: as a calculator, simulator, tutor, administrator, or producer of materials. The computer generally, and each mode in particular, is discussed in terms of its relevance to the teaching and learning of physics.