Physlets, small programs that can be embedded into HTML browsers, are being developed at Davidson College in order to deliver media-focused physics problems to students. Although animation can certainly be accomplished using more sophisticated programs, such as Interactive Physics or possibly even QuickTime movies, Physlets are often smaller and can interact with the user using simple scripting languages. Scripting allows a Physlet to be downloaded once and reused for many different types of questions. Physlet-based problems are now being tested at North Carolina State using an on-line web-based homework delivery system. Examples of Physlet problems will be demonstrated and a preliminary assessment of student performance and acceptance will be given.
