How about a science textbook that weighs nothing, can be updated overnight, and lets you do your lab assignments in your dorm room? Mike Ruiz, a UNC Asheville physics professor, has developed interactive e-texts that do all these things and more. And students love them.

Michael J. Ruiz

Links of Interest Next@CNN UNCA Home Page Ruiz's Biography Sample E-Text

You can take a look at e-texts in action on August 31 and September 1, when Ruiz and his students will be featured in a story airing on Next@CNN, the network's science and technology show. Next@CNN airs at 1 p.m. Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays. 

"I really like the interactivity," said Natalie Morris, a student in Ruiz's astronomy class, as she sat in front of her computer in her dorm room working on her first homework assignment. "I don't have to carry a heavy book around and when I have an extra hour between classes, I can stop at any computer lab on campus and do my homework."

Homework is one of the intriguing aspects of Ruiz's e-texts, which he has created for three courses -- astronomy, the physics of light, and the physics of sound and music. Because courses are designed for students who are not planning to major in science, they focus on how science relates to other fields, such as history and art, as well as science fundamentals.

Weekly homework assignments are online and interactive. When students finish their assignment, they learn within seconds if their answers are right. If an answer is wrong, many students turn to the online discussion forum for their class. Even at 3 a.m., students usually can find help from classmates. And since each student's homework assignment differs slightly, they aren't passing answers but engaging in collaborative learning.

"Research shows students learn more with collaborative learning," said Ruiz. "Often, in science classes, it's difficult to get a discussion going because the material is factual and students are more reserved. But we've found with the discussion forum that there are hundreds of postings and a level of discussion that exceeds the classroom. It's a very positive learning environment."

There are plenty of features packed into the e-texts besides the text itself and homework. Students can access study guides, videos of science demonstrations, pronunciation guides for the stars (click and hear), an extensive gallery of color photos taken in space, and check their grades. There are soundbites from Einstein and demonstrations of harmony using jazz and classical music clips. Students can also do their lab work at any hour, with many logging in well past midnight.

"Some students are at their best at 2 a.m., and this allows them to work at their best hour," Ruiz said. "The lab assignments are not simulations, they are real labs. In the sound labs, students experiment with different sound wave forms and how sounds mix to study the sound spectrum. If they were in a lab, they'd be moving knobs, but with online labs, they use a mouse."

The e-texts have an immediacy that many books can lack. Science news, whether it's a major discovery or a new Hubble photo, can be incorporated in just a few minutes. Ruiz can make those changes because he's not just the author of his e-texts, he developed the course management system software that supports them.

This was no minor undertaking. Beginning in the 1980s, Ruiz, who at one time taught computer science at UNCA along with physics, was seeking new ways to engage his students in the learning process. He amassed hundreds of astronomy photos, developed intriguing classroom demonstrations and, in the 1990s, began developing software for online labs. He continued to work through the decade, aided by funding for equipment from UNCA's Special Academic Programs, the University of North Carolina's Office of the President, the Cisco Learning Institute, and a six-month sabbatical. Ruiz's son Evan, now computer science major at Carnegie-Mellon University, signed on as a co-designer, a role he continues to play today.

Ruiz believes he has only tapped the beginning of e-text utility. "We are in an exciting time, like when the printing press was invented. Rich multimedia e-texts with their incredible learning potential are the wave of the future. Just wait until you see what's coming next," he said.

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Mike Ruiz, UNCA Physics Department, 828/232-2281
• Merianne Epstein, UNCA Public Information Director, 828/251-6676