Distance learning laboratory: a remote atomic and nuclear physics experiment

While it is clear that on-line education offers new opportunities for students to study in a way that suits their particular learning style, there are laboratory-based disciplines that require hands-on experience with real world systems. This is especially true in Physics where a standard curriculum involves a large amount of laboratory-based work. While computer-based simulation software has been used extensively in engineering and various science-based areas these are not a direct substitute for traditional Physics experimental labs which provide students with the practical skills of handling real equipment, and measuring with sufficient accuracy and precision to allow comparison with various theoretical predictions. On-line laboratories where distance students have remote control over real laboratory equipment is a practical alternative to traditional physics laboratories, at least for some classes of experiments. This paper describes the development of a remote-controlled Cosmic Ray Telescope experiment at the University of Newcastle.