The concepts taught in Laser Electro-Optical Technology (LEOT) programs are obscured by the difficulty the students have with the mathematical computations. No work has been conducted to identify conceptual difficulties in the LEOT area nor to devise practical approaches to overcoming them. It is quite evident that they must exist and that they limit the student's understanding of the material. The combination of these problems produces laser technicians that do not have the most complete education that could be available, given the resources and time available. In this program, Oregon Laser Consultants will study ways in which computer-based ray trace programs and spread sheets can be incorporated into the current LEOT curricula to model the concepts that cause these difficulties.The potential commercial application as described by the awardee: The results of this research will allow Oregon Laser Consultants to develop computer-based lessons dealing with the conceptual difficulties that students have in optics and laser. These materials will be designed for use in technology programs as well as conventional physics, optics, and optical engineering programs. Students using these programs will spend less time mastering these difficult topics.
