  Even though there has been a tremendous amount of research done in how to
help students learn physics, students are still coming away missing a crucial
piece of the puzzle: why bother with physics? Students learn fundamental laws
and how to calculate, but come out of a general physics course without a deep
understanding of how physics has transformed the world around them. In other
words, they get the "how" but not the "why". Studies have shown that students
leave introductory physics courses almost universally with decreased
expectations and with a more negative attitude. This paper will detail an
experiment to address this problem: a course weblog or "blog" which discusses
real-world applications of physics and engages students in discussion and
thinking outside of class. Specifically, students' attitudes towards the value
of physics and its applicability to the real-world were probed using a
26-question Likert scale survey over the course of four semesters in an
introductory physics course at a comprehensive Jesuit university. We found that
students who did not participate in the blog study generally exhibited a
deterioration in attitude towards physics as seen previously. However, students
who read, commented, and were involved with the blog maintained their initially
positive attitudes towards physics. Student response to the blog was
overwhelmingly positive, with students claiming that the blog made the things
we studied in the classroom come alive for them and seem much more relevant.

Physics Education