The continued use of procedural languages in education is due, in part, to the lack of up-to-date curricular materials that combine science topics with an object-oriented programming framework. Although there are many resources for teaching computational physics, few are object-oriented. What is needed by the broader science education community is not another computational physics, numerical analysis, or Java programming book (although such books are essential for discipline-specific practitioners), but a synthesis of curriculum development, computational physics, computer science, and physics education that will be useful for scientists and students wishing to write their own simulations and develop their own curricular material. The Open Source Physics (OSP) project was established to meet this need. OSP is an NSF-funded curriculum development project that is developing and distributing a code library, programs, and examples of computer-based interactive curricular material.
You are free to use Open Source Physics source code or compiled programs consistent with the GNU GPL license, but please note that the narratives of books and manuals associated with OSP code are usually copyrighted by their respective authors and/or publishers. Source code for Open Source Physics programs is available from the OSP Developer website.
The Open Source Physics project is supported in part by the National Science Foundation grants DUE-0126439 and DUE-0442481. These grants have helped us to write books, to provide workshops at professional meetings, and to develop Open Source Physics curricular materials for distribution on the Internet.
Davidson College has supported the Open Source Physics project in many ways, including the hosting of the Open Source Physics Web server. The Open Source Physics project would not be possible without this generous support.