Written by senior Physics teachers, the AS/A2 Level Physics interactive CD-ROM is suitable for all examining boards and has been designed to help A level student revise coursework and prepare for end of year examinations. The opening menu--your only options are the Revision Notes and Exam Questions buttons--is a good indicator of how focused the product is, and once you've clicked on your choice you can follow the AS or A2 level curriculum depending on where you are in the course. The A2 module for example, includes sections on astrophysics, fields, oscillations and waves, as well as quantum effects and relativity. Clicking on any of the main headings takes you straight into a scrollable list of all the subjects covered in the chapter, which allows you to work your way through systematically or jump from topic to topic as necessary. In terms of text, it's cleverly reduced to short paragraphs and bullet points (remember this is for revision, so things are best kept short) lavishly illustrated with diagrams and other supporting visual material. You can print out sections of the revision notes or search for a particular word by clicking the magnifying glass icon.
The exam papers are a cross section of genuine questions set by different examining boards over the last few years and as such are extremely useful to practice on. The best way to "sit" them is to print out the question and then write the answer in the space provided. When you've finished, go back to the program and click the "eye" button and you'll see the examiner's answer.
One last point. The program authors point out that "While every effort has been made to place each topic in its appropriate AS or A2 category, different boards have, on occasions, placed topics in different modules and year groups". In other words, if you can't find something where you expect it to be, use the search tool and you'll probably find it.
The use of multimedia is a bit disappointing, but elsewhere there's evidence of considerable care and most particularly, focus on providing an efficient aid to revision and some good exam practice for those who need to know the difference between their quarks and their antiquarks. --Rob Beattie
