Bachelor physics lectures on particle physics and astrophysics were
complemented by exercises related to data analysis and data interpretation at
the RWTH Aachen University recently. The students performed these exercises
using the internet platform VISPA, which provides a development environment for
physics data analyses. We describe the platform and its application within the
physics course, and present the results of a student survey. The students
acceptance of the learning project was positive. The level of acceptance was
related to their individual preference for learning with a computer.
Furthermore, students with good programming skills favor working individually,
while students who attribute themselves having low programming abilities favor
working in teams. The students appreciated approaching actual research through
the data analysis tasks.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, for the internet platform VISPA see
http://vispa.physik.rwth-aachen.d
