Lat. Am. J. Phys. Educ. Vol. 6, Suppl. I, August 2012 226 http://www.lajpe.org An experience in learning in an open and online course on computational Physics at under- graduate level Carlos Lizárraga Celaya, Sara Lorelí Díaz Martínez Departamento de Física, Universidad de Sonora, Blvd. Luis Encinas y Rosales s/n, Col. Centro, Hermosillo Sonora, 83000 México. E-mail: clizarraga@gmail.com (Received 8 August 2011, accepted 15 October 2011) Abstract This work describes the experience of developing an undergraduate learner-centered course in the program in Physics at the University of Sonora (Mexico), in the context of an open social learning environment, supported by Web 2.0 tools, open educational resources and free and open source software. The course focuses in developing skills in the use of scientific software tools and programming environments used in real life scientific computing. Simultaneously, it promotes the development of transverse skills such as reading in a foreign language, writing scientific papers, collaborative work, time management and self directed learning. The course topics in Computational Physics are used to situate learning in subjects that students already know and are familiar from previous courses, but with a higher level of complexity, which can be studied using appropriate computational tools that enables a more in-depth knowledge, easing answers to new derived questions in a specific physical phenomenon. As a result of these experiences, students that have passed the course, not only acknowledge that they have achieved a higher level knowledge about certain Physics topics, but in addition, they began to develop a working methodology and have experienced a change in attitude towards meeting new challenges as those presented in the course. Keywords: Computational physics, situated learning, blended learning, open learning environments, open educational resources. Resumen Se presenta la experiencia de un curso de la Licenciatura en Física de la Universidad de Sonora, en modalidad híbrida, centrado en el aprendiz y ubicado en un entorno social de aprendizaje abierto, apoyado por herramientas de la web 2.0 gratuitas en línea, con recursos educativos abiertos y software libre. El curso se orienta al desarrollo de habilidades en el manejo de herramientas y ambientes de programación que se utilizan en entornos reales de investigación apoyada en cómputo científico. En paralelo, se generan habilidades transversales tales como lectura en un segundo idioma, redacción de documentos científicos, trabajo colaborativo, administración del tiempo y autogestión del aprendizaje. Los temas del curso de Física Computacional dan la pauta para situar el aprendizaje en temas asimilados por los estudiantes en asignaturas previas, pero con un nivel de complejidad mayor, y apoyarse en herramientas computacionales que, en conjunto, permiten profundizar y responder preguntas sobre un determinado aspecto de un fenómeno físico. Como resultado de esta experiencia, los estudiantes además de aprobar su curso y profundizar en sus conocimientos disciplinares, expresaron haber desarrollado una nueva metodología de trabajo y un cambio de actitud ante los retos presentados durante el curso. Palabras clave: Física computacional, aprendizaje situado, aprendizaje mezclado, ambientes de aprendizaje abiertos, recursos educativos abiertos. PACS: 01.40.-d, 01.40.Ha, 01.40.gb ISSN 1870-9095 I. INTRODUCTION The Computational Physics Course (CPC) was designed for intermediate university students. Taking into account their age and maturity level, we consider the 6 principles of andragogy or adult education theory developed by Malcom Knowles [1]:  Adults need to know the reason for which they must to learn something (Need to know).  Experience (including mistakes), provides the basis for all learning activities (Foundation).  Adults need to be responsible for their education decisions; getting involved in planning and evaluating their learning (Self concept).