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Our previous work demonstrated that the use of inquiry-based laboratory activities (IBLAs) have helped students develop better understanding of core concepts in mechanics. IBLAs are constructed around brief hands-on-experiments designed so that students can confront common misconceptions. In a predict-observe-explain sequence, these activities prompt students to make sense of a phenomenon as they work collaboratively through a guided worksheet. However, these physical experiments present logistical challenges for many instructors, such as those who teach large classes or those confined to remote instruction due to the COVID 19 pandemic. In this work-in-progress paper, we describe the development of computer simulations for a set of IBLAs in mechanics. These web-based virtual IBLAs contain simulations built with an open-source JavaScript physics engine that has been customized to achieve the accuracy needed. They afford the same pedagogical structure but allow students to observe the salient phenomena on a computer screen, reducing the constraints and limitations for an instructor to deliver them. Students can rapidly adjust input parameters, render the physics engine in slow-motion speeds, and graph real-time parameters from the simulation. Free access to the IBLAs, including simulations, handouts and instructions is available to instructors through the Concept Warehouse. In this we report how we rendered a set of proven IBLAs, including the Spool IBLA, Rolling Cylinders IBLA and Pendulum IBLA into a virtual laboratory environment. We describe student responses to different renderings including video only, simulation only, and combined video and simulation.
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"Instead of gravity pointing down, it's now pointing up": Enhancing physics students' connection between mathematics and mechanism
Digital simulations are especially helpful in physics education, but most simulations provide only a visual- ization of a phenomenon while obscuring the mathematical relationships that model its behavior. Our team is developing a suite of online simulations called DynamicsLab, which combine visual representations with an ability to input and alter the governing physics equations. Here, we share excerpts from a group of clinical interviews, in which intermediate physics students explored the first iterations of a DynamicsLab simulation of a characteristic problem in Classical Mechanics: the bead on a spinning hoop. The students were given predict- observe-explain prompts to investigate the way they connected the mathematical representation to the physical phenomenon. We highlight three episodes in which students had to revise unsuccessful predictions, and how these instances indicate that engaging with the DynamicsLab simulation encouraged the students to draw upon a more diverse range of knowledge elements to support their physical and mathematical reasoning.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2235569
- PAR ID:
- 10568530
- Publisher / Repository:
- American Association of Physics Teachers
- Date Published:
- ISSN:
- 2377-2379
- ISBN:
- 978-1-931024-40-2
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 28 to 33
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Location:
- Boston, MA
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1119/perc.2024.pr.Arnell
