Electronic Modules for Students to Master Hard to Learn Physics Concepts

Electronic Modules for Students to Master Hard to Learn Physics Concepts

Seven modules were developed:

“One Dimensional Motion”
This module helps students to develop the concepts of position, velocity and acceleration. It incorporates several of the video clips produced during years one and two of Phase III. The module can be used in a workstation, a network environment, or DVD player. The DVD comes with: 1) a three-page student handout that includes the purpose of the module; instructions on how to use the DVD (and the other electronic materials); the importance of taking notes, and how to complete the exercises as part of their independent study; 2) a twenty-one page student manual with exercises to assess student learning, and 3) a thirty-page teacher manual with the answers to the exercises included in the student manual.

“Curvilinear Motion”
This module generalizes to two dimensions the concepts developed in the previous module and introduces the acceleration theorem. Velocity and acceleration vectors are analyzed for: uniform circular motion at variable speeds, parabolic motion of projectiles and the oscillatory motion of a pendulum. Cartesian components of velocity and acceleration are studied in several of the above mentioned motions. Also the tangential and normal components of the acceleration relative to the trajectory and the tangential character of the velocity are analyzed. The characteristics of the normal and tangential components of the acceleration of a particle in motion are observed. The module includes a significant number of questions with the corresponding answers. It also includes a manual with the concepts developed in the videos, and an assessment instrument to measure student’s learning.

“Newton Laws”
Several demonstrational experiments are analyzed and conclusions inferred with Newton’s three laws: Galileo’s experiments allowing the induction of the law of inertia, experiments with carts and springs allowing the induction of the relationship between mass, force and acceleration, and the relation between action and reaction forces. The vectorial character of force is analyzed with an experiment of forces in equilibrium and the result generalized to bodies accelerated under the action of several forces. The module includes a manual with the concepts developed in the videos, and an assessment instrument to measure students learning.

“Applications of Newton Laws”
Details related to Newton laws (inertial and gravitational mass, inertia, effect of forces on the value and direction of the velocity, superposition of forces, inertial and non inertial systems) are more precisely shown in this module. The videos include images and animations describing specific situations, with a set of questions included for each situation. The module includes a manual with the concepts developed in the videos, and an assessment instrument to measure students learning.

“Work and Energy”
Kinectic, gravitational potential, elastic potential, and mechanical energies are analyzed from changes in position and motion of several bodies, some of them free and others connected to springs. Conservation of mechanical energy is presented and some predictions are made using this law, that are immediately observe in the videos. The concept of work and its relationship to energy is analyzed; these ideas are seen in the changes of the observed motions. The module includes a manual with the concepts developed in the videos, and an assessment instrument to measure students learning.

“Translational Momentum and Collisions”
Elastic and plastic collisions between objects are analyzed, and a discussion is presented on how the laws of translational momentum conservation and kinetic energy conservation (only for elastic) can be used to predict the velocities of the objects after the collisions. Bi-dimensional collisions of billiard balls are studied and the law of translational momentum conservation applied using components. The module includes a manual with the concepts developed in the videos, and an assessment instrument is being developed to measure students learning.

“Oscillations”
Oscillations of the simple pendulum and mass-spring system are studied to develop the parameters used in the description of simple harmonic motion (amplitude, frequency, period, angular frequency, initial phase), with every example showing how a change in one of these parameters changes the oscillation. The relationship between force and the deformation that produces simple harmonic motion is studied, and the dependence of the frequency on the pendulum’s length and on the mass of the spring-mass system are observed. Phase differences produced in oscillations of the same frequency and the different initial phases are observed. The module includes a manual with the concepts developed in the videos, and an assessment instrument is being developed to measure students learning.

All seven modules will be available in DVD format, and by December 2006 all modules will be available using flash streaming video, which means that users will be able to access them from anyplace at anytime using the UPR-Cayey campus website (www.cayey.upr.edu). The tools and the short video clips are available to students and faculty through the project’s website http://pluto.cayey.upr.edu/moodle. Several video clips in flash format are available in the website section “Videos I – Study Carefully”. Here the student is able to explore the different videos and select one to be used for his/her special project. The video analysis tools and several video clips are available in the website section “Videos II – Online Data Analysis”. In this section, the student selects a video clip and learns the basics of motion analysis: obtain the data, calibrate the video and build a graph of position versus time. Students and faculty may use these tools at anytime and from any site. This section of the website provides faculty members with a detailed description on how to use digital video to teach physics and how to use a video analysis special project to assess students understanding of basic concepts and relationships.

www.prlsamp.org