🚀 go-pugleaf

>
>    ... "This machine business is a curse upon us - anathema ! It robs
>    the beauty of physics - it cheats the students - it is a sickness !
>    It destroys the humanism the subject posesses. Deliver us from this
>    affliction - this plague - this evil monster - which so abuses the
>    spirit of physics."
>
>


I use computers (Labs, simulations, and data analysis) to
increase the effectiveness of learning and understandin of
physics.
It saves time to get good result thus free up more time for me
tocover more topics, do more homework problem exescise and more
indepth studies.

1.  The first three years of my teaching physucs, I struggled with
students using the ticker timers(we have very old ones). I
spent four hours to get every one working. First period fine,
each successive classes more and more quit on us.  The "g"
value is terrible.  With error analysis, and I keep emphasizing
that an experiment does'nt have the close to exact values we
expect, students careless, they don't but it. They call it
stupid experiment.
>
Now they use ULI, motion detector to perform the experiment and
obtained the accurate value of "g".  BUT I STILL MAKE THEM TO
USE THE TICKER TIMER TO DUPLCATE THE EXPERIMENT.  Or, I do
teacher demo with the computer ,they use ticker timer, or vice
versa.  THEY STILL HAVE TO DO THE THINKING AND THE ERROR
ANALYSIS

ALSO, one can do several non conventional lab activies to try
to solve for "g"-----Bouncing a basket ball, human
jump.......not possible for tickek timer or even stop watch,
but good way to tell students that daily experience can relate
to physics measurements.

2.For some experiments, I combined simulation, manipulating
equipment and  computer lab.
  For example the spring experiment, to show the
conservation of GPE, KE and EPE together is rather difficult,
tedious and hard to get good result to convince the student.
First, students work on the Interactive physics simulations.
Then I set up as a demo. Using the ULI Motion detector, and the
idea in IP simulation, we find the elastic constant, and the
GPE, KE, EPE,at about four or five points while the spring
vibrates up and down. Students were convinced that Conservation
occurs at every single point.During the demo, students analyze,
calculate, ask and aswer questions .The whole process is
completed in 20 minutes.



3.  First five lab, I make students do manual graphing to learn
how to obtain the best fit lines.  Tjhose who can't do well
will never be convince of the result, such as "g" value,
because they get such a terrible value for their slope.  It is
also time consuming.  After five labs, students do their
analysis and curve fitting using Graphical analysis



MORE...MORE.....MORE...MORE.....MORE.......


My physics teaching and students' physics learning have been
enhanced 200%   (or more)  qualitatively and quantitively.
--



Judy Ng--Physics                    jng@Pen.k12.va.us
James Madison High School
2500 Jame Madison High School
Vienna, Va 22181
703-938-2225