Open Source Physics Curriculum Material for Relativity
North Carolina Section AAPT 2006 Fall Meeting
W. Christian and M. Belloni, Elon NC, September 29-30, 2006
There are many reasons to create computer-based material for relativity. Special and general relativity are full of (apparent) paradoxes, and, like quantum mechanics, captivate students’ interest in physics. We report on the development of new Open Source Physics (OSP) simulations and curricular material created for the exploration of relativity. Examples, including the gravitational red shift and the trajectories of particles and light rays in the vicinity of non-spinning and spinning black holes, will be shown. Additional examples are available at: http://www.opensourcephysics.org/.
Partial funding for this work was obtained through NSF grant DUE-0442581.
The Open Source Physics (OSP) project has developed a Java library and an easy to use xml vocabulary for the development of physics software and the distribution of Web-based curricular material. This technology lets instructors develop new curricular materials; teach computational physics; associate a simulation, a set of initial conditions, and a narrative into a topical unit; and combine topical units into a curriculum module that can be further adapted and customized by users. This talk shows how we have used the OSP framework to author and organize curricular material from computational physics, classical mechanics, E&M, statistical physics, relativity, and quantum mechanics. Examples are available on CD and from <http://www.opensourcephysics.org/>.
Partial funding for this work was obtained through NSF grant DUE-0442581.
From the invention of the television to the invention of computers and the World Wide Web, educators have often pinned their hopes of better instruction on technology. Yet teaching with technology, without a sound pedagogy, can yield no significant educational gain. Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT), an interactive pedagogy constructed around current internet technologies, is one of the few approaches that has been shown to produce positive cognitive gains. Just-in-Time Teaching combined with Physlets (small, scriptable, Java applets) and Open Source Physics (OSP) programs have been used at Davidson College to actively engage students both inside and outside the classroom. We have assessed students’ conceptual understanding after instruction, and actively engaged students are better prepared for class, are better motivated to learn the material, and perform better on standardized assessment instruments.
The Open Source Physics code library, documentation, and sample curricular material can be downloaded from
<http://www.opensourcephysics.org/>.
Partial funding for this work was obtained through NSF grant DUE-0442581.
In order to determine the role of animations in student learning, we have developed a number of ways to try to assess the effectiveness of Physlet®-based and Open Source Physics materials in enhancing student learning. This includes tutorial-type worksheets, ranking-task exercises and the use of standard pre and post-test instruments. This talk will present the results from the use of these evaluation materials.
Partial funding for this work was obtained through NSF grant DUE-0442581.
The Open Source Physics (OSP) project has developed a Java library and an easy to use xml vocabulary for the development of physics software and the distribution of Web-based curricular material. This technology enables us to develop new curricular materials; teach computational physics; store parameters, initial conditions, and results from a computer simulation; associate a simulation, a set of initial conditions, and a narrative into a topical unit; and combine topical units into a curriculum module that can be further adapted and customized by users. We have used the OSP framework to author and organize curricular material from computational physics, classical mechanics, E&M, statistical physics, and quantum mechanics. Examples will be available on CD.
The Open Source Physics code library, documentation, and sample curricular material can be downloaded from
<http://www.opensourcephysics.org/>.
Partial funding for this work was obtained through NSF grant DUE-0442581.
What is needed by the physics education community is not another computer program (although programs are important), but a synthesis of curriculum development, computational physics, computer science, and physics education research that will be useful for students and adaptable for teachers wishing to write their own simulations and develop their own curricular material. The Internet, Java, and extensible markup language (xml) may enable such a synthesis. Examples of Open Source Physics curricular material will be presented and its effectiveness will be discussed.
The Open Source Physics code library, documentation, and sample curricular material can be downloaded from
<http://www.opensourcephysics.org/>.
Partial funding for this work was obtained through NSF grant DUE-0442581.
We are investigating the difficulties that students have in learning quantum mechanics and designing quantum interactive learning tutorials (QuILTs). Our investigation includes interviews with individual students and the development and administration of free-response and multiple-choice tests. The preliminary results from the QuILTs are promising.
*Supported by NSF PHY-0244708 and DUE-0442581.
Computation has become a common feature of many physics courses. However, the computation is usually an add-on and students do not learn how to write computer simulations in a way that is similar to how they are done in a research context. We will describe how to teach students to do physics by writing and modifying programs in Java using the Open Source Physics library available at:
Open Source Physics are generously supported by the National Science Foundation (DUE-0442581).
Statistical and thermal physics (STP) is becoming an increasingly important part of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum in part because of the availability of inexpensive and powerful computational resources and because of the importance of statistical concepts in much of current research in physics and related areas. We will show examples of curriculum materials for teaching topics in STP with a focus on Java programs written using the Open Source Physics library.
Examples of simulations will be shown.
Although there are many computer-based resources for teaching physics, few are based on an object-oriented open source code library. What is needed by the physics education community is not another computer program (although programs are essential), but a synthesis of curriculum development, computational physics, computer science, and physics education research that will be useful for students and adaptable for teachers wishing to write their own simulations and develop their own curricular material. The Open Source Physics (OSP) project was established to meet this need. OSP is an NSF-funded curriculum development project that is developing and distributing a code library, programs, and examples of computer-based interactive curricular material. This talk will present an overview of this material.
Partial funding for this work was obtained through NSF grant DUE-0126439.
The teaching of quantum mechanics has remained relatively frozen in time since its inception, despite recent work assessing and improving the conceptual understanding of students and despite availability of computer simulations. Students, therefore, often see quantum mechanics in terms of misleading or incomplete visualizations, as one dimensional and time independent, and devoid of almost any connection with classical physics. To address this situation, we have produced and class-tested interactive Physlet- and Open Source Physics-based curricular material in support of introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses in quantum mechanics. These exercises address both quantitative and conceptual difficulties encountered by many students in such topics as wave function shape, momentum space, time evolution, and classical/quantum correlations. The materials are adaptable and can be used at a variety of levels with a variety of pedagogies. Examples of the curricular materials, the results of our preliminary assessment, and future directions of this project will be discussed.
Physlets and Open Source Physics are generously supported by the National Science Foundation (DUE-0442581).