Physlets: Teaching Physics with Interactive Curricular Material

Wolfgang Christian, Davidson College
Mario Belloni, Davidson College
Title Physlets: Teaching Physics with Interactive Curricular Material
Edition 1st
ISBN 9780130293411
ISBN 10 0130293415
Published 26/09/2000
Published by Pearson Higher Ed USA
Pages 304
Format Book With CD
Out of stock
 
Total Price $111.95 Add to Cart
Description

An instructor's supplement for Physics courses.

This manual/CD package shows physics instructors—both web novices and Java savvy programmers alike—how to author their own interactive curricular material using Physlets. Java physlets are applets written for physics pedagogy that can be embedded directly into html documents and that can interact with the user. This guide demonstrates the use of Physlets in conjunction with JavaScript to deliver a wide variety of web-based interactive physics activities, and provides examples of Physlets created for classroom demonstrations, traditional and Just-in-Time Teaching homework problems, pre- and post-laboratory exercises, and Interactive Engagement activities. More than just a technical how-to book, the manual gives instructors some ideas about the new possibilities that Physlets offer, and is designed to make the transition to using Physlets quick and easy.

Table of contents


Foreword.

I. PEDAGOGY AND TECHNOLOGY.

1. Pedagogy and Physlets.

What Is a Physlet? A New Teaching Paradigm. Interactive Engagement. Media Focused Problems. Appropriate Technology. Video, Interactive Physics, and Physlets.

2. JITT and Physlets.

What Is JITT? WarmUps and Puzzles. Puzzles. Physlet-Based WarmUp Questions: A Look at What They Offer. JITT in Review.

3. PER and Physlets.

Effectiveness of Animation. Comparison of Students' Problem Solving. Think-Aloud Interviews of Students Solving Physlet Problems. Physlet-Based FCI. Conclusions from PER.

4. A Tour of Physlets.

Examples. Installing Physlets.

5. Technology Overview.

A History of Java. Java Language. Class Files. Embedding. Parameter Tags and User Interfaces. Scripting Overview.

6. Scripting Tutorial.

Authoring Tools. Animator. Efield. Datagraph. Data Connections. Scripting Tips.

II. CURRICULAR MATERIAL.

7. In-class Activities.

Mechanics. Electromagnetism. Advanced.

8. Mechanics, Waves, and Thermodynamics Problems.

Kinematics. Newton's Laws. Work and Energy. Gravity. Momentum. Rotational Dynamics. Simple Harmonic Motion. Statics. Waves. Sound. Fluids. Thermodynamics.

9. Electromagnetism and Optics Problems.

Electrostatics. Gauss's Law. Electric Potentials. Capacitors. Circuits. Magnetic Fields. Faraday's Law. Electromagnetic Waves. Optics.

10. Modern Physics Problems.

Special Relativity. Hydrogenic Wavefunctions. Square Wells and the Schrödinger Equation.

III. REFERENCE.

11. Resources.

Available Physlets. JavaDoc Output.

12. Inherited Methods.

Clock Methods. Data Connections. Miscellaneous Methods.

13. Naming Conventions.

Common Methods. AddObject Method.

14. Animator.

Embedding. Data Sources. Methods.

15. Efield.

Embedding. Data Sources. Methods.

16. Datagraph.

Embedding. Data Sources and Listeners. Methods.

17. Datatable.

Embedding. Data Sources and Listeners. Methods.

18. Version Four Physlets.

Bar. Bfield. Circuits. Eigenvalues and QM Wavefunctions. Faraday. Hydrogenic. Molecular. Optics. Poisson. Surface Plotter.

Bibliography.

Appendix A: Glossary of HTML and Java Terminology.

Appendix B: Copyright and Conditions of Use.

Index.

Features & benefits
  • An overview of the pedagogy and the technology ( Part I )—Explains the new pedagogy/technology and its place in the teaching of physics today; shows how to install Physlets locally on a desktop PC or web server; discusses the core technology of Java and JavaScript; and features a tutorial on how to script three of the most used Physlets, Animator, Efield and DataGraph.
  • Examples of curricular material ( Part II )—Useful for in-class exercises and homework problems in introductory and advanced physics courses. Includes 100 in-text examples and an additional 80 problems available on individual html pages on the accompanying CD. The Additional Resources portion of the CD contains even more examples of curricular material from other institutions.
  • Additional Resources ( Part III )—Includes a detailed description of the methods for version 4 Physlets: Animator, Bar, BField, Circuits, DataGraph, DataTable, Efield, EnergyEigenvalue, Faraday, Hydrogenic, Molecular, Optics, Poisson, and SurfacePlotter.

    • Provides information for instructors who are interested in modifying preexisting Physlet problems (from the text or CD) for use in a new context or scripting beyond the tutorial in Part I. Ex.___

  • Companion Websites—Many of the Physlet Problems provided in Part II are included on Prentice Hall's Companion Website for Douglas Giancoli's two physics texts, Physics: Principles and Applications 5/e and Physics for Scientists and Engineers 3/e. The site is located at http://www.prenhall.com/giancoli. These resources are also available on Prentice Hall's Companion Websites for College Physics 4/e by Jerry Wilson and Tony Buffa. At http://www.prenhall.com/wilson. Also available with Walker, Physics CW at www.prenhall.com/walkerphysics.