Joe Santonacita – student blog

The model I was examining in NetLogo was for Ohm’s Law, see link below…

In other classes I have explored the pros and cons of simulations for student learning in physics. Ohm’s law was a very good simulation, however in playing around with it I found out there are some pitfalls when using it in the classroom. I believe if we are to utilize simulations we should be critical of what they are a supposed to represent and how they differ from reality. Your personal preference on how critical you would like to be really depends on your learning objectives for class.

The Ohm’s Law simulation is excellent for show the movement of electrons through a conductor. You can trace the motion of an electron through the material and the program measures the potential difference from end to end.

However, there are some difficulties students may run into in utilizing this in class.
a. The electrons collide with other particles which are not shown. So students may think the electrons just travel as if they moving at random.
b. The parts (+/-) of the “battery” are on opposite sides of the screen.

Lunar Lander… and new take on a good oldie.

From the its debut in 1973 at a trade show to demonstrate the capabilities of the DSE GT40 graphics terminal to the arcade… many version of this classic have emerged some from basic programers to more advanced (see PhET lunar lander @ phet.colorado.edu)

this version is a quality amateur version (I couldn’t do any better).