Developing Simulations for Introductory Physics with Feedback from Learning Assistants

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Simulations are of great importance in teaching introductory physics. They illustrate things that are too small to see, happen too fast to see, or cover concepts that are not visible in everyday life. The use of simulations is one way to bring these ideas to life, allowing students to investigate and visualize physics concepts. This project will develop four new simulations for introductory mechanics and research their effectiveness for student learning. Some questions to be addressed will be to what extent do simulations help students learn and what are the features of a simulation that lead to more effective learning. There is already considerable existing simulation research, but most of this research was not done on mobile devices (where student ownership of the device becomes a major factor which this project will make possible). These simulations are likely to be immediately put into wide use by the physics community as there are few high quality javascript/HTML5 simulations. The simulations will be publicly available on ComPADRE. A second research question focuses upon Learning Assistants (LAs): What role can Learning Assistants (LAs) play in the design, testing, and pedagogical implementation of simulations? LAs are trained undergraduates who return to a course they took to help deliver interactive pedagogy and help students learn. In this project, LAs will apply their expertise to provide feedback about improving the simulations. This is a novel aspect of the project, possibly leading to new use of LAs elsewhere in curriculum development. Other data-gathering methods include A/B testing, think-aloud interviews, and video analysis of students using the simulations during class, through which the project will investigate conditions that improve student learning.