Resistor--capacitor (RC) circuit labs help students, but most courses don't include them because of complications and cost. This work presents an easy and inexpensive Arduino-based lab on the charge and energy transfer between two capacitors with different values of the initial electric charge when they are connected through a resistor. Capacitors…

Differential equations are widely used tools for modelling the world around us, making a course in differential equations a natural place for students to connect concrete mathematical applications to abstract concepts. Since students grasp the concepts better by applying them, introducing differential equations through modelling becomes essential.…

This paper describes a new lab experiment where students explore the magnetic force on a permanent magnet placed inside a short solenoid. This lab is the fourth experiment performed in the second semester of the calculus-based introductory physics course at Washington University in St. Louis. The experiment is performed using a speaker (which…

Having the ability to make informed decisions about health, financial investments, and even the weather are all important to our everyday lives. However, most people receive no formal education on how to read and understand data presented in formats such as data tables and graphs. Research within the field of statistical reasoning demonstrates a…

Although modeling is an integral process in applied mathematics, students rarely encounter modeling opportunities in their calculus courses. We introduce a laboratory experience as a starting point for calculus students to investigate multivariable functions. A layered system of coffee and milk serves as a physical model for temperature gradients…

Researchers have pinpointed recognition from others as one of the most important dimensions of students' science and engineering identity. Studies, however, have found gender biases in students' recognition of their peers, with inconsistent patterns across introductory science and engineering courses. Toward finding the source of this variation,…

Background: The importance of knowledge and skills in mathematics for electrical engineering students is well known. Engineers and engineering educators agree that any engineering curriculum must include plenty of mathematics studies to enrich the engineer's toolbox. Nevertheless, little attention has been given to the possible contribution of…

This article describes a computational project designed for undergraduate students as an introduction to mathematical modeling. Students use an ordinary differential equation to describe fish weight and assume the instantaneous growth rate depends on the concentration of dissolved oxygen. Published laboratory experiments suggest that continuous…

The Department of Physics at EKU [Eastern Kentucky University] with support from the National Science Foundations Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program has successfully converted our entire introductory physics sequence, both algebra-based and calculus-based courses, to an activity-based format where laboratory activities,…

It is shown how the same physically appealing method can be applied to find analytic solutions for two difficult and apparently unrelated problems in optics and electrostatics. They are: (i) the diffraction of a plane wave at a perfectly conducting thin half-plane and (ii) the electrostatic field associated with a parallel array of stripes held at…

To help students understand the real-world applications of calculus, our calculus students all take part in a lab. This is not another "computer lab" but a lab where the students perform experiments and then collect and analyze the data. The students are able to verify for themselves many of physical claims that are left as theory in…