Many technological applications (apps) purport to help children learn academic material. Building on research in developmental and educational psychology, we developed and tested an app to teach biological and physical science content to preschool children. There were 21 children in the control condition (M[subscript age] = 50.30 months, SD =…

This article describes the development and deployment of Physics Toolbox Play, a gamified component of the "Android Physics Toolbox Sensor Suite" app, that can introduce young children through adults to fundamental physics principles. The app was used successfully in a variety of contexts, including STEM fairs with primary and secondary…

This article integrated inquiry behaviors and a guided learning map (gMap) into a mobile app called Ubiquitous-Physics (U-Physics), which helps students to explore inclined plane phenomena in authentic contexts. The article investigated inquiry behaviors such as interpreting graphs, applying formulas, drawing conclusions, and peer collaboration,…

Video analysis with a 30 Hz frame rate is the standard tool in physics education. The development of affordable high-speed-cameras has extended the capabilities of the tool for much smaller time scales to the 1 ms range, using frame rates of typically up to 1000 frames s[superscript -1], allowing us to study transient physics phenomena happening…

The result of additive colors is always fascinating to young students. When we teach this topic to 14- to 16-year-old students, they do not usually notice we use maximum light quantities of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) to obtain yellow, magenta, and cyan colors in order to build the well-known additive color diagram of Fig. 1. But how about…

Mobile devices have become a popular form of education technology, but little attention has been paid to the use of their sensors for data collection and analysis. This article describes some of the benefits of using mobile devices this way and presents five challenges to help students overcome common misconceptions about force and motion. The…

Describes a college-level physics course which focuses on both physics knowledge/skills and use of microcomputers. Types of experiments done with the computers and how students use the computers to treat data are considered. (JN)

Discusses an easy way of interfacing physics experiments to a microcomputer, providing information on the "analog input port" of a BBC microcomputer. Also describes a capacitor discharge experiment with suggestions for several student activities such as investigating decay curve shapes. Program listing is available from author. (DH)

Describes the attempts of a teacher to use a personal microcomputer to provide tutoring in an undergraduate physics course. (GA)

Microcomputers can record laboratory measurements which human laboratory partners can never collect. Simple, harder, and general-purpose interfaces are discussed, with suggestions for several experiments involving an exercise bike, acceleration, and pendulums. Additional applications with pH meters, spectrophotometers, and chromatographs are also…

The "Measurement Module" is a device which records measurements for microcomputer input. Construction of the device, software, and uses in physics experiments and demonstrations are discussed. (JN)

A one-semester hour laboratory course introduced junior and senior physics majors to assembly language programing and to interfacing KIM-1 microcomputer to experiments. A general purpose interface to a standard breadboard was developed. Course details, apparatus, and some interfacing projects are given. (Author/SK)

Discusses the use of a microcomputer/mini-floppy disk system by physics students to store and analyze experimental data and exchange messages with the lab instructor. Also discusses other uses, in particular those fostering critical thinking and hypothetico-deductive reasoning. (Author/SK)

Three computer programs are presented that allow the high school student to explore and understand the physical forces involved in orbital flight at a greater depth than is usually possible. For each program, introductory material is given including the physics and mathematics involved. This is followed by the computer program in BASIC language.…

By the year 2000 the major way of learning at all levels, and in almost all subject areas, will be through the interactive use of computers. Many of the factors involved in this revolution in education are reviewed. (BB)