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| Reviewed: |
Apr 26, 2007 by Physics |
| Overview: |
This web site contains a large number of videos, data, and video analysis tools that can be used to study physics concepts. Topics include force and acceleration, gravity, air resistance, momentum, and waves. Sports videos are also available for analysis. |
| Learning Goals: |
Investigation of physical concepts in mechanics. Development of the understanding of data analysis of experiments. Quantitative exploration of physical theories such as Newton's Laws, momentum conservation, and wave interference. |
| Target Student Population: |
Introductory physics classes at the high-school and undergraduate levels. |
| Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills: |
The physical concepts must be developed in class, either before or during the use of the video and data analysis. |
| Type of Material: |
Quicktime videos, data tables, and Flash video analysis tool. |
| Recommended Uses: |
Virtual experiments and data analysis, classroom lectures, and homework assignments. |
| Technical Requirements: |
Quicktime player and Flash |
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| Strengths: |
This extensive collection of videos provides experiments covering many standard topics in introductory physics. The Flash data taking interface allows simple analysis of the system. This requires that the students understand the types of information needed to analyze the physics of the systems displayed. Also, many experiment types have more than one video version available. Lab groups can therefore be given different versions of the same experiment to analyze. |
| Concerns: |
The material is limited to the videos available in this collection.
The Flash data taking tool only captures simple position information. Any more sophisticated analysis requires the data to be copied to a spreadsheet. Some of the experiments (e.g. the vibrations and waves movies)don't have as much content as other topics. |
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Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool |
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| Strengths: |
Many of the video experiments are based on real world examples. These should be highly effective in conveying the relevance of underlying physical principles. Video data analysis has been shown to be effective for engaging students in learning. It requires the students to understand the physical concepts behind the measurements. It also can be used to introduce students to the exploratory nature of doing science. |
| Concerns: |
Some of the videos are highly restricted in scope and offer limited opportunity for student learning. Effective use of this material generally will require instructors to create activities that will engage the students in the investigation. |
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Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty |
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| Strengths: |
The Flash video analysis programs are easily understood. Users can step through the set up and data taking using the interface provided. The video collection is broad and the videos can be used with the Flash interface or other video analysis programs. |
| Concerns: |
The Flash files include a minimal (though adequate) ability to collect numeric data. The fonts used to display data in these files may be hard for some to read. The Flash applet stopped working a few times. Closing the applet and re-starting it always succeeded in fixing it. When the Flash interface is first started, the number of objects to track is requested. It is not clear what this should be until after running the video. There are no instructions or help available, although the operation is quite intuitive. |
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