CANCELLED: What My Physics Class and the Ohio State Buckeyes Have in Common

Purpose & objective

Attendees will participate in challenges that are the same as those used by my current physics students.

Attendees will be able to use PASCO SmartCarts and SPARKvue software to collect data used in the educational challenges presented.

Attendees will be obviously proud of the sticker rewards they earned in the session!

Post Session evaluation will be a measure of success.

Outline

I will begin with a pendulum challenge, predicting the length of a pendulum that attendees time. Afterward we will discuss the traditional methods of teaching about pendulum dynamics, and expand into a prediction challenge connected to the equation. We’ll discuss a couple variations of this challenge based on the level of the group being taught. The general concept of “gamification” is addressed and applied.

An introduction to the operation of the SmartCart and SPARKvue software comes next.

Once attendees are familiar with the tools we will extend into “sticker challenges” that involve these devices.

Rolling a Smart Cart down an inclined plane is next, and we’ll illustrate teaching a variety of principles of accelerated motion with it. For example, we’ll look at Galileo’s Rule of Odd Numbers, and challenge attendees to make predictions for positions at certain times. That’s after they have had some time to practice with it in data collection.

The final challenge involves forces that the SmartCart exerts on sliding blocks. After having had some practice with this feature of the carts, we’ll illustrate some surprising aspects of Newton’s laws with them.

Supporting research

The Fun of Learning: Gamification in Education
https://www.hmhco.com/blog/what-is-gamification-in-education

Gamification in Education: What is it and How Can You Use It
https://www.trueeducationpartnerships.com/schools/gamification-in-education/

Five Ways to Gamify Your Classroom
https://www.iste.org/explore/In-the-classroom/5-ways-to-gamify-your-classroom