2014/07/29 by Andrew J. Haugen, Haugen, Andrew J., Nathan T. Moore +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Physics Education (physics.ed-ph) #physics.comp-ph #physics.ed-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1407.7613
11 pages, 1 figure, 1 sample lab activity. Submitted in conjunction with Summer 2014 AAPT meeting
arxiv created 2014/07/29 · arxiv updated 2014/07/30
The paper describes a curricular framework for introducing microcontroller programming in the University Physics lab. The approach makes use of Modeling Instruction, an effective approach for teaching science at the secondary level in which student learn the standard material by developing and deploying models of the physical world. In our approach, students engage with a context-rich problem that can be solved with one or more sensors and a microcontroller. The solution path we describe then consists of developing a mathematical model for how the sensors' data can be mapped to a meaningful measurement, and further, developing an algorithmic model that will be implemented in the microcontroller. Once the system is developed and implemented, students are given an array of similar problems in which they can deploy their data collection system. Results from the implementation of this idea, in two University Physics sections, using Arduino microcontrollers, are also described.