Chapter 7: In-Class Exercises for Mechanics, Electromagnetism, and Advanced Physics Courses

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These examples of curricular material appear in Chapter 7 of Physlets: Teaching with Interactive Curricular Material. These examples are from introductory physics (calculus- and algebra-based) and selected examples of advanced material. They can be used at the beginning of class to introduce topics, during the middle of a topic to test whether students are ready to cover additional material, or at the end of a topic to test students’ knowledge of the material just covered. Instructors may choose from several different presentation methods depending on the type of animation shown. One method is the Peer Instruction technique developed by Eric Mazur [Mazur 1997].  The instructor can show the animation(s), ask students to think about their answers, have students discuss their answers with other students, and then ask for a show of hands. Once this polling is completed, the instructor can ask students to justify their answers. Despite the relatively few examples in this chapter, any Physlet problem from Chapters 8-10 can be used in this fashion with only slight modifications. Follow a link on the left to go to the individual Physlet exercises found in this chapter and several bonus exercises only available on this CD.

Example shown: 7.1.3.