Understanding and interpreting graphs are essential skills in all sciences. While students are mostly proficient in plotting given functions and reading values off graphs, they frequently lack the ability to construct and interpret graphs in a meaningful way. Students can use graphs as representations of value pairs, but often fail to interpret them as the representation of functions, and mostly fail to use them as representations of physical reality. Working with graphs in classroom settings has been shown to improve student abilities with graphs, particularly when the students can interact with them. We introduce a novel problem type in an online homework system, which requires students to construct the graphs themselves in free form, and requires no hand-grading by instructors. Initial experiences using the new problem type in an introductory physics course are reported.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
August 2012
PHYSICS EDUCATION RESEARCH|
August 01 2012
Function plot response: A scalable system for teaching kinematics graphs
James Laverty;
James Laverty
a)
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Michigan State University
, East Lansing, Michigan 48825
Search for other works by this author on:
Gerd Kortemeyer
Gerd Kortemeyer
b)
Lyman Briggs College, and Department of Physics and Astronomy,
Michigan State University
, East Lansing, Michigan 48825
Search for other works by this author on:
a)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
b)
Electronic mail: [email protected]
Am. J. Phys. 80, 724–733 (2012)
Article history
Received:
November 03 2011
Accepted:
May 03 2012
Citation
James Laverty, Gerd Kortemeyer; Function plot response: A scalable system for teaching kinematics graphs. Am. J. Phys. 1 August 2012; 80 (8): 724–733. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.4719112
Download citation file:
Pay-Per-View Access
$40.00
Sign In
You could not be signed in. Please check your credentials and make sure you have an active account and try again.
Citing articles via
Ergodic Lagrangian dynamics in a superhero universe
I. L. Tregillis, George R. R. Martin
All objects and some questions
Charles H. Lineweaver, Vihan M. Patel
The most efficient thermodynamic cycle under general engine constraints
Christopher Ong, Shaun Quek
The spinorial ball: A macroscopic object of spin-1/2
Samuel Bernard-Bernardet, Emily Dumas, et al.
A story with twists and turns: How to control the rotation of the notched stick
Martin Luttmann, Michel Luttmann
Related Content
An empirical study of the effect of granting multiple tries for online homework
Am. J. Phys. (July 2015)
An analysis of asynchronous online homework discussions in introductory physics courses
Am. J. Phys. (June 2006)
Measuring the impact of an instructional laboratory on the learning of introductory physics
Am. J. Phys. (November 2015)
Experiences using the open-source learning content management and assessment system LON-CAPA in introductory physics courses
Am. J. Phys. (April 2008)
Modeling theory applied: Modeling Instruction in introductory physics
Am. J. Phys. (December 2008)