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Animated Test of Motion. Aaron Titus High Point University AAPT, W03, Austin. Why use Physlets?. Many reasons, but here are two flexibility innovative assessment
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Animated Test of Motion Aaron Titus High Point University AAPT, W03, Austin
Why use Physlets? • Many reasons, but here are two • flexibility • innovative assessment • Evidence found by Melissa Dancy on the Animated Force Concept Inventory suggests that on some conceptual questions, animated questions are more valid.
What makes Physlet questions different? • Visualization • Interactivity • Necessary data must be measured rather than read • Usual cues “to find the right equation” are missing. • Students report these questions to be like “open ended labs where you are not told what to do.”
My goal... • To develop an animated test of two-dimensional motion • To learn how to develop a valid and reliable test • To gain additional insight into the benefits and/or drawbacks of animated tests
A model for test development • Beichner’s Test of Understanding Graphs -- Kinematics (TUG-K) • Don’t forget to create a good acronym!
Objectives • Students should understand • displacement • average velocity • instantaneous velocity • average acceleration • instantaneous acceleration • But how do we measure their understanding?
Tasks • Use data to calculate important quantities. • Draw vectors • Interpret graphs • Make measurements from graphs
The test • 9 multi-part questions covering 21 tasks • 9 animations • Viewing or interacting with the animation should be necessary to solve the problem. • One animation can be used for multiple questions • Animations should include 1-D motion, constant velocity, constant acceleration, and non-constant acceleration situations. • Animations should include “realistic” situations.
Field testing... • The test is way too long! • perhaps some objectives can be combined • If you can calculate the magnitude of displacement, then you can probably calculate the magnitude of instantaneous velocity, instantaneous acceleration, etc. • perhaps more conceptual questions can be used • making measurements and do calculations takes time.
Field Testing... • The test relies on mathematical ability and understanding of vectors • Is this necessary to demonstrating understanding of 2-D motion? • Does this limit the ability of the test to identify weaknesses in conceptual understanding? • Is conceptual understanding really that different from problem solving?