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Visualizing and discovering materials science concepts: Creating an engaging pedagogy with spreadsheets

Visualizing and discovering materials science concepts: Creating an engaging pedagogy with spreadsheets. Scott A. Sinex Department of Physical Sciences and Engineering Prince George's Community College Joshua B. Halpern Department of Chemistry Howard University.

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Visualizing and discovering materials science concepts: Creating an engaging pedagogy with spreadsheets

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  1. Visualizing and discovering materials science concepts: Creating an engaging pedagogy with spreadsheets Scott A. Sinex Department of Physical Sciences and Engineering Prince George's Community College Joshua B. Halpern Department of Chemistry Howard University Presented at the 238th ACS National Meeting, Washington, DC, August 16-20, 2009

  2. Why interactive spreadsheets? • Easy access for students and useful for them to know • Easy for instructors to develop – see Developer’s Guide to Excelets • Creates an engaging pedagogy

  3. …more why? • Addresses topics conceptually, while camouflaging mathematics • Students have to think: predict - test - analyze • Allows for mathematical modeling and studying errors • More science process • Mathematics resurfaces!!!!

  4. What is the difference between an isotropic and anisotropic material? Obvious to us but not to all of our students Easy to develop background sheets http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/thermal_expansion.xls

  5. How does the size of an atom vary on the periodic table? Simple data bases for students to discover relationships http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/radii_comparison.xls

  6. Are bond lengths constant? Simple animations add value http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/vibration_solid.xls

  7. How do you determine ionic radii? Immediate, visual feedback to students http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/FCC_ionic_compound.xls

  8. MatSci Excelets • Interactive concept exploration • Supports Mathematicians' “Rule of Four” • Mathematical modeling • Supports national standards in engineering, mathematics, sciences, and technology http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/matsci_excelets.htm

  9. What do students like most? For use in general chemistry (Spring 09; n = 28 students): predict - test - analyze http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/assess.htm

  10. Student feedback… Which do you prefer: Spring 07Spring 09 static graphs in textbook 21% (6) 7% (2) dynamic graphs in Excel76% (22) 89% (25) both 3% (1) 4% (1) Using Excelets does not require that you be familiar with Excel. most definitely 7% (2) 25% (7) I think so 38% (11) 36% (10) just barely 34% (10) 32% (9) not at all 14% (4) 7% (2) don’t know 7% (2) All Student Survey results http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/assess.htm

  11. more feedback… Excelets offer a more visual experience with graphs instead of using just the mathematical equations. most definitely 66% (19) 75% (21) I think so 24% (7) 14% (4) just barely 10% (3) 11% (3) not at all don’t know Excelets make it easier to grasp or learn a concept. most definitely 55% (16) 43% (12) I think so 31% (9) 54% (15) just barely 14% (4) 4% (1) not at all don’t know

  12. …like least? • “Make it less voluminous with fewer questions. Less stress on brain and less time spent on it. ” • “These activities require too much brain energy. However, I appreciate the challenge.” • Stop doing this and just lecture

  13. The “How to” resources... Developer's Guide to Excelets: Dynamic and Interactive Visualization with "Javaless" Applets or Interactive Excel Spreadsheets <http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets> Tutorial, instructions, and a variety of interactive Excel spreadsheet examples Resource list for mathematics and science

  14. Contacts: Scott Sinex ssinex@pgcc.edu http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex Josh Halpern jhalpern@howard.edu http://www.coas.howard.edu/chem/jhalpern http://www.coas.howard.edu/PREM/Education/Index.html This work is supported by the Howard/Hopkins/PGCC Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM), funded by NSF Grant No. DMR-0611595

  15. Where will Excelets work? • Since we are using the forms toolbar tools, they function on both PC and Mac! • Most all with function in Open Office Calc (open source) with a little cosmetic clean up! Option buttons have a slightly different syntax in Calc. • Some of the conditional formatting has an Excel 2003 to Excel 2007 problem (switch tabs back and forth to correct).

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