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The Physics Teacher -- January 2006 -- Volume 44, Issue 1, pp. 18

PhET: Interactive Simulations for Teaching and Learning Physics

Katherine Perkins1, Wendy Adams1, Michael Dubson1, Noah Finkelstein1, Sam Reid1, Carl Wieman1, and Ron LeMaster2

1University of Colorado at Boulder
2Kavli Operating Institute

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The Physics Education Technology (PhET) project creates useful simulations for teaching and learning physics and makes them freely available from the PhET website (http:∕∕phet.colorado.edu). The simulations (sims) are animated, interactive, and game-like environments in which students learn through exploration. In these sims, we emphasize the connections between real-life phenomena and the underlying science, and seek to make the visual and conceptual models of expert physicists accessible to students. We use a research-based approach in our design—incorporating findings from prior research and our own testing to create sims that support student engagement with and understanding of physics concepts.

© 2006 American Association of Physics Teachers

KEYWORDS and PACS

Keywords

physics education, educational technology, Web sites, database management systems, interactive systems, student experiments

PACS

History
Online Dec 2005

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0031-921X (print)  

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef American Association of Physics Teachers

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.2150754

  1. For example, How People Learn, edited by J.D. Bransford, A. L. Brown, and R.R. Cocking (Natl. Academic Press, Washington, D.C., 2002)
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    R.C. Clark and R.E. Mayer, e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning (Pfeiffer, San Francisco, 2003).
  2. D. Sokoloff and R. Thornton, "Using interactive lecture demonstrations to create an active learning environment," Phys. Teach. 35, 340–346 (1997PHTEAH000035000006000340000001).
  3. E. Mazur, Peer Instruction: A User's Manual (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1997).
  4. N. D. Finkelstein et al., "When learning about the real world is better done virtually: A study of substituting computer simulations for laboratory equipment," Phys. Rev. ST Phys. Educ. Res. 1, 010103 (2005).
  5. L.C. McDermott, P.S. Shaffer, and the Physics Education Group at the University of Washington, Tutorials in Introductory Physics (Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2002).



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