What it's about: Phys X is an educational application for physics lessons. Students learn new physics topics cooperatively on digital tables.
Each student sits with a seatmate at a table equipped with an integrated touch display. Using a physical slider, they individually adjust a physical quantity, such as voltage or weight force.
Both quantities affect a resulting quantity that is derived from the two other quantities in an underlying formula. At the beginning, students are not aware of which quantities are involved and must explore and observe to determine them.
They can do this through a simulation displayed on the digital table. The simulation represents a physics model, phenomenon, or experiment relevant to the topic.
Multiple sequential tasks guide the students. By solving these tasks one after another, they can independently arrive at the solution and develop an understanding of the new topic.
The teacher can track the students' answers in real-time using an iPad and provide guidance if needed.
1. Prior knowledge: At the beginning of the class session, students review the prerequisite knowledge they need to understand the new topic using the application.
2. Exploration: During the exploration phase, students control the simulation and the corresponding graph. They observe how they change to identify the relationships between the physical quantities.
3. Plenum: After the exploration phase, the teacher discusses the tasks with the entire class in a plenum session and provides sample solutions to the students. They control this process using their iPad.
4. Consolidation: In the consolidation phase, students can apply the newly acquired knowledge by solving a related problem. They are provided with the physics model or experiment from the exploration phase in a new context. Defined goals guide the students to reinforce their understanding.
The teaching materials are made available to the students through a related smartphone application after the lesson. This allows them to revisit the simulation, review their answers, and access the sample solutions. This is particularly helpful for exam preparation.
Simulations: An essential component of this concept is the use of simulations. Simulations offer a significant advantage over real experiments: the absence of external environmental factors that can unpredictably affect the experiment. The situation can be replayed repeatedly under consistent and controlled conditions. This is crucial for closely observing the process and deriving fundamental principles from it.
The parallel representation of the simulation and the corresponding graph makes it easier to recognize relationships between the displayed information.
Discovery-based learning: To engage students in physics and ensure long-term retention of the learned material, discovery-based learning is ideal. This is facilitated through the application and guided by the assigned tasks.
Physical sliders also play a central role in the application. They enhance the experience by providing haptic feedback that makes value changes physically perceptible. When the value is increased, the vibration of the tangible interface also intensifies.
Collaboration: Based on our research, we know that new information is better processed when we engage in discussions with others. That's why this concept explicitly encourages working on the answers in pairs to stimulate a shared discourse.
Team partner
Elisabeth Straß
Supervision
Prof. Dr. Andreas Pollok
Ludwig Kannicht
My role
Concept development, user research & testing, interface design, illustration, prototyping