Sebastian Gröber

Experimenting from a distance—remotely controlled laboratory (RCL)

The use of computers and multimedia, as well as the World Wide Web and new communication technologies, allows new forms of teaching and learning such as distance learning, blended learning, use of virtual libraries and many more. The herewith discussed remotely controlled laboratory (RCL) project shall offer an additional contribution. The basic idea is for a user to connect via the Internet with a computer from place A to a real experiment carried out in place B. An overview of our technical and didactical developments as well as an outlook on future plans is presented. Currently, about ten RCLs have been implemented. The essential characteristics of an RCL are the intuitive use and interactivity (operating the technical parameters), the possibility of different points of view of the ongoing experiment thanks to web cams and the quickest possible transfer of the data measured by the user. A reasonable use of sensibly chosen real experiments as remote labs allows a new form of homework and exercises, as well as project work and the execution of experiments, which usually would be a teachers prerogative only.

Classical experiments revisited: smartphones and tablet PCs as experimental tools in acoustics and optics

Smartphones and tablets are used as experimental tools and for quantitative measurements in two traditional laboratory experiments for undergraduate physics courses. The Doppler effect is analyzed and the speed of sound is determined with an accuracy of about 5% using ultrasonic frequency and two smartphones, which serve as rotating sound emitter and stationary sound detector. Emphasis is put on the investigation of measurement errors in order to judge experimentally derived results and to sensitize undergraduate students to the methods of error estimates. The distance dependence of the illuminance of a light bulb is investigated using an ambient light sensor of a mobile device. Satisfactory results indicate that the spectrum of possible smartphone experiments goes well beyond those already published for mechanics.

iRadioactivity--Possibilities and Limitations for Using Smartphones and Tablet PCs as Radioactive Counters: Examples for Studying Different Radioactive Principles in Physics Education

A study conducted in 2013 showed that about 70–80% of teens and young adults in the United States own a smartphone.1 Furthermore the number of tablet PC users in the United States will increase up to more than 80% by 2015. 2 As a result, these devices have increasingly become everyday tools, particularly for the younger generation. In recent years, various articles have been published about the use of smartphones and tablet PCs as experimental tools especially in the physics classroom. This is possible because todays smartphones and tablet PCs are equipped with many sensors, which can be used to perform quantitative measurements of sound, acceleration, magnetic flux density, air pressure, light intensity, humidity, angular velocity, temperature, or position on Earth (GPS). While previous articles mainly present experiments on mechanics or acoustics, in which the acceleration sensor or the microphone is used (for a synopsis of different examples, see Ref. 3 ; for recent papers, see Refs. 4–11 ), in this article we focus on experiments for studying radioactivity using the camera sensor.

Video analysis of projectile motion using tablet computers as experimental tools

Tablet computers were used as experimental tools to record and analyse the motion of a ball thrown vertically from a moving skateboard. Special applications plotted the measurement data component by component, allowing a simple determination of initial conditions and g in order to explore the underlying laws of motion. This experiment can easily be performed by students themselves, providing more autonomy in their problem-solving processes than traditional learning approaches. We believe that this autonomy and the authenticity of the experimental tool both foster their motivation.

Remotely controlled laboratories: Aims, examples, and experience

Remotely controlled laboratories are real experiments that can be controlled by users from their computers via the Internet. We present an overview of technical and pedagogical developments, describe the diversity and potential of our experiments, and comment on their acceptance by physics instructors.

Video Analysis Exercises in Regular Introductory Physics Courses: Effects of Conventional Methods and Possibilities of Mobile Devices

Annual data collection concerning introductory physics courses at German universities (Matzdorf, 2011) has shown significant dropout rates (25–30%), especially in teacher education (> 30%). The very high perceived difficulty of the learning content is considered to be the main reason for this (Heublein, Hutzsch, Schreiber, Sommer, & Besuch, 2010; Albrecht & Nordmeier, 2011).

Video-based problems in introductory mechanics physics courses

Introductory mechanics physics courses at the transition from school to university are a challenge for students. They are faced with an abrupt and necessary increase of theoretical content and requirements on their conceptual understanding of phyiscs. In order to support this transition we replaced part of the mandatory weekly theory-based paper-and-pencil problems with video analysis problems of equal content and level of difficulty. Video-based problems (VBP) are a new problem format for teaching physics from a linked sequence of theoretical and video-based experimental tasks. Experimental tasks are related to the well-known concept of video motion analysis. This introduction of an experimental part in recitations allows the establishment of theory–experiment interplay as well as connections between physical content and context fields such as nature, technique, everyday life and applied physics by conducting model-and context-related experiments. Furthermore, laws and formulas as predominantly representative forms are extended by the use of diagrams and vectors. In this paper we give general reasons for this approach, describe the structure and added values of VBP, and show that they cover a relevant part of mechanics courses at university. Emphasis is put on theory–experiment interplay as a structural added value of VBP to promote studentsʼ construction of knowledge and conceptual understanding.

Using smartphones and tablet PCs for β−-spectroscopy in an educational experimental setup

A magnetic spectrometer is used to gather the β−-spectrum of 90 Sr /Y with a focus on two aspects. (1) The intensity of β−-radiation is measured by the camera sensor module of a tablet PC together with the RadioactivityCounter app and by a Geiger–Muller tube. We evaluate the quality of mobile devices as radioactive radiation detectors by using polyenergetic β−-radiation as an example and by comparing the spectra measured with the two detector types. (2) For educational purposes we implement a simple experimental setup, which consists of separate devices for measuring the electrons kinetic energy and intensity, which are available in laboratories in educational settings. Comparison of the measured β−-spectra published in the literature should encourage students to think about the energy resolution power of the β−-spectrometer. Theoretical considerations show the low, yet sufficient energy resolution power of this spectrometer, especially for low energy levels.

Distance Education in Physics via the Internet

Abstract This article describes three connected projects in physics: (1) a very successful course at the university level; (2) a collection of several thousand multimedia materials, its status and evaluation, and its dissemination; and (3) Web experiments—experiments that can be operated remotely from a distance via the Internet.

Harmonic Resonances in Metal Rods – Easy Experimentation with a Smartphone and Tablet PC

A variety of experiments with smartphones and tablet PCs allow a precise analysis of acoustic phenomena. For example, we recently described an experiment in which a noise signal simultaneously triggered harmonic acoustic resonances in the air column of a tube open at both ends and a tube closed at one end. The measured resonant frequencies were used to determine the speed of sound in air with an error less than 4%. The present article describes experiments for harmonic resonances in another type of one-dimensional wave carrier, viz. clamped metal rods. Resonances are generated by hitting one end face of the rod; the resonant frequencies can then be measured by an app on a smartphone or tablet PC. The experiments can be used to explore how the excitement of particular resonant frequencies depend on boundary conditions like the length of the rod, the number and specific positions of fixed points of the rod, and the rods material. In addition the rods longitudinal (the so-called extensional) speed of sound...