Crosstalk meeting on February 26, 1997

Agenda:

1. Teaching Electromagnetism using Visualizations, Prof John Belcher, Physics
2. Planning classrooms for new modes of teaching with technology

Teaching Electromagnetism using Visualizations, Prof John Belcher, Physics

Outline of presentation:

1. Pedagogical aspects (motivation and impact)
2. Application and methodology (development and implementation strategy)
3. Implications for infrastructure (facilities, resources, ogranization and support for long-term viability)
4. Group Discussion
5. More information on this project

1. Pedagogical aspects (motivation and impact)

• Most of the phenomena in electromagnetism are not accessible to everyday experience.
• Electromagnetism is difficult to teach because we have little intuition about the phenomena.
• Teaching the subject effectively requires instilling a sense of intuition
• Traditionally this is done with lecture demonstrations in large courses with no laboratories (e.g. 8.02)
• Concept of fields is hard to grasp
• Material is dry and mathematical

The Future: Instill intuition using demos plus Java applets and computer visualizations. These can show things which can not be seen otherwise, and in a compelling way.

• Visualizations of field lines helps with intuition. Field lines act like strings and rubber bands.
• Visualizations engender sense of wonder
• Paradigm shift in the way that electromagnetism is taught
• Emphasis on geometry and stresses transmitted by fields

An Example:Why does a compass needle orient north/south?

• the subtext: field lines act like strings and rubber bands
• if you understand strings and rubber bands you can understand stresses transmitted by fields

2. Application and methodology (development and implementation strategy)

• hypertext on E&M
• standard textual development
• Java applets for active field line building
• video of experiments
• visualizations of experiments with field lines added
• all integrated into the same environment

We are putting together a unit on magnetostatics which includes

1. textual explanation;
2. video of experiments in magnetostatics;
3. 3-D animations of those experiments, with field lines added;
4. java applets for active construction of 2-D magnetic fields;
5. all within the same environment (a web page using Netscape as a driver).

I plan to use this initial unit in proposals for further funds to government ag ncies, private foundations, or to MIT internal sources. I have a sabbatical year coming up in AY 97-98, and plan to devote a good fraction of that year both to continued development and searching for additional support of this project.

3. Implications for infrastructure (facilities, resources, organization and support for long-term viability)

• This material can be used at all levels of E&M from freshmen to graduate level.
• Delivery both in lecture setting and to the student outside of class over Web.
• For delivery over the Web, the video and visualizations require high speed.
• The large freshmen courses have access to the best equipment for Web demos in lecture. Upper level courses do not.
• More classrooms with good projection equipment required to service those upper level courses
• This material is complicated and time intensive to develop.
• Need many more faculty liaisons, and a common pool of techniques and knowledge.
• Long term maintenance of Java Applets?
• Getting teaching relief from Departments for faculty engaged in this kind of development.
• MIT considers this software, and thus owns the copyright. How do you encourage faculty to develop material under these conditions?

4. Group Discussion

The following points came up during a group discussion:

• Will other faculty use this when they teach these courses? Maybe. More importantly, the hope is that it will spread beyond MIT to other schools, high schools, and the general public
• Some colleagues in the Physics department who are teaching 8.02 this semester already want to use some portions of this module
• CD-ROM would be a good delivery medium, not just the Web
• This work is analagous to excellent Physics films of the past, and also to the PSSC high school science curriculum
• Other faculty can pick and choose from among modules such as these, to put together their own electronic textbook
• The problem that needs to be addressed is funding and rewards. Such efforts are very expensive and labor-intensive
• Producing materials of this scale and complexity is both time-consuming and difficult. We need to look at mechanisms to make it easier and more efficient, e.g. authoring tools and templates
• In a few years, the compute power will be available to make a module such as this completely real-time and interactive
• Some of the problems and difficulties with this effort are identical with those faced 10 years ago with the development of software such as Todor for Athena. This is particularly true in reference to the difficulty of ongoing maintenance in the face of the ever changing technological environment
• We should explore how we can involve other faculty in collaborating on a development project such as this, to extend it
• A question that needs to be answered is "How is a student's experience different by virtue of having used these materials?"
• The best software has viability - i.e. long term sustainability and extensability to other courses
• This project used a development and delivery model that incorporated several agencies, including UROP, Academic Computing, CAES. Should we look at more systemic planning for this, rather than involving various agencies on an ad hoc basis?

Planning classrooms for new modes of teaching with technology

Mary Callahan informed the group that the Provost has approved renovations in 33 Institute classrooms starting with 10 rooms in Building 2 to be done this summer. These are "workhorse" rooms, with a capacity of 15 to 50 students each. The goal is to renovate all classrooms as part of Project 2000.

The group that has is working on the Building 2 rooms are interested in hearing from faculty their thoughts about what is and is not desirable regarding technology. The following comments were made during the discussion:

• Some people favored permanent installation of computers in at least some of the rooms, and others felt that it is better use of our resources to just provide appropriate power, network, and lighting, so that instructors can bring equipment into the rooms
• Some rooms need to have fixed furniture and other need to be set up so as to accomodate flexible physical arrangements
• The basics that are needed in every Institute classroom are:
  • A good screen
  • A network drop
  • Good, adjustable lighting
  • A good way to shade the windows so as to keep out ambient light
• Other equipment that was mentioned was an RGB connection to a projector and an interface box so that an instructor can bring in a PC or Mac
• We need to think about teaching models in addition to the lecture/presentation mode of teaching. These include:
  • flexible configuration for small groups
  • some amount of presentation
  • studio courses
  • distance learning
• One model would have 3 to 5 computers around the periphery of the room so that all modes of interaction between teacher/computer/students can be accomodated
• The electronic classroom 1-115 is good, but we need a similar facility, with a computer at each desk, that can accomodate larger classes, up to 60 or 70.
• We should look at the rooms that are oversubscribed and see what features make them desirable
• In this day and age, it would be wrong not to provide power and a network drop for each seat in a room that is being renovated
• There is a question about how self-service these rooms should be
• We should look at several approaches and experiment with a variety of initatives
• Faculty will try new things if there is an infrastructure (support and equipment) that helps them do new things
• We need to make sure that there is conduit from one end of the room the the other for video signal.
• We should look at who is using the electronic classrooms and see what their thoughts are
• It is currently difficult to configure a machine for a random network drop when you bring it into the classroom. [IS is working on a plan to make this much more transparent.]

Attendees:

• Vijay Kumar, Director of Academic Computing
• Rosalind Williams, Dean's Office
• Thomas Sand, Hochschulinformations Systems, Germany
• Craig Counterman, Material Science and Engineering
• Larry Bucciarelli, School of Engineering
• Les Perelman, Undergraduate Academic Affairs
• Gilberte Furstenberg, Foreign Languages and Literatures
• Leslie Finck, Center for Space Research
• George Gordon, Center for Space Research
• Stan Olbert, Physics
• Brendon Blazer, Student
• Kurt Fendt, Foreign Languages and Literatures
• Douglas Morgenstern, Foreign Languages and Literatures
• Ann LaVin, Foreign Languages and Literatures
• Takako Aikawa, Foreign Languages and Literatures
• Joe Ferrara, Urban Studies and Planning
• Bill Hogue, Information Systems
• Susan Minai-Azary, Information Systems
• Bill Cattey, Information Systems
• Naomi Schmidt, Academic Computing
• Katie Livingston, Academic Computing
• Dot Bowe, Academic Computing
• Lou Graham, Audio Visual Services
• Mary Callahan, Registrar's Office
• David Meyers, Design and Construction Services
• Michael Owu, MIT Planning Office

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Last modified by
J Littell 3/3/97