Vasudeva Rao Aravind and John W. Heard
Description:
We use web based simulation (freely available for use by everyone) to teach certain aspects of circular motion. In thisarticle, we present the contents of a computer simulation exercise illustrating concepts of circular motion that a set of47 students took. We discuss how the simulation and a lecture thereafter aided in student understanding of circularmotion concepts. We have used carefully thought out instructions for the computer simulation in which the studentsplay with various parameters in the simulation, attend a lecture on circular motion and solve a conceptual problemthereafter. We show that by using such simulation based activity in conjunction with lecture, student understanding ofphysical concepts can be greatly enhanced.