Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
One of the fundamental challenges in teaching is making the students able to transform
course material in ways that help them solve "real world" problems.' Sophisticated mobile
technology (such as smartphones, iPads, or iTouches) offers students an opportunity to apply
physics content to a broad range of scenarios to enhance their understanding and improve their
class engagement. For the outlined example, students in an upper-level biomechanics class used
the native accelerometers in iPads to record and analyze human movement. This activity allowed
the students to experiment with the impulse-momentum relationship.
In biomechanics class, comprehension of the impulsemomentum relationship is essential
for appreciating how external forces contribute to gait, running, jumping, and landing. A
fundamental problem for the students is understanding that net positive, negative, or even no net
impulses from external forces, not their peak values, determine one's ability to initiate
movement, slow down, or maintain a steady velocity. This series of classroom experiments is
intended to have the students generate acceleration graphs using the iPad's accelerometers and to
recognize better how the area under the curve, the impulse defined as the integral of the
acceleration
1= fmñ(t)át = Ap
(I impulse, m mass, a acceleration, í time, p momentum), and not the peak acceleration affects
movement.
Prior to the class activity, one app, SPARKvue ,^ was downloaded and installed on each
of the student-issued iPads. The SPARKvue app displayed and recorded real-time x, y, and z
iPad accelerometer data.
The students placed the iPads in front of them on their desks and launched the
SPARKvue app. The students were then asked to push quickly the iPads forward in a manner
that primarily resulted in change to the j-axis accelerometer (Fig.1, left). The students watched
the acceleration time-series data until the iPad came to a complete stop. On a piece of paper, the
students drew the change in the/-axis accelerometer time-series data as a consequence of the
push. In classroom discussion, it was noted that the mass of the iPad remained the same over the
course of the movement, and, as a consequence, the ^-acceleration data could be used as a
reflection of the force being applied to the iPad over a period of time (impulse). Furthermore,
because the iPad had no velocity at its initial and final positions (therefore, no change in veloc-
ity), there was no net change in momentum of the iPad. The students referred back to their
drawings of the accelerometer data to see that the positive and negative impulses applied to
the iPad were approximately equal (no net impulse).
To demonstrate to the students that it is the impulse of the acceleration and not the peak
value that determines change in movement, this activity was repeated where the students were
told explicitly to record firm push and release of the iPad (but not so firm that it slides off the
table to the floor), which is brought to a stop by friction. The resulting time-series data showed
an acceleration with a large peak over a short amount of time from the initial push and an
acceleration with a smaller peak over a longer amount of time from the force of friction (Fig. 1,
right). The students noted that the areas in each case were approximately the same. This
"eyeballing" of the areas, however, was far from ideal. To understand trulythat the movement
behavior of the iPad could be attributed to the impulses rather than the peaks, the students
exported the recorded data and were provided with a MATLAB program that integrated the data.
Because of time limitations, the students performed this analysis outside of class and returned the
following class period with data showing that the positive and negative impulses were
approximately the same. Further, subsequent class discussion belped tbe students understand
that these calculated impulses were also estimates of movement velocity (Fig. 1, bottom).
Once an interpretation of tbe acceleration data was understood by tbe students, they were
then asked to record the acceleration of their bodies' approximate center of mass (cm.) when
standing up from a chair. Using SPARKvue, the students, with the iPad held close to the body
and aligned vertically, recorded data as each stood up from a chair. As a class, we could discuss
how the impulse-momentum relationship observed when standing up was similar to pushing the
iPad forward. Through this experiential activity, the students were able to observe bow a
common mechanical principle applied to two different movements.
The use ofthe iPads in this activity offered a number ofadvantages. First, the native
accelerometers in the iPad allowed for each class member to collect and discuss his/her findings
within a single class session using only one piece of equipment (though the MATLAB analysis
required the use of a computer outside of class). Second, the portability of tbe iPad fostered
student collaboration and engagement as datacould be easily sbared (by passing the iPad) for
comparison in groups.
It is understood that not all instructors have the capability to provide each of their
students with an iPad for classroom use. However, as smartphones and other types of mobile
technology with native accelerometers become increasingly common on college campuses,^""*
it is likely that several students in a classroom may have access the technology needed to record
and analyze acceleration data. By working together in small groups, the outlined class activity
may be replicated.