Active Learning Integrating Hands-on Experiments and Multimedia Resources:
A Collaborative Workshop for Undergraduate Physics Teachers
7-8 October 2013
Miranda House, University of Delhi, Delhi
Organized under the aegis of
D S Kothari Centre for Research and Innovation in Science Education
and
Project REALM: Resources for Enhancing Active Learning with Multimedia
Sponsors
Department of Biotechnology (DBT) Star College Scheme
University Grants Commission
Department of Science and Technology
International Collaboration: University of New South Wales, Australia
Resource Person: Mr. George Hatsidimitris, UNSW, Australia
Objective: This teacher-training workshop aims to create resource material for active learning of
physics at the undergraduate level. It will focus on the process of blending hands-on activities,
simple experiments, and demonstrations with web-based multimedia resources to create a teachinglearning unit on select topics in fundamental physics. The material will be within a framework that
integrates in the lesson plan Physclips teaching materials developed at the Department of Physics,
University of New South Wales. Australia.
About Physclips: Physclips is a free platform for teaching-learning of senior high school or
introductory physics. It currently comprises volumes on Mechanics, light, Sound and Waves. It also
has resources for Electricity and Magnetism and Thermal Physics. The project has been funded by
Office for Teaching and Learning in Australia and The School of Physics, NSW. Downloadable,
reusable animations taken from Physclips and ancillary resources are often repurposed in online
courses, Powerpoint presentations, bogs and other media. The material has won several awards
including the 2010 Education Medal of Australian Institute of Physics, and the 2011 Australian
Shell Innovation Prize in Education Category for the Physclips platform. (Website:
http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/)
Approach: The workshop will follow a collaborative approach to gain better insight into the
Physclips platform. The focus will be on nature of the multimedia and its interplay with active
learning. Physics investigations can be enriched using visual overlays in tandem with an ongoing
experiment or demonstration. For instance, multimedia application could illuminate or make visible
certain aspects of the learning activity which would not be otherwise available to the naked eye.
Viewing the images with the overlays whilst students are engaged in the active learning
environment will help them develop a deeper understanding of the underlying physics whilst also
helping them make connections between the theory and practice components.
Illustrative Examples: The animation can be used alongside experiments or lecture sessions. The
following screen shots from Physclips illustrate the power of viewing real time phenomena in slow
motion and of overlays on animations for vectorial understanding of kinematics and force diagrams.
Example 1. Motion of an object on a track and a ramp: Performing real time experiments in tandem
with animated motion.
Figure : Motion of an object on a track and a ramp
Example 2. Projectile Motion: Slowing down a physical event to add certain quantities for better
understanding of kinematics.
Figure : Taken from http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/monkey_hunter.html
Example 3. Curvilinear Motion: Overlaying invisible forces
Figure : Taken from http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/jw/Newton2.htm
Pre-workshop Activities: Participating teachers will be required to undertake Pre-workshop
activities preferably in small groups (2-4 people per group). The teachers will individually or in
small groups look through the Physclips website in search of ideas that would form an appropriate
teaching unit. These will provide the context and background material for the resource aimed at the
workshop. The multimedia content could be blended with other active learning activities. The
material could be adapted for theory teaching or laboratory work. It could simply borrow one
animation to show a concept or use several to create comprehensive package. At the very least the
teaching unit would have to be on a topic covered in Physclips. The resource will include concept
questions as well as pre- and post-tests and follow rubrics guided by education research.
Programme
MONDAY, 7 OCTOBER 2013
10:00 am: Presentation
“Educational Multimedia Projects in Physics” by George Hatsidimitris
The presentation will showcase a number of educational multimedia projects for the teaching of
physics via animations and videos. The projects have won a number of national and international
accolades and serve as exemplars of good practice in the field of multimedia learning. The presenter
has produced the projects in collaboration with Professor Joe Wolfe and other staff at the University
of NSW, Sydney, Australia. The projects are:
Einsteinlight
Physclips
Glimpses of Science
Einsteinlight teaches Special
Relativity and can be viewed at
Physclips covers Mechanics, Waves
and Sound and Light, view at
Glimpses of Science offers hands-on
activities for school children
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/einsteinlight/
http://www.animations.physics.unsw.edu.au/
http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/primary-school-science/
11:00 to 11:30 am Morning Tea and formation of collaborative groups.
The participants will from small groups to collaborate on designing an active learning experiment.
The groups will require access to a computer with internet connection.
11:30 am to 1:30 pm Selection of hands-on activity and supporting resources.
Each group is required to scan through and view multimedia modules and ancillary resources in the
Physclips project so as to formulate a hands on activity. The activity should meet the following
criteria in so far as possible:
1. Be a topic covered by Physclips.
2. Utilise some of the Physclips content i.e. videos/animations/web pages to provide context
for the hands on activity.
3. The activity should use simple, cheap materials so that other institutions/schools may utilise
the activity.
4. The activity should be able to benefit from multimedia enhancement i.e. are there invisible
forces that could be demonstrated via multimedia?, or could stills be captured from the
activity and then used to highlight phenomena otherwise inaccessible to the naked eye? (e.g.
in the case of a fast moving projectile).
1:30 pm to 2:00 pm Lunch
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm Peer evaluation
The groups each present their idea(s) to the whole workshop for feedback and evaluation. The lab
should contain the following:
1. The background theory
2. A list of the materials
3. The activity itself (presumably to be done by students working in small groups)
4. The learning objective and assessment task
5. Some indication of how the group believes it could be coupled with multimedia.
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm Interactive Session and Group Work (without the multimedia)
This may involve shopping for materials, refining the activity and suggesting the contextual
information and particular overlays/videos/animations to accompany the activity.
TUESDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2013
10:00 am Presentation
“Designing multimedia according to evidence-based guidelines” by George
Hatsidimitris
The presentation will consider a number of research-based guidelines relating to the layout and
delivery of multimedia principles. The presenter will also share findings from his own published
research relating to self-management of multimedia information and the role of instructional advice.
The purpose of the talk will be to explain why certain design considerations relating to the layout
and delivery of educational multimedia improve student learning whilst others impede learning.
11:00 am Morning tea
11:30 am to 12:30 pm Designing the multimedia
Each of the group’s labs will be examined through a co-design process i.e. a negotiated design
between the educational multimedia designer and the group’s content experts will arrive at a design
that reflects both the skills of the group members and the implications of the research-based
evidence. The best two learning activities will be chosen by the workshop participants to be seen
through to finalisation.
12:30 pm to 1:30 pm Creation of multimedia and ancillary resources
Using video cameras and photographic equipment raw imagery will be captured and processed
through software to produce multimedia resources to complement the learning activity.
1:30 pm to 2:00 pm Lunch
2:00 pm to 5:00 pm Creation of multimedia and ancillary resources (continued)
If time allows the final product will be presented to the participants for feedback, evaluation and
suggestions for future development. The finalised learning activities will be placed on the project
website.