Physics Teacher Attends Workshop, Students Benefit

Students in Pat White’s Physics classes at Manchester Township High School are benefitting from knowledge she gained at two National Science Foundation workshops that focused on simulation and programming tools for physics education.  White recently helped her students use free online software she learned about in the workshops to design a program that simulated bouncing a ball off walls, surrounding it by a box and even adding the effects of gravity.

White said that recent physics education research indicates that the traditional lecture-style, passive learning model is not the best way for students to learn and understand physics.  She said that students entering advanced college physics programs were found to be lacking in computer skills needed for programming the computer simulations used in real-world physics research.

“I’m really excited to be able to offer this to my students,” she remarked.  “It’s really great that the NSF has this software available for free, and that the students are able to access it from home as well as in school.”

White said that her students are also performing other physics simulations with digital camera equipment she received through a grant from the Manchester Township Education Foundation. With this equipment, she explained, students can photograph an actual object and put it into the program.