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At my school, I teach 3 different levels of physics (Introduction, Honors,
and AP C). For my AP classes, our students come to school early two days a
week to give us extra time to do labs due to the rigorous nature of the
curriculum. For my other two levels, however, I do not have dedicated lab
time. I do not get a double period during the week to do labs, and have to
make do with 40 minute periods. Because of this, there are times when I
have used online simulations rather than full-blown labs simply out of time
constraints. I would much prefer not to do this, but the students seem to
really enjoy most of the simulations that I find for them. I have thought
about incorporating them as a pre-lab activity, where students would go
through a simulation and answer some questions before coming into the lab
and having the hands-on experience. My main concern with this is that the
simulation will “give away the answers” as it were. I always view my labs
as a way for students to investigate and explore natural phenomena, and I
fear that the simulations may take away from that experience .Does anyone
else have experience incorporating simulations into traditional lab
experiences? Thank you.
--Sean Grealis