Re: more on whiteboards

[John Gastineau <john@GASTINEAU.ORG>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: phys-l@lists.nau.edu: Forum for Physics Educators
> [mailto:PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU]On Behalf Of David Strasburger-fac

> What I have really come to LOVE about whiteboards is this:
>
> I have a projector for my computer and the whiteboard works pretty nicely
> as a screen.  This means that we can dim the lights and project data or
> graphs on the board and then mark up the image with markers.  I find that
> more and more frequently I take data with a ULI, project it up on the
> board and ask a kid to answer questions or make notations.

I have done this too, and it works very, very well. Great discussion starter.

Another thing you can do is project animations such as from Interactive
Physics, frame by frame. Mark an object's velocity vector (say) and then move
forward to a later time. Move the projector (or more simply, the window on the
computer screen) so the tail of the velocity vector coincides with the tail of
your drawn vector; now you're ready to do the graphical vector subtraction on
the whiteboard. Classes say "oh, I get it!" when you do this. (I learned this
when I was teaching with Bob Beichner, NCSU. Thanks, Bob.)

I find it interesting that in the discussion of the health hazards of markers
that no one has wondered of the health hazards of chalk. Personally, chalk
sends me into a sneezing fit that has had me delay classes. I will not teach
with chalk again, ever, for far worse than sneezing, chalk dust seems to
aggravate my asthma. Breathing is not optional.

JEG

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John E. Gastineau      john@gastineau.org               KC8IEW
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