Improving student understanding of air resistance through a lab activity
Research Mentor(s)
Boudreaux, Andrew
Description
The topic of air resistance has received relatively little attention in terms of research-based curriculum development. Even though students demonstrate an awareness of air resistance, they struggle to answer basic qualitative questions. For example, they sometimes believe that, because mass does not appear in the air resistance force formula, it does not need to be considered. This is not the case for an object falling at terminal velocity, where the air resistance force is balanced by the weight force. At Western Washington University, a 2-hour lab activity was created to strengthen student understanding of air resistance and terminal velocity principles. Preliminary data was collected during use in an introductory calculus-based physics course. The talk will describe the initial creation of the lab, an analysis of its effectiveness, as well as recent improvements to the lab activity.
Document Type
Event
Start Date
16-5-2018 12:00 AM
End Date
16-5-2018 12:00 AM
Department
SMATE (Science, Math and Technology Education)
Genre/Form
student projects, posters
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Air resistance--Study and teaching
Type
Image
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author’s written permission.
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Improving student understanding of air resistance through a lab activity
The topic of air resistance has received relatively little attention in terms of research-based curriculum development. Even though students demonstrate an awareness of air resistance, they struggle to answer basic qualitative questions. For example, they sometimes believe that, because mass does not appear in the air resistance force formula, it does not need to be considered. This is not the case for an object falling at terminal velocity, where the air resistance force is balanced by the weight force. At Western Washington University, a 2-hour lab activity was created to strengthen student understanding of air resistance and terminal velocity principles. Preliminary data was collected during use in an introductory calculus-based physics course. The talk will describe the initial creation of the lab, an analysis of its effectiveness, as well as recent improvements to the lab activity.