Thanks. I have put your story in a Wiki page called Data Acquisition and Analysis for Children, where I am collecting material for a proposed book.
On Nov 21, 2007 9:00 AM, Yoshiki Ohshima <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ben and everybody, > > The multiple-click problem prevented me from trying the acoustic > distance measurement activity for a while, but finally I could do it > last night on 637. Thi is pretty cool! > > This reminds me of a story I heard from my boss and I thought you > would be interested in it, too: > > --------------------------- > The graph activity was by some Physics professors at Tufts University, > including Ron Thornton (who has been a major figure in physics > education via computers since the Apple II). He has lots of stuff > online (but I couldn't find the specific reference for this work > (ca. 1990). > > Basically, they found that a pre-test that would accurately predict > the final grade was apptitude at reading graphs. Then they decided to > try teaching some of their students how to read graphs -- and one of > the main ways was to use a Polaroid camera range finder on the screen > of the computer and the student using whole body movement back and > forth to try to match different graphs on the screen: distance, > velocity, acceleration, etc. They reported that this worked very > well. We made a Hypercard version of this and tried it on children and > teachers and found it worked very well. > --------------------------- > > Basically, looking at a graph and acting as a component or > derivative of the graph is a great way to improve physics "sense" and > it results in a better grade. He thinks that using the "whole body" > instead of just finger tips is a key. This would be a great match > with Acoustic Measure. > > For this purpose, perhaps the interval of noise should be > configurable and can be made shorter, and the read-out values should > be able to be used by other things like a graph drawing/showing > program. > > Also, have you thought about making an explanation for kids, perhaps > in the form of an "active essay"? The current implementation is a bit > like a magic, and I bet many kids who try it would say: "it can > measure the distance because they are 'talking' to each other" or > something like that based on the "story mode" of thinking when asked > how it works. A kid-accessible scientific explanation would be very > nice. Since the essence of the measurement should be very, very small > (perhaps just one or lines, leaving all the details of binary sequence > and speed of sound variation), that would be a quite fun reading for > kids. > > Just my 2 yen. > > -- Yoshiki > _______________________________________________ > Devel mailing list > Devel@lists.laptop.org > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel > -- Edward Cherlin Earth Treasury: End Poverty at a Profit http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Earth_Treasury Sustainable MBA student Presidio School of Management _______________________________________________ Devel mailing list Devel@lists.laptop.org http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel