Designing Open Source Computer Models for Physics by Inquiry using Easy Java Simulation

Abstract

The Open Source Physics community has created hundreds of physics computer models (Wolfgang Christian, Esquembre, & Barbato, 2011; F. K. Hwang & Esquembre, 2003) which are mathematical computation representations of real-life Physics phenomenon. Since the source codes are available and can be modified for redistribution licensed Creative Commons Attribution or other compatible copyrights like GNU General Public License (GPL), educators can customize (Wee & Mak, 2009) these models for more targeted productive (Wee, 2012) activities for their classroom teaching and redistribute them to benefit all humankind. In this interactive event, we will share the basics of using the free authoring toolkit called Easy Java Simulation (W. Christian, Esquembre, & Mason, 2010; Esquembre, 2010) so that participants can modify the open source computer models for their own learning and teaching needs. These computer models has the potential to provide the experience and context, essential for deepening students conceptual understanding of Physics through student centred guided inquiry approach (Eick, Meadows, & Balkcom, 2005; Jackson, Dukerich, & Hestenes, 2008; McDermott, Shaffer, & Rosenquist, 1995; Wee, Lee, & Goh, 2011).