Interactive Web-Based Manual for Laboratory Classes in Dynamics

Abstract

The world-wide-web has been used extensively for putting up details of the organization of a laboratory subject as well as the related handout in HTML or PDF format and relevant software and programs. The existing application is thus confined to the transmission of information. The present paper describes an interactive web-based manual for laboratory work related to the subject of Dynamics. The students could have a better understanding of the experiment before the class by the inclusion of digital pictures of actual setup or video clip on the use of certain equipment. During the class, Java Applets are used to perform the laborious or repeated calculations as well as the finding and plotting of the least square line. Students can therefore spend more time on the analysis and discussion of results with the instructors or teaching assistant in the class.

An Example of the Interaction between Virtual and Physical Experiments in Dynamics

“…The paper also describes how the theoretical model of the virtual experiment could be refined and improved with the results obtained from the physical experiment. The present work is an extension of an earlier work by Lee and Sabbir Ahmed [5] on an interactive web-based manual for laboratory classes in dynamics.…”

“…The intercept of the line is an indication of the experimental error as well as the contribution from the external angular impulse, which has been assumed to be negligible. Details of the write-up for the experiment can be found in the paper by Lee and Sabbir Ahmed [5].…”

Comparison between Traditional and Web-Based Interactive Manuals for Laboratory-Based Subjects

“…JAVA programs or typical spreadsheets can be used to perform the laborious calculations and the plotting of the experimental data. An example was presented by Lee and Sabbir Ahmed [8]. JAVA programs can also be used to determine the best-fit lines or curves.…”

“…A web-based interactive manual for an experiment to demonstrate the principle of the conservation of angular momentum has been reported by Lee and Sabbir Ahmed [8]. Initial design includes digital pictures of the actual equipment and machines that are used in the experiment.…”

Conversion methodologies from Signal Interpreted Petri Nets to Ladder Diagram and C language in Arduino

“…Following this line of reasoning, a good learning strategy is to give students a real problem with a context for them to develop problems’ resolution abilities. According to Lee and Ahmed, 2 laboratory experiments are an important requirement for engineering and science courses. Professors should introduce students to the concepts involved in the experiment beforehand.…”