Computer-based learning in an undergraduate physics course: Interfacing a mobile phone and matlab to study oscillatory motion

Abstract

Over the past couple of decades, mobile devices have become ubiquitous items in our daily lives. Companies continuously add innovative features that make them more affordable and easy to use. This success in mobile technology has prompted educators and instructors to utilize these gadgets to boost the teaching-learning process by changing the traditional classroom to one that is interactive and engaging. For instance, there is strong potential for using mobile technology in physics education due to the different kinds of sensors that these devices have that make them unique and well-suited for experimentation in places where learning occurs naturally; a simple pendulum is a good example as it can be set up easily and with minimum material. Despite the remarkable number of apps available, only a handful of them have been developed for undergraduate physics education, the majority are virtual labs, and others acquire data in real time but need to be exported to a computer for analysis. By this token, we set out to build an app with matlab for reading the acceleration sensor of a mobile phone in real time when it is used as a pendulum's bob, and to obtain paramount physical parameters such as position, velocity, acceleration, and damping constant. The app empowers instructors and learners with graphical visualizations and with an immersive experience on how the experimental data and the theoretical models of oscillatory motion interact, and keeps teachers and students away from the hassle of using rarely available laboratory equipment and virtual simulations.