1. Simulations in the Math/Science Classroom: Creating an Engaging Pedagogy with Excel! Scott A. Sinex Prince George’s Community College, Maryland Mark Clemente National Institute of Aerospace/Virginia Beach Public Schools Presented as a webinar at VSTE Conference in Virginia Beach on 22-24 February 2009

2. Why interactive spreadsheets? Easy access for students and good tool for them to know Easy for instructors to develop – see Developer’s Guide to Excelets Developer’s Guide to Excelets Creates an engaging pedagogy

3. …more why? Addresses topics conceptually, while camouflaging mathematics –Students have to think: predict – test - analyze Allows for mathematical modeling and studying errors –More science process –Mathematics resurfaces!!!!

4. How are the temperature scales related? http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/temperature_scales.xls

5. How does the size of an atom vary on the periodic table? http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/radii_comparison.xls

6. How does the length of a spring vary with mass added? http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/Hooke’s_Law_solver.xls

7. How is the energy of dissociation related to composition? http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/DNA_base_pairing.xls

8. How do you square a binomial? http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/square_binomial.xls

9. Excelets …. Interactive concept exploration Supports Mathematicians' “Rule of Four” Mathematical modeling Error analysis Supports national standards in mathematics, sciences, and technology http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets

10. Which do you prefer: static graphs in a textbook21% (6) dynamic graphs in Excel 76% (22) both 3% (1) Using Excelets does not require that you be familiar with Excel. most definitely 7% (2) I think so 38% (11) just barely 34% (10) not at all 14% (4) don’t know7% (2) Student feedback… All Student Survey results http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex/excelets/assess.htm

11. Excelets offer a more visual experience with graphs instead of using just the mathematical equations. most definitely 66% (19) I think so 24% (7) just barely 10% (3) not at all don’t know Excelets make it easier to grasp or learn a concept. most definitely55% (16) I think so 31% (9) just barely 14% (4) not at all don’t know more feedback…

12. What do student like most? Mean with +/- standard deviation Predict-test-analyze

13. The “How to” resources... Developer's Guide to Excelets: Dynamic and Interactive Visualization with "Javaless" Applets or Interactive Excel Spreadsheets Tutorial, instructions, and a variety of interactive Excel spreadsheet examples Resource list for mathematics and science

14. Excelets developed by high school teachers… Hampton Roads Modeling and Simulation Initiative http://modsim.wikispaces.com/Math+and+Scie nce+Lessons Exercises developed by Computation and Science Teachers (CAST) Workshop http://www.psc.edu/eot/k12/cast.php http://www.psc.edu/eot/k12/cast.php (see previous years)

15. More info... Scott Sinex – ssinex@pgcc.edussinex@pgcc.edu http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex Mark Clemente – mark.clemente@nianet.orgmark.clemente@nianet.org Webpages embedded in PowerPoint – get LiveWeb (http://skp.mvps.org/liveweb.htm)http://skp.mvps.org/liveweb.htm …and thanks for coming today too!!!

16. Resources Computational Resources by Maryland Virtual High School http://mvhs.shodor.org/CAST2008 Introduction to Computational Science Angela B. Shiflet and George W. Shiflet http://wofford- ecs.org/IntroComputationalScience Supercomputing Conference Education Program Wiki http://sc08edprogk12.wikispaces.com/

17. Data analysis Graphing with Excel – LabWrite http://www.ncsu.edu/labwrite/res/gt/gt-menu.html Using Excel for Handling, Graphing, and Analyzing Scientific Data: A Resource for Science and Mathematics Students http://academic.pgcc.edu/psc/Excel_booklet.pdf

18. Data sets Quantitative Environmental Learning Project (QELP) as Excel files http://seattlecentral.edu/qelp/Data.html Exploring Data – datasets as Excel files http://exploringdata.cqu.edu.au/datasets.htm