LabVIEW is a graphical programming language developed by National ... On the other hand, ... Journal of Baltic Science Education, 12 (6), 730-746. ... Retrieved from http://hpcg.purdue.edu/bbenes/papers/Magana17CEJ.pdf. ... INTRODUCTION. 2. ... LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench) is a ...
LABVIEW AS A TEACHING AND LEARNING TOOL: ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM M. ÇORAMIK*, H. ÜREK*, E. ÖZDEMİR** *Balikesir University, Faculty of Necatibey Education, Mathematics and Science Education Department. **Okan University, Vocational School of Health Services, Opticianry Program.
ABSTRACT LabVIEW is a graphical programming language developed by National Instruments. Coding process in graphical programming languages is conducted by using icons and wires which is different from text-based programming languages. In the recent years, educational applications of LabVIEW also take over. LabVIEW which is easy to learn and apply when compared to text-based programs is preferred by the educators due to its flexible structure. Today, computer supported instruction models gain importance. Animations, simulations and computer programs are used in computer supported instruction models. It is not possible for the users to interfere those programs and make changes on them. On the other hand, electricity and magnetism are two difficult topics to be learned in terms of physics. In this study, LabVIEW based programs were prepared in order to be utilized by the educators related to the teaching of electricity and magnetism topics with computer supported instruction models.
1. INTRODUCTION It is claimed that students have difficulty in learning electromagnetism in physics. Most of specialized literature agrees that electromagnetism is the most difficult subject for the students to understand in physics (Chabay & Sherwood, 2006, Houldin, 1974, Loftus, 1996). Students suppose that electromagnetism includes difficult mathematical calculations, and they find concepts relating the topic intangible and cannot directly be associated with daily life (Bagno & Eylol, 1997; Chabay, & Sherwood, 2006; Houldin, 1974; Raduta, 2005; Tanel & Erol, 2008). Electromagnetism includes many intangible concepts such as current, voltage, resistance, charge, magnetic field, magnetic force, induction, and capacitance (Magana et al., 2017). For this reason, it is difficult for students to understand the concepts of electromagnetism and their interrelations, and thus it is difficult to solve problems related to this subject too (Ergin & Atasoy, 2013). LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench) is a graphical programming language developed by National Instruments (NI). Coding process in graphical programming languages is conducted by using icons and wires which is different from textbased programming languages. In LabVIEW, the program consists of two separate parts which are called Block diagram and Front panel. Coding process is conducted in Block diagram part whereas the Front panel part can be called as the user interface (Figure 1).
Figure 2 . Front panel and block diagram of the program called capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor
Second program is about magnetic field of a selenoid. Input variables of the program are; Current, direction of current, turn number of selenoid and length of selenoid. Outputs of the program are direction of magnetic field produced by selenoid and magnetic field value (B). Equations used in this program are;
At Fig. 3 front panel and the block diagram of the program are given. At block diagram while loop, compound arithmetic, power of 10, numeric control and case structure are used.
Figure 3 . Front panel and block diagram of the program called magnetic field at the center of a selenoid
Figure 1 . Front panel and block diagram
LabVIEW program which can be utilized in terms of various areas such as data collection, instrument control, industrial automation, is also frequently used in the most popular laboratories of the World (such as CERN, Lawrence Livermore), in engineering faculties and in the physics laboratories. In the recent years, educational applications of LabVIEW also take over. LabVIEW which is easy to learn and apply when compared to text-based programs is preferred by the educators due to its flexible structure. Today, computer supported instruction models gain importance. Animations, simulations and computer programs used in terms of computer supported instruction models are used as present programs. It is not possible for the users to interfere those programs and make changes on them. Especially, educators cannot make desired changes on the simulations during teaching. On the other hand, electricity and magnetism make up one of the difficult topics to be learned in terms of physics. The students experience difficulty in learning the abstract concepts such as magnetic field, magnetic force, current-magnetic field relationship. In this study, LabVIEW based programs were prepared in order to be utilized by the educators related to the teaching of electricity and magnetism topics with computer supported instruction models. It is aimed to gain output by the users according to the variables entered. The prepared programs which can be utilized in terms of general physics courses in university level involve the topics; (i) determination of the capacitance of a capacitor (ii) the magnetic field occurred around a straight wire which carries current (iii)the magnetic field occurred in the center of a coil which carries current.
2. PROGRAMS
Third program is about magnetic field created by a current carrying wire. Input variables of the program are; Current, direction of Current and distance between wire and Point A. Outputs of the program are direction of magnetic field produced by wire and magnetic field value (B). Equations used in this program are;
At Fig. 4 front panel and the block diagram of the program are given. At block diagram while loop, compound arithmetic, power of 10, numeric control and case structure are used.
Figure 4 . Front panel and block diagram of the program called magnetic field created by a current carrying wire
3 . DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION As a result of the study, the sample programs for teaching of the electricity and magnetism topics were prepared and with those programs, it is possible for the users to make changes on them which emerged during teaching process with limited coding knowledge.
4. REFERENCES
In LabVIEW based programs, the educators/students can observe the results by entering the
necessary variables from the user interface. Also, the concepts such as the direction of the current, the direction of the magnetic field which can be confused easily by the students are presented visually in the program. Current, the number of turn, distance, length of the selenoid are utilized as the variables in the program. Front panel and Block diagram structures of the programs are given at Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4. First program is about Capacitance of a Parallel Plate Capacitor. Input variables of the program are; Area of the conductive plates (A), distance between plates (d), and dielectric constant of the material between two parallel plates (k). Output of the program is Capacitance of the capacitor. Equations used in this program are;
At Fig. 2 front panel and the block diagram of the program are given. At block diagram while loop, compound arithmetic, power of 10 and numeric controls are used.
Bagno, E., & Eylol, B. S. (1997). From problem solving to a knowledge structure: An example from the domain of electromagnetism. American Journal of Physics, 65, 726-736. Chabay, R., & Sherwood, B. (2006). Restructuring the introductory electricity and magnetism course. American Journal of Physics, 74, 329-336. Ergin, S., & Atasoy, Ş. (2013). Comparative analysis of the e ectiveness of 4Mat teaching method in removing pupils’ physics misconceptions of electricity. Journal of Baltic Science Education, 12 (6), 730-746. Houldin, J. E. (1974). The teaching of electromagnetism at university level. Physics Education, 9, 9-12. Loftus, M. (1996). Students ideas about electromagnetism. School Science Review, 77, 93-94. Magana, A. J., Sanchez, K. L., Shaikh, U. A., Jones, M. G., Tan, H. Z., Guayaquil, A., & Benes, B. (2017). Exploring multimedia principles for supporting conceptual learning of electricity and magnetism with visuo-haptic simulations. Computers in Educational Journal. Retrieved from http://hpcg.purdue.edu/bbenes/papers/Magana17CEJ.pdf. Raduta, C. (2005). General students’ misconceptions related to electricity and magnetism. Retrieved from https://arxiv.org/ftp/physics/papers/0503/0503132.pdf. Tanel, Z., & Erol, M. (2008). E ects of cooperative learning on instructing magnetism: Analysis of an experimental teaching sequence. Latin American Journal of Physics Education, 2 (2), 124-136.
