Teaching Physics by Coding

There are many computer simulations of Physics scenarios available on the internet. Most Physics teachers are aware of these apps and sometimes use them in their lessons. However, the people who learn the most Physics from these apps are the people who code them. They are the ones who have to really bite into the meat of the formulas we try to teach, and they are the ones for whom vector components are their bread and butter.
Similarly, Physics teachers are inundated with ads trying to get them to buy the latest computerized interfaces to expensive sensors so that experiments can be done with minimal effort on the part of students. Once again, who learns the Physics and engineering of sensor measurements, calibration and precision? The hardware designers and the coders.
Can we turn this around, and give our students the opportunity to learn Physics by coding simulations and by designing and building their own automated lab equipment? Maybe.
Recent developments in programming languages and inexpensive microcontrollers and electronics have now put these tools in the hands of hobbyists. I'd like to show you some of these (the language "Processing" and the microcontroller "Arduino"), and make some suggestions about how we can bring them into the classroom.

Biography

Richard Taylor decided to let out his inner teacher in 2001 after a twenty year career as a software engineer. The software engineer side went under cover for several years, but is now emerging again as a kind of hobby. Teaching Physics and Science (and Math) is still Richard's main job at Merivale High School in Ottawa, but now he'd like to teach about how Physics is used in video games and in those cool apps where your iPod knows which way it's pointing. Richard has a continuing fascination with both up (astronomy) and down (scuba diving).