THREE-DIMENSIONAL VIRTUAL TEACHING AID FOR DEMONSTRATING THE PHYSICS OF THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD

MELESSEW, NIGUSSIE

dc.contributor.author	MELESSEW, NIGUSSIE
dc.date.accessioned	2017-08-14T05:41:04Z
dc.date.available	2017-08-14T05:41:04Z
dc.date.issued	2017-08-14
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/7679
dc.description	In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION IN PHYSICS	en_US
dc.description.abstract	Getting proper teaching aid for each specific topic in physics is very challenging endeavors. The associated technical challenge, economic costs, maintenance and operational costs are very hard to afford. Such problems are much more pronounced in developing countries including Ethiopia. The present thesis aims at showing how these kinds of problems can be alleviated using modem technology. Specifically, it presents a virtual teaching aid that can be used to demonstrate the working principle of the basic physics of the Earth's magnetic field. The system has several utilities organized under a user interface window named Bahir Dar University Physics Geomagnetic Simulator. Under this main menu, we have two major functions; a function that simulates the spatial behaviors of the Earth's dipole magnetic field and other function that shows temporal and spatial behaviors. All utilities are designed in user-friendly manner. Any one with basic computer skills can use them. The major focus is to create a virtual teaching aid that can be used to teach students with different academic background. For example, for students with high school level mathematics one asks them to insert few input parameters to get three-dimensional figures that show the basic physics of the Earth's magnetic field including latitudinal and longitudinal variations. The system provides an ideal environment for students to investigate different scenarios and make their own conclusion based cm the associated results. In other words, it creates active learning environment, which is recommended by many educators. The aid can also be used in teaching modeling, graphical analysis and interpretations among other things to students with college level mathematical background. Especially, it can be used as case on how one can analyze the pros and cons of a given model. This work also initiates pedagogical research questions including measuring the .effectiveness of the present virtual teaching aid.	en_US
dc.subject	PHYSICS	en_US
dc.title	THREE-DIMENSIONAL VIRTUAL TEACHING AID FOR DEMONSTRATING THE PHYSICS OF THE EARTH'S MAGNETIC FIELD	en_US
dc.type	Thesis	en_US