Inquiry-Based Learning Activities In Dynamics

Inquiry-based learning activities (IBLA) consist of presenting teams of students with a physical situation and asking them to predict what will happen. They can then investigate the situation by experimenting with the laboratory materials. In this way the physical world is now the "authority" rather than the instructor. IBLAs, which have been shown to be extremely successful in the physics community 1, have been developed for an engineering dynamics course. Two initial IBLAs, involving a spool (or yo-yo) and rolling cylinders, were implemented in the Fall of 2012. Assessment of the IBLAs includes pre- and post-Dynamics Concept Inventory data, targeted quiz and final exam questions, and subjective responses from students.