Visual Physics: Teaching Without Words - the Power of Diagrams in Education

Abstract

Learning technologies are good when they are plentiful and meet students’ diverse needs and abilities. We can give many examples of such diverse teaching technologies: video lectures, documentaries, textbooks, visual aids, and much more. I propose not to forget the importance of schematic drawings in teaching physics, especially in posing physical problems. Drawings and diagrams are needed in education since visual representation and visualization are a good basis for learning. In this case, I propose a way to create diagrams for posing problems in physics, in which there will be no written words, only diagrams, internationally accepted letter symbols, and numbers with units of measurement. Such a schematic drawing is not based on any language in the world and should be understandable to the student without words. Along with traditional physics textbooks, which are reminiscent of huge volumes of romance novels in their text content, I propose creating textbooks and collections of physics problems, where there is not a single word - only diagrams. For consideration, I propose several such schemes, which are located on a blog - https://algebrabasedphysics.blogspot.com. The advantage of this approach is that it allows students to focus on the essence of the task without being distracted by the text. This is especially important in physics teaching, where an accurate understanding of problem conditions and the correct application of formulas are critical. Schematic drawings promote the development of analytical thinking, visualization, and abstract thinking, which are key to the successful study of physical phenomena.

Presenters

Vasiliy Znamenskiy
Professor, Science, Borough of Manhattan Community College, New York, United States

Details

Presentation Type

Poster Session

Theme

Science, Mathematics and Technology Learning

KEYWORDS

VISUAL LEARNING, DIAGRAMS, PHYSICS EDUCATION, SCHEMATIC DRAWINGS, LANGUAGE-INDEPENDENT, ANALYTICAL THINKING, STANDARDIZATION, MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION, INNOVATIVE TEACHING, VISUALIZATION