Helping students interpret graph more effectively

Understanding graphs is such a fundamentally important skill in physics. Without this skill, students struggle to relate directly observable physical quantities like speed or displacement w... See More

Understanding graphs is such a fundamentally important skill in physics. Without this skill, students struggle to relate directly observable physical quantities like speed or displacement with their graphic representations (like slope and area). I know this is true with many of my physics students. The tools described in this article are dated since it was published in 1999. However, the observations are still true and teachers can use many online simulations that do similar jobs.