Interactive (adjustable) plots and animations as teaching and learning tools

Abstract

Interactive plots, such as are made possible with the Manipulate[ ] command in Mathematica, can be useful as teaching tools in the classroom, as well as learning aids for students outside of class. The use of adjustable sliders to change parameter values for an equation or system of equations allows for quick visual exploration of the effects of those changes on the resulting plot. Sometimes this visualization can help students understand difficult conceptual meaning hidden in mathematical expressions. Similarly, an adjustable interactive animation can effectively facilitate an understanding of concepts that are sometimes difficult to grasp from words or equations, or even “fixed” animations. This talk will demonstrate the creation of interactive plots and animations, and showcase several examples which the author has developed and used for teaching acoustics at the graduate and undergraduate levels. In addition, we will also discuss ways that students can be encouraged to create their own interactive plo...