Newton Gymlab: and Math Virtual - Laboratory

Rosa María Guadalupe García-Castelán, Linda Medina Herrera Tecnológico de Monterrey CCM,

Abstract In this paper the Newton Gymlab, that is a Physics and Math virtual gymnasium-laboratory, is presented. It is a site in which undergraduate students and professors of Physics and Math can find resources that enrich the learning process beyond the classroom experience. The academic authors have previously tested all the material. Subject, type of material and lessons, classifies the resources. The projects that can be found are diverse: interdisciplinary activities such as ethics in physics and math as well as projects in and educational videos are available to everyone. Moreover, the contents can be shared and ranked using the newest applications of social media i.e. twitter, facebook, etc.

Key Words: technology, physics, , educational activities, resources

para el aprendizaje de las matemáticas), developed by 1 Introduction Medina et. al. (2012) and Teceval: an on line testing system developed by Aguilar et. al. (2014). The Historically, Physics and Math have always had the academic products of the research done by the highest percentage of dropouts and failing grades. institutionalized groups called cátedras de This happens not only at Tecnológico de Monterrey investigación can also be found in the Newton but also at every education institution, either Gymlab. private or public. Confronted with this reality, the professors in these areas have developed lots of high 2 Background quality academic resources, which have been tested in the classroom several times. What has been the result? For more than 2 decades, important associations in The increase in understanding, in motivation and in mathematics and in physics have highlighted the the students´ mathematical abilities. Most of the enormous potential of the emerging digital professor´s efforts in this regard are usually in education. However, the technological individual, isolated and with limited outreach, usage still brings lots of questions to teachers, therefore the only students that benefit are the ones professors and researchers. What is exactly the that are in touch with the professor. potential of the information and communications technologies (ICT) in the teaching-learning process? The Newton Gymlab is a virtual gymnasium- How can it be exploited in education? Does laboratory that compiles, classifies, ranks and spreads technology really work in this regard? Why? Which the word on all the educational resources made by the are the concrete factors that make it work? Which are professors. Some resources are aimed only at faculty the circumstances that are an obstacle? members, in this cases peers can find suggestions on how to use the material, but the majority are aimed at The appearance of new and diverse software in both students and professors. All the material can be mathematics and in physics sets a new demand on the downloaded using a computer, a tablet or a cell professor. The existence of the computer establishes a phone. When the students register in the Newton new challenge to math teachers. Now, they need to Gymlab they can find tutorials on the lessons they design activities that take into account the advantages find most difficult. They also have at hand interactive of paths that have the potential to lay down new exercises, video clips, solved sample exams, power learning processes. point or prezi presentations, physics simulators and Technology must be used in math education in order several activities that develop an inquisitive well to exploit the understanding of the basic mathematical structured mathematical thinking. concepts beyond the boring rudimentary processes From the Gymlab site one can access outstanding that have prevailed in most of the courses. technological projects sponsored by Tecnológico de Even though a great impulse has been given to new Monterrey called NOVUS. For example the Integral technologies, there are still many teachers who reject Marathon (Maratón de Integrales) is an on line them. Some may think that calculators and computers training system develped by Antonyan et.al. (2012), will interfere with the proper learning of mathematical AVRAM: virtual remote environments for abilities. mathematical learning (ambientes virtuales remotos The Newton Gymlab provides the correct platform in Figure 1 shows the way the main site looks like. This order to share all the academic material made by the is where the log in session can be found, where the professors. By sharing our educational products these registration takes place and where the password can can be known, used, appreciated and moreover, be recovered. improved. These materials are empiric evidence of what can be done with technology in education, shining some light in all the darkness posed by the previous questions. On the other hand, students bring lots of prejudices into the physics and mathematics classes. Most of them have incorrect ideas and concepts that are a real challenge to anyone who dares to remove them form their way of thinking. Consequently, it is no surprise that a high percentage of students get into the university with a serious lack of understanding in algebra and arthmetics. The worst scenarios depict students with no physics in their high school transcripts. Figure 1. Main Site All physics and math curricula are so lengthy that The Newton Gymlab main page has two rows and the realistically being it is impossible to go deep in every background. The title as well as four tabs can be aspect of the syllabus. Most of the time some topics found in the first row. Such tabs are the material icon, are taught superficially. Due to the interest of new the help icon, the welcome icon and the log out icon. generations in technology, educators can use it as an The second row has three different search options. alternative way of teaching a much broader audience. The background shows an image and a short Technology is the tool that can reach anyone description of the most recent uploaded materials or anywhere anytime. Any lesson can be taught, any the ones that come out of a specific search. doubt can be answered, and any explanation can be delivered. Each person can be his or her own teacher The material search can be done by a specific lesson, if the correct material is well organized and presented by subject, by type of material (video, tutorial, ppt, in a friendly platform. It will be to the student´s etc.) and by key word. Once the search request has advantage to have well explained tutorials, interactive been sent the corresponding materials will appear. exercises, review lessons and videos that complement Each one contains a specific representative image, a the classroom experience. Having all these resources short content and type description and the objectives. at hand is a dream our generation never even came up Figure 2 shows how one search looks like and some with. of the obtained material. There are not many virtual gymlabs in physics and in mathematics on the web. The very few that exist are not in Spanish, their content is limited in quantity and quality and the material is not available for the different types of tablets or cell phones. The Newton Gymlab is one of a kind. It is enriched by the contributions of all faculty members of the Physics and Math Department of Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Ciudad de México and also by peers in other campi.

3 Newton Gymlab The Physics and Math virtual gymnasium-laboratory the Newton Gymlab is a site in which students and professors can have access to all types of technological resources in physics and mathematics. Figure 2. Material search The trial period of the platform took two months. It In order to create a new material a step-by-step was first tested by the full-time faculty members of template has to be filled out. It clearly guides the the Physics and Math Department at Ciudad de instructor so that all required search information is México and then by peers at other campi as well as by filled out. In this way the correct resource the part-time ones. classification is guaranteed. Figure 3 shows part of the material template in which the author chooses the title, the cover image, describes the objectives and the contents of the resource. Its level of difficulty and the authorized or reject resources created by someone subject are also part of the template the author can else. save the template even when it is partially filled out 4) Administrator: This type of user can activate or and continue its completion at a later time. Once the deactivate materials and users, monitor users activity template is 100% ready, it has to be reviewed by an and monitor the rankings of the resources. authorized committee member who either publishes the material or sends it back with feedback.

Figure 4. Share and rank column Figure 5 shows how each professor sees the listing of his or her own materials as well as the publication status.

Figure 3. Material template The users in charge of the material review can share it and rank it via Facebook or twitter. Figure 4 shows the options in which the resources can be shared and ranked.

The Newton GymLab has 4 types of users: Figura 5. List of resources 1) Student: This type of user has access to all resources and can download most of them. Nevertheless, this type of user cannot create nor can she or he delete materials. 4 Conclusions 2) Professor: This type of user has access to all The Newton Gymlab is an important powerful tool resources, can create new ones and edit or delete his that gathers all the educational material that can be or her own materials. Moreover, this user has the done using all types of technologies. Video clips, option of seeing the resources from a student point of PowerPoint or/and prezi presentations, tutorials, apps view. However, this user is not allowed to edit and anything that the imagination can create are someone elses´work. welcomed in this platform. Activities with or without a didactic technique, mathematical projects, 3) Authorized Committee Member: This type of user experiments in physics, and anything that can has access to all resources, can create new ones, can contribute to improve the teaching-learning process edit or delete his or her own materials and can can be found in this site. Some of the advantages of the Newton Gymlab are: it is in Spanish, it has a user friendly classification of the lessons, some resources have peer suggestions on how to use the material, everything can be shared and ranked in the social media, the contents have been approved by the faculty members of Tecnológico de Monterrey, and moreover, it is a showcase in which all the work that gives life to our Educative Model is shared with the world. With the Newton Gymlab we lead and inspire our students into the path of technology so that, on the one hand they develop an inquisitive mind, and on the other hand they develop the ability to study in an autonomous way.

5 Acknowledgements We want to thank all faculty members who decided to participate in the Gymlab project for all their ideas and for sharing their resources. In particular we want to thank Andrés González Nucamendi, Jaime Castro, Gerardo Aguilar, Natella Antonyan and Marlene Aguilar for their work on the Introduction to Mathematics tutorial. The Physics tutorial was developed by Víctor Robledo, Luis Neri, José Luis Escamilla and Rosa María Guadalupe García- Castelán. Alejandro Flores Benítez, the assistant to the Physics and Math Department, was a tremendous helped in many ways. Andrea Osorio Aguilar, a scholarship holder, invested many hours uploading the material. Finally, thanks to all our peers who showed interest in the project and provided us with their educational activities.