Transcript crystal_Martin&Mahaf..

King’s CRYSTAL Center for
Visualization in Science
Geowall and Beyond…
A Brief Word from our Sponsor…
• The following is a collaboration between
The King’s
Crystal
Center
the Visualization
Center
for Science
forUniversity College
Education at The King’s
and TheVisualization
CRYSTAL-Alberta
Hence
in project.
Science
forth …
The Plan…
• What Do We Mean by Visualization?
• The King’s Crystal Center for Visualization
in Science
– Past
– Present, Including a short GEOWALL tour
– Future
Visualization - An Integral Part of
Learning:
• Seeing and perception
• Seeing in the “Minds Eye”
• “Seeing” can take place with senses other than
your eyes
• Visualization as metaphor for perceiving
• Visualization plays a critical role in
understanding – both the understanding of the
student as well as the understanding of the
researcher
The King’s Crystal Center for
Visualization in Science
• Past
– MAP project
– Applet Development with/for Alberta Learning
– Gordon Research Conferences on Visualization in
Science and Education
What is MAP?
• A six-year project involving collaboration of 3 postsecondary institutions in the province of Alberta
(King’s University College, U. of Calgary, U. of
Alberta) as well as the Ministry of Education for the
Province of Alberta.
• MAP provided high quality learning, WWWdeliverable objects for the teaching of the first 3
terms of university level Physics and scalable to
meet the needs of most high school curricula
So who are we?...
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Project MAP Executive Directors: David Austen,
Wytze Brouwer, Hans Laue, Brian Martin
Project Associates: Terry Singleton, Peter Wright
Programmers (MAP_North):
– Nathan Laan, Dave Ooms, Phil Martin,
Peter Uitvlught, Rob McQuarrie, Tyler
Luchko, Mike Schuurman, Brian Martin
FLASH: Travis Whyte, Leah Martin
Content: Leah Martin, Nicole Albert, Melody
Russel, Brian Martin
A closer look at MAP
• Highly modularized collection of “learning
objects” including:
– over 150 applets and applications extensive FLASH
animation library
– Video and Lab interfacing via JAVA applications
– student tutorial modules
– extensive interactive questions with attention paid to
conceptual questions as well as numeric response
• Objects can be stand-alone or embedded
within user designed navigation tools
Some terms…
• Learning object: a small, concept
focused content item (applet, Flash
animation, QT movie etc)
• Applet: small program created in JAVA
or Flash and intended to be transmitted
via the web
• Application: stand-alone program in
JAVA to be installed and run locally on a
user’s machine
Pedagogic Design and Philosophy
• MAP is built on a constructivist learning model
and all learning objects are designed to
encourage (demand?) student interactivity
• Concept focused
• Tutorial modules are usually designed to involve
a pair of students in conversation but can run
“solo”
Classifying Applets by Function
• Address pre-conceptions
• Augment student experience
• Bridge the transition from conceptual to
quantitative
• Aid in the visualization of complex phenomena
Designing Applets which Address
Pre-conceptions
• they are designed to address a well-known
preconception (i.e. one identified in the research
literature)
• they are entirely qualitative in both “input” and
“output”
• they allow the student to draw directly on the applet
the expected outcome and then to compare this with
the “correct” result simulated by the computer
• the applets are designed to be attractive and “nonintimidating”
Conceptual Applets...
Applets that augment
student experience...
•"This gadget really helps visualize it!"
•"I can see it happening."
•"It was nice to see the ball moving so we can picture the
skateboarder or whatever we are looking at"
nature
•"… good (vectoral
assignment
…" of acceleration
•"The assignment was good, but it would be better if it did not
and velocity)
take 10 minutes to get into the program. I could probably do it
from home much faster"
•"It would have been okay, except for the problems with the
computer"
•"This program is interesting, but not for a very long time"
•"I thought learning this way was extremely difficult and hard to
understand. I prefer note taking and chances to ask you
questions when they arise."
•"I'm not good with the computer - too slow of a connection"
•"This was awesome and fun"
• 2-Dimensional Motion
• Encourages “interaction”
or play
with the ideas of
velocity and acceleration
Applets that Bridge the Transition
from Conceptual to Quantitative
• Circuit Builder
Applets that Bridge the Transition
from Conceptual to Quantitative
• The Incline
• Visualization of force
vectors
• Graphical
visualization tools
• Can stimulate “what
if…” questions
Applets that Bridge the Transition
from Conceptual to Quantitative
• Man on the Ladder
Applets that Bridge the Transition
from Conceptual to Quantitative
• Atwood’s Pulley
Applets that Help the Student
Visualize Complex Phenomena
• Sonic Booms
Applets that Help the Student
Visualize Complex Phenomena
• Car on a banked
roadway
Applets that Help the Student
Visualize Complex Phenomena
• Ripple Tank
Applets that Help the Student
Visualize Complex Phenomena
• Slit-Diffraction
Applets that Help the Student
Visualize Complex Phenomena
• Thin Film Interference
Gordon Research
Conference on
Visualization in
Science & Education,
Oxford, July 2005
Mahaffy (Chair)
Martin (Workshop Leader)
Geelan (Workshop Leader)
Flowing water in SE
Jordan
NASA Satellite Image
NSF Funding (Research on
Learning and Education)
“Touching Molecules with
Bare Hands:” Augmented
Reality
Arthur Olson, Scripps Research
Institute
Co-Vice Chair, 2007 Gordon Research
Conference
 New Emphases
 Role of Haptics in Visualization
 Best practices in production and dissemination of
educational visualizations
 Visualization in genomics and systems biology
 Computer graphics / cognitive science interface
 Visualization for public understanding of science
 Physical models and touch in forming mental models
 Geo-Wall 3D visualization applied to other
disciplines
http://www.grc.org/
Post-Conference Minigrant Program
Setting Directions for Visualization Research
• Promote new collaboration between
investigators in at least two disciplines
• Include expertise in visualization from both the
production and evaluation communities or from
both a scientific and the learning or cognitive
communities.
• Only one third of the submitted proposals funded
• Previous workshop and mini-grant program
evaluated by L. Jones, et. al. in Chem. Educ.
Res. Pract., 2005, 6 (3), 136-149
Student View of Visualization:
What do They See?
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Mary Jane Shultz, Tufts University, Medford, MA
Ghislain Deslongchamps, U. of New Brunswick, Canada
Mike Stieff, UC Davis, CA
Mary Hegarty, UC Santa Barbara, CA
• Focus: Using eye tracker tools to refine student
interaction with the relevant parts of electrostaic
potential surfaces and Flash animations of
molecular mechanics to generate guidelines for
creation of images that focus the viewer’s
attention while conveying a specific point.
Addressing Misconceptions in the
Understanding of Global Climate
Change Through Visualization
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Mike Stieff, UC-Davis, CA
Brian Martin, King’s University College, Edmonton
David Geelan, University of Alberta, Edmonton
Robert Simmon, NASA – GSFC, MD
Focus: produce prototypes of visualizations
representing satellite data over time in response to
an inventory of misconceptions concerning global
climate change to study the role scientific
visualizations play in bringing about conceptual
change in secondary students.
Developing and Understanding
Animations of Cloud Formation
• Oswaldo Garcia, San Francisco State University, CA
• Barbara Tversky, Columbia University
• Kristin Henry, GalaxyGoo, CA
• Focus: Are animations broken into natural steps
more effective than continuously running ones in
explaining cloud formation to geoscience
students?
Enhancing Students' Spatial Skills with
Geographical Information Systems
• Bob Kolvoord, James Madison University , VA
• David Uttal, Northwestern University, IL
• Danny Edelson, Northwestern University , IL
• Focus: a pilot study in grades 4 and 7 exploring
the impact of the use of geographic information
system (GIS) software on student spatial
cognition skills.
Spatial Visualization from Nano- (and
smaller) Scales to Planetary Scales
• Niescja E. Turner, Florida Institute of Technology, FL
• Luis Martínez, University of Texas at El Paso, TX
• Mary Hegarty, University of California at Santa Barbara,
CA
• Focus: Does 3D computer visualization help low
or high-spatial visualizers the most and does
scale and experience matter?
The King’s Crystal Center for
Visualization in Science
• Present
– NSF Global Climate Change (Mahaffy, Stief, Geelan, Simmon, Martin)
– CRYSTAL Visualizing the Unseen
• Grade 5 science: visualizing Carbon Dioxide as it applies to
climate and chemistry (Gustafson, McDougal at al)
• Applying GEOWALL to visualizing chemical structures (Mahaffy,
Martin, Vederas, et al)
• Visualizing subatomic phenomena (Martin, Brouwer, Visser et al)
– CRYSTAL Global Climate Change
• Science 10: Energy Flow in Global Systems (Geelan et al)
– CRYSTAL Visualization: State of the Art Review (Philips et al)
The King’s Crystal Center for
Visualization in Science – The Present
• Hardware/Software Capabilities
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GEOWALL
QuickTimeVR
HyperChem
Flash/ JAVA/ VPython
BRYCE and Blender 3D rendering environments
• Expertise
– Martin (Physics & Astronomy), Mahaffy (Chemistry)
– Working With Leading Visualization Researchers Bringing Together
the Learning of Science and the Science of Learning
– Undergraduate Programmers (starting May, 2006)
– Collaborative teams with researchers and classroom teachers
Welcome to GEOWALL!
GEOWALL in use during lecture at the Gordon Research
Conference in Visualization in Science
July 2005, Oxford UK
I. Geowall – Technical
Considerations
• Uses 2-matched DLP
projectors (“left” & “right”)
each outputting a plane
polarized image rotated
900 wrt the other.
• Screen is “daylite” type –
polarization preserving
• Eyeglasses “decode” left
and right eye information
– your brain does the
rest!
Geowall – Technical Considerations
Left-channel image
Left channel image is
projected through the
left channel DLP
projector and is planepolarized as shown
Right-channel image
Right channel image is
projected through the
right channel DLP
projector and is planepolarized as shown
Geowall – Technical
Considerations
• Projectors are stacked
vertically with 3 rotational and
translational degrees-offreedom
• Computer should be equipped
with a video board capable of
running 2 monitors
• Passive stereo – image
“stacking”
• Crude alignment can be
achieved using separate
monitor windows from each
projector
Geowall – Technical
Considerations
• Left and Right channel
polaroids are placed in
front of the lens – avoid
touching the lenses as
conducted heat will
quickly (< 1 hour)
degrade filters
• Final alignment achieved
by using stereoviewer
and the Geowall
alignment image
GoodNot
(not
Better
quite!
perfect)!
Congratulations – you are ready
for stereo projection!
More on Creating Stereo
Images
• Digital
Camera
– Two
images
contain all
of the
stereo
information
needed for
your brain
to produce
a stereo
pair
Translate camera L to R
More on Creating Stereo
Images
• 3D Image rendering
software
– Blender – freeware
(outstanding package but
steep learning curve)
– Bryce (more accessible but
not free)
• Either offset “camera” or
scene and render both L
and R channel images.
III. Free Software that Supports
Stereo Projection
• Chemistry/Biology:
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JMOL
Pymol
VMD
Protein Explorer
• Physics/Astronomy
– VPython
– Astrowall suite
– Wallview
GEOWALL – 3 examples
• Looking a CRYSTAL Structure (VMD)
• Visualizing Hoffmann Structures (VMD)
• Visualizing the magnetic field in a solenoid
(VPYTHON)
Visualizing the World Too Small To See:
Small Matters
Christina deMatteis, University of Nottingham
Tudor Bumback, Age
13, Romania
IUPAC/SAW Global
Poster Competition
It’s a Chemical World
“The most powerful thing
you can do when you’re
learning chemistry is to
zoom down, in your mind’s
eye, to the molecular level
and try to imagine what is
going on and in a sense,
try to understand the
personalities of the
reactants and products…
Having each type of model
show a different aspect is
ideal. Because then
students don’t look at a
particular model and say:
that’s reality.”
The Importance of
Multiple
Representations at
the Molecular Level
Roy Tasker, Univ. Western
Sydney
Models in Chemistry
Importance of Different
Levels of “Seeing
Chemistry”
P. Mahaffy, Journal of
Chemical Education,
Jan. 2006, 83, 50 - 55
The King’s Crystal Center for
Visualization in Science
• Future
– Provide an ongoing resource for CRYSTAL projects
• Expertise in: Molecular Modeling, FLASH/ActionScript, JAVA,
BRYCE, QuickTimeVR, GEOWALL, etc
• Access to programmers and visualization specialists
• Quick prototyping and “proof of concept”