Application of Digital Technologies in Physics Teaching: Simulated Experiment – PhET
Physics teaching; Digital Learning Objects; simulated experiment; PhET – Rutherford scattering; media-environments.
Digital technologies and media connect human beings and constitute a new way of thinking-interacting-creating-innovating-with-technology. This integrated way of thinking composed of man and his digital technologies expands the thinking capabilities of each individual, as well as their interaction in the social collective to solve problems, create and innovate with technologies. The teaching environment (school) and education professionals, in this context, must assume their role of preparing and teaching their students to appropriate digital technologies as a learning process. Regarding Physics teaching, this work proposes an approach from the perspective of Seymour Aubrey Papert's constructionism to guide the understanding of the use of digital technologies in Physics teaching. In a qualitative way, this study uses the digital teaching platform Physics Education Technology (PhET) as a pedagogical tool to address the topic of experimental Physics: Rutherford Scattering. The study with this digital tool aims to understand, from a constructionist point of view, what are the pedagogical difficulties involving the use of digital technologies in teaching Physics. Finally, this work uses the knowledge acquired in this study to create an educational product that consists of a didactic sequence entitled Rutherford Spreading: simulated experiment - PhET.