SimInsights platform has been extended to support 3D.
Play with simulation here: http://174.143.169.30/SolarModel/
Play with simulation here: http://174.143.169.30/SolarModel/
An online collaborative simulation platform
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
New teachers from Los Angeles and Mexico added to SimInsights network
SimInsights welcomes three new teachers from Los Angeles, California and Mexico City, Mexico, to its growing network.
Luis Neri holds a PhD in Physics at the
National University of Mexico. He is currently a staff professor of the
Physics and Mathematics Department of the Engineering and Architecture
School at Tecnológico de Monterrey, in Mexico City Campus, where he
teaches Physics and Math for junior undergraduate engineering students.
Luis has always loved teaching these sciences and has been committed in
helping students to learn them, so he has experimented different
learning strategies in his classroom to promote active and enduring
learning, as collaborative learning and problem-based learning. He is
also convinced that the use of online systems as simulations and virtual
laboratories can motivate students and promote students’ self-learning.
Luis is member of a research group of professors at Mexico City Campus
interested on “e-Learning”. This group is committed to design on line
systems to support student learning in Physics, Math and other
disciplines.
Rob Daniel attended Ohio State University
and majored in physics. After graduating he moved to Los Angeles where
he attended UCLA and received a masters in education. He has been a
high school physics teacher for 4 years and has also taught robotics and
biology. He currently work at Animo Pat Brown HS in South Los Angeles.
Rob often uses simulations and virtual labs in my classes because they
are a great way to engage students and they help students visualize
abstract concepts and gain a deeper understanding of the concepts.
Professor VÃctor Robledo-Rella got a Bachelor degree on Physics and a M. in Sc. degree on Astronomy from the Mexican Autonomous National University. He got a Honor recognition for his post-graduate studies. He is full-time professor of the Physics and Math Department, of the Design, Engineering and Architecture School of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus since 2002. Currently, he is the director of the Honors Program of the Design, Engineering and Architecture School. He also coordinates the Introductory Physics courses of the Physics and Math Department, and he is the author of the Applied Physics course approved at institutional level at the Tecnológico de Monterrey. Professor Robledo-Rella is a member of the e-Learning Research Group at the Mexico City Campus, where he participates actively in research projects about the use and development of technology in education, including mobile learning and on-line adaptive systems. He has participated in various national and international conferences, and has 8 publications in astrophysics and more than 18 publications in educational research, mobile learning and intelligent tutoring. He is coauthor of the pre-calculus book: Introduction to Mathematics: Exercises and Problems with Grupo Editorial Patria, and he has reviewed and translated 4 University of Physics books for Grupo Editorial Patria, Pearson and McGraw-Hill. Professor Victor Robledo-Rella has over 16 years teaching physics at the university level and he is certified in the 2010 Teaching-Skills Development Program of the Tecnológico de Monterrey. He gives short workshops for teachers about the didactic use of the Blackboard platform and he has given several science lectures in radio and in several Mexican states. Recently, prof. Robledo-Rella received, along with other members of e-Learning Research Group, the Innovation in Education Award of the V Congress of Educational Innovation hosted at the Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Luis Neri
School: Tecnológico de Monterrrey, Mexico City Campus, Mexico
Luis Neri holds a PhD in Physics at the
National University of Mexico. He is currently a staff professor of the
Physics and Mathematics Department of the Engineering and Architecture
School at Tecnológico de Monterrey, in Mexico City Campus, where he
teaches Physics and Math for junior undergraduate engineering students.
Luis has always loved teaching these sciences and has been committed in
helping students to learn them, so he has experimented different
learning strategies in his classroom to promote active and enduring
learning, as collaborative learning and problem-based learning. He is
also convinced that the use of online systems as simulations and virtual
laboratories can motivate students and promote students’ self-learning.
Luis is member of a research group of professors at Mexico City Campus
interested on “e-Learning”. This group is committed to design on line
systems to support student learning in Physics, Math and other
disciplines.Rob Daniel
Rob Daniel attended Ohio State University
and majored in physics. After graduating he moved to Los Angeles where
he attended UCLA and received a masters in education. He has been a
high school physics teacher for 4 years and has also taught robotics and
biology. He currently work at Animo Pat Brown HS in South Los Angeles.
Rob often uses simulations and virtual labs in my classes because they
are a great way to engage students and they help students visualize
abstract concepts and gain a deeper understanding of the concepts. VÃctor Francisco Robledo Rella
School: Tecnológico de Monterrrey, Mexico City Campus, Mexico
Professor VÃctor Robledo-Rella got a Bachelor degree on Physics and a M. in Sc. degree on Astronomy from the Mexican Autonomous National University. He got a Honor recognition for his post-graduate studies. He is full-time professor of the Physics and Math Department, of the Design, Engineering and Architecture School of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City Campus since 2002. Currently, he is the director of the Honors Program of the Design, Engineering and Architecture School. He also coordinates the Introductory Physics courses of the Physics and Math Department, and he is the author of the Applied Physics course approved at institutional level at the Tecnológico de Monterrey. Professor Robledo-Rella is a member of the e-Learning Research Group at the Mexico City Campus, where he participates actively in research projects about the use and development of technology in education, including mobile learning and on-line adaptive systems. He has participated in various national and international conferences, and has 8 publications in astrophysics and more than 18 publications in educational research, mobile learning and intelligent tutoring. He is coauthor of the pre-calculus book: Introduction to Mathematics: Exercises and Problems with Grupo Editorial Patria, and he has reviewed and translated 4 University of Physics books for Grupo Editorial Patria, Pearson and McGraw-Hill. Professor Victor Robledo-Rella has over 16 years teaching physics at the university level and he is certified in the 2010 Teaching-Skills Development Program of the Tecnológico de Monterrey. He gives short workshops for teachers about the didactic use of the Blackboard platform and he has given several science lectures in radio and in several Mexican states. Recently, prof. Robledo-Rella received, along with other members of e-Learning Research Group, the Innovation in Education Award of the V Congress of Educational Innovation hosted at the Tecnológico de Monterrey.Monday, July 16, 2012
New teachers from Iowa, Boston and LA added to SimInsights network
SimInsights welcomes three new teachers to our growing community!
Leif Nabil Segen
School: South Hamilton High School, Jewell, Iowa
Notables: Phi Beta Kappa member and Summa Cum Laude graduate from Rutgers University (B.S. Physics & Ed.M. Physics Education). Team coach for 2011 first-place winners of Toshiba-NSTA ExploraVision competition.
Leif decided to be an educator during at year off from his undergraduate work. He lived in Saint Kitts and Nevis, West Indies, where his volunteering included curriculum development for Ministry of Education. Inspired by his experiences, he returned to university with the intention to apply his aptitude in math and science in the field of education. He has since taught science and math at the middle school, high school, and university levels. Leif wishes to foster emerging paradigms that will allow education systems to meet their charge: helping children and youth develop their abilities of evaluation and collaborative innovation.
Anna Karelina
School: Occidental College and Glendale Community College, CA
Anna Karelina studied condensed matter physics at Bayreuth University (Germany),earning a PhD degree before turning her attention to education. She worked in PhysicsEducation Research group at Rutgers University conducting action-research projectswith investigative inquiry-based learning. Since then she worked at Glendale CommunityCollege and Occidental College developing and revising inquiry-based instructions.
Allison Daubert
School: Hopewell Valley Central High School, Pennington, NJ
Notables: B.S. Physics and Meteorology, M.Ed. Science Education
Allison is enthusiastic about researching and developing student directed inquiry techniques for learning in her classroom. She is always looking for new ways to integrate technology such as videos, simulations, and data collection software into methods her students can use to actively investigate physics.Wednesday, July 4, 2012
SimInsights developing surgical suturing training simulator
SimInsights is developing a surgical suturing training simulator in collaboration with researchers from Texas A&M University and with support from Qatar Foundation. This training simulator will allow medical students to perfect suturing skills using computer simulation. Alternative training approaches involve practicing on cadavers which are not always available and oranges, which are not realistic. The project will use high fidelity simulation techniques, real time computation, 3D computer graphics techniques and interfacing with high sampling rate haptic devices to provide a fully immersive experience to allow students to build dexterous manipulation skills in a safe environment at a very low cost.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
SimInsights invited to present at EdMedia conference in Denver
SimInsights Inc has been invited to present a paper at the EdMedia conference organized by Association for Advancement of Computing in Education, in Denver.
SimInsights: Sandbox for Adaptive Collaborative Learning of High Schooland College Introductory Physics Concepts
Zhou Zhou
Teachers College, New York, NY, United States
zz2111@columbia.edu
Michael Town
University Prepatory Academy, Seattle, WA, United States
michael.s.town.atmos@gmail.com
London Jenks
Hot Springs County School District #1, Thermopolis, WY, United States
londonjenks@gmail.com
Rajesh Jha
SimInsights, Inc., Irvine, CA, United States
rkjha1@siminsights.com
Abstract: This paper describes the design, theoretical foundation, and application of SimInsights, a
suite of inquiry-based physics simulations for high school and college students. With SimInsights,
teachers can design collaborative learning activities customized to meet various instructional and
student needs. The learning model integrated into SimInsights is flexibly adaptive and is highly
likely to be effective based on current instructional design theories. Two case studies from high
school classrooms are discussed to showcase how SimInsights can be conveniently embedded in
the instruction to create authentic and motivating learning experiences for students.
SimInsights: Sandbox for Adaptive Collaborative Learning of High Schooland College Introductory Physics Concepts
Zhou Zhou
Teachers College, New York, NY, United States
zz2111@columbia.edu
Michael Town
University Prepatory Academy, Seattle, WA, United States
michael.s.town.atmos@gmail.com
London Jenks
Hot Springs County School District #1, Thermopolis, WY, United States
londonjenks@gmail.com
Rajesh Jha
SimInsights, Inc., Irvine, CA, United States
rkjha1@siminsights.com
Abstract: This paper describes the design, theoretical foundation, and application of SimInsights, a
suite of inquiry-based physics simulations for high school and college students. With SimInsights,
teachers can design collaborative learning activities customized to meet various instructional and
student needs. The learning model integrated into SimInsights is flexibly adaptive and is highly
likely to be effective based on current instructional design theories. Two case studies from high
school classrooms are discussed to showcase how SimInsights can be conveniently embedded in
the instruction to create authentic and motivating learning experiences for students.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
SimInsights running on XO by One Laptop Per Child
It was wonderful to see SimInsights running on XO at USC. XO is a laptop built by One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) organization for one purpose - learning.
All we needed to do was to update the firefox browser. Kudos to the software team at OLPC to creating an awesome learning product! Now XO users worldwide can learn with collaborative simulations.
Monday, February 13, 2012
SimInsights helps Seattle students engage deeply with Physics concepts
Michael Town, Physics teacher at University Prep high school in Seattle, Washington, set an ambitious goal for his students to work on a project with simulations: every student was assigned to build their own simulations to challenge each other’s understanding of constant velocity and acceleration in 1 and 2 dimensions. The experience was deep, rich and open-ended, resulting in a greater variety of responses from students relative to a traditional activity.
Michael is a Knowles Science Teaching Fellow, and holds MS and PhD degrees in Atmospheric
Sciences from University of Washington, and MS in Teaching from Seattle
University.
Monday, February 6, 2012
SimInsights selected as semifinalist for 2012 Milken-PennGSE Education Business Plan Competition
SimInsights has been selected as a semi-finalist in the 2012 Milken-PennGSE Education Business Plan Competition organized by the University of Pennsylvania! Only 20% of the submissions make it this far.
In addition to competing for the Milken Family Foundation's First and Second Prize, SimInsights has also been chosen as semi-finalist in the following prize categories: The Startl Prize, The American Public University System Prize and the Erudient Borderless Education Prize!
The Erudient Borderless Education Prize is the award for the best business plan that addresses the educational needs of the students, practitioners, and education systems of all countries, regardless of geography, demographics, or socioeconomic status. The intent is to create new thought and structure for education models that address the challenges facing the global community, rather than at a regional/country level, and to support the growth and success of all educators and students alike. The Borderless Education Prize amount is $10,000.
In addition to competing for the Milken Family Foundation's First and Second Prize, SimInsights has also been chosen as semi-finalist in the following prize categories: The Startl Prize, The American Public University System Prize and the Erudient Borderless Education Prize!
The Erudient Borderless Education Prize is the award for the best business plan that addresses the educational needs of the students, practitioners, and education systems of all countries, regardless of geography, demographics, or socioeconomic status. The intent is to create new thought and structure for education models that address the challenges facing the global community, rather than at a regional/country level, and to support the growth and success of all educators and students alike. The Borderless Education Prize amount is $10,000.
SimInsights invited to present at Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES) Symposium in Bahrain
SimInsights invited to present at Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES)
Symposium in Bahrain
SimInsights Inc has been awarded a grant and invited to present the innovative SimInsights platform at the Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES)
Symposium to be held in Bahrain on March 24-25. This year's focus is Global Innovation, Local Adaptation: Trends & Reactions.
Title (Dr.,
Prof.,): Arun R. Srinivasa (Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Texas A&M University, College Station and Qatar)
Iman Khandil
(Teaching Associate, Texas A&M University, Qatar)
and
Rajesh Jha (President & CEO, SimInsights
Inc., Irvine, California, USA)
Title of Abstract:
Web based simulation tool to enhance student engagement and
participation in Engineering Mechanics course at Texas A&M University
(TAMU) at Doha, Qatar
Abstract
Faculty teaching engineering mechanics have always contended
that one of the major difficulties with student understanding is the fact that
they do not have an intuitive ``feel’’ (ability to qualitatively predict or anticipate physical events
based on experience gained by prior unscripted interaction with physical objects).
This need for ``feel’’ for dynamics is a result of the fact that they satisfy a number of constraints that have to be internalized before physical
components can be built and that severely restrict the feasibility of creative possibilities. This
lack of ``feel’’ or ``experience’’ with such objects is especially acute at
TAMU Qatar where students are by and large unfamiliar with most engineering
tools, having no prior interaction with
them. We are seeking to answer the following question, “can students develop at
least a part of the ‘’feel’’ by using the SimInsights web based simulation tool
that is operated by the students themselves to explore dynamics, together with
some specially developed scripted lessons?” We will show some of the lessons
developed at TAMU-Qatar and demonstrate how the web based interactive nature of
the software allows the instructor to focus on the lesson without concerns
about software incompatibility, maintenance etc.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
SimInsights nominated for 100kin10.org
Why are we so excited?
We've made some attempts to unearth some of these great teachers and see how they re-imagine the simulation-centric classroom. The past few weeks have been nothing short of astonishing. Take a look at the profiles and work of teachers who recently used our software to have their students do some incredible work.
But back to SimInsights and 100kin10.
This nomination reflects the focus of our company. We see teaching as a challenging, worthwhile endeavor. Great teachers give students the ability to explore while channeling their focus and energy, they create pathways for learning and make critical instructional choices that no computer program could ever fully replicate. Over the past year or so, we've realized that our platform is only great when its in the hands of a great teacher.
We've made some attempts to unearth some of these great teachers and see how they re-imagine the simulation-centric classroom. The past few weeks have been nothing short of astonishing. Take a look at the profiles and work of teachers who recently used our software to have their students do some incredible work.
But back to SimInsights and 100kin10.
How do we think we can help motivate the best teachers to remain in the classroom?
1. By making them content authors/app developers: Now when a teacher has a cool idea for a simulation based lesson or inquiry, they can find it in our repository or build it by themselves in a few minutes, instead of working for hours trying to pigeonhole existing resources to fit their student needs. We hope to crowdsource the efforts of thousands of teachers, creating the world's number 1 database of 100% INTERACTIVE science and math problems, activities and assessments. Goodbye, boring textbooks. Hello, learning through exploration.
2. By increasing their impact: You know how every school has that great teacher whose class everyone wants to be in? Now more students can have access to content developed by those teachers through our repository. We hope that when these great teachers see how many people respect and use their work, they will be more motivated to keep producing it. Also, we just might be able to figure out some creative ways to reward these teachers, like providing them gift cards on Donorschoose.org, or paying for them to get some awesome professional development to that they can build even more cool lessons... If you have ideas, drop us a line at info@siminsights.com
3. By creating an intellectual community: Now instead of plowing a lonely furrow in their STEM classroom, every new teacher has an online network that will provide them with resources and critical feedback as they learn the ropes. Our community consists of engineers, scientists, educators and students, who can all work together to help teachers test and refine their cool ideas. We need to show them that they are needed and that we appreciate them!
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