Francisco Esquembre (University of Murcia, Spain)
Facilitating programming computational physics simulations for tablets
Motivation is a powerful tool to help students learn. And being able to simulate Physics phenomena on tablets can be a great motivation for Computational Physics students. We introduce a major version of the successful Easy Java/Javascript Simulations (EjsS) modeling tool (http://www.um.es/fem/EjsWiki) that allows Physics teachers and students to create, share, and distribute Java and Javascript simulations with a minimal amount of training. Simulations created with EjsS can implement a great variety of computational algorithms, and visualize the result using attractive scientific graphics and interactive user interfaces. The software provides tools to solve ordinary and delay differential equations, with or without discontinuities (events). The Javascript support of EjsS allows students to create computational physics programs and simulations that run in smartphones and tablets. We have also created a Reader App for Android and iOS that allows a user to collect and organize a number of JavaScript simulations for use off-line. When on-line, the Reader App connects to the OSP Collection at the comPADRE digital library, to download additional ready-to-use, tablet-enabled simulations.