DIG4AEdu
26/05/2025
1. Announcement of the Project at the Faculty of Sciences (FCUP) website
https://sigarra.up.pt/fcup/pt/projectos_geral.ficha_projecto?p_id=82098
and Institute of Physics for Advanced Materials, Nanotechnology and Photonics (IFIMUP):
https://sites.google.com/a/ifimup.up.pt/ifimupsite/projects
2. teacher training sessions
1st Training Meeting: Inquiry-Based Learning Methodology, 24-28 June, 2024 – Maia, Portugal https://www.instagram.com/p/DBtK_hNMGJD/
2nd Training Meeting: Digital Learning - Micro:bit and Arduino, 2-6 September, 2024, Porto, Portugal https://www.instagram.com/p/DB0jkMvsOFg/
3. Webinars
3.1 As part of the preparation for the upcoming student learning mobility event, a webinar was held exclusively for students on the 9th of October 2024, under the theme “Educational Games that Can Be Developed for STE(A)M Transdisciplinary Study”, with a special focus on using micro:bit. https://youtu.be/7FnOGIFybXc
3.2 On December 11th, 2024, students participated in a dedicated webinar titled “Management of Transport – Travel Safe, Stay Safe”, designed to raise awareness about transportation safety in everyday life and society. https://youtu.be/EU1xvobIO5w
3.3 Students engaged in a webinar on February 5th, 2025, focused on the theme “Contribution of STE(A)M Study to the Optimization of Expenses in Homes and Schools.” https://youtu.be/58pKiOI4Sl0
3.4 On the 26th of May 2025, students participated in a webinar titled “Living off Earth – a STEM-enabled Alternative to Problems on Earth.” The session explored innovative solutions for challenges faced on Earth by applying STEAM concepts and technologies. https://youtu.be/eZIHi7s9_Ns
4. Scientific production
4.1 José Luís Araújo, Marcelo Hahn, & Isabel Saúde (2025). “Mi casa, mi laboratorio”: un enfoque didáctico para la introducción al estudio de las reacciones redox utilizando materiales de bajo costo. Educación Quimica, 36(1), 29-40.
https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/req/article/view/88964/79404
This paper presents a proposal for a didactic sequence aimed at secondary school students. It proposes the exploration of natural acid-base indicators to characterize different aqueous solutions. It is a challenging and investigative scenario for students, in which the addition of bleach to a cola drink results in a chemical reaction that involves color changes.
4.2 Marcelo Dumas Hahn, Natália Machado, Frederico Alan de Oliveira Cruz, & Paulo Simeão Carvalho (2025). Low-Cost Solutions: Exploring the drop-shot activity with Arduino and Video Tracking. The Physics Teacher, in the press.
This paper presents an easy-to-implement and low-cost experimental setup for the drop-shot classroom activity using Arduino, because of its versatility in performing physics and allowing schools and universities with limited laboratory infrastructure to create a conducive learning environment, and increase student engagement in diverse educational contexts.
4.3 Geraldo Magela Couto Oliveira, Paulo Simeão Carvalho, & Marcelo Dumas Hahn (2025). Evaluation of inclusive educational resources for teaching sound waves. Physics Education, 60, 035035.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6552/adc868
This paper presents a study on the use of inclusive educational resources for sighted, blind, and visually impaired (VI) students in a Portuguese middle school. The school integrates students with multiple disabilities alongside sighted students. The research focused on evaluating how 8th-grade students perceive the contents of sound waves using three inclusive educational resources. These resources were based on multisensory didactics—a tactile model, a slinky spring model, and a Swell paper model—and developed with inputs from VI students, blind students and teachers.
4.4 Marcelo Dumas Hahn, Paulo Simeão Carvalho, & Frederico Alan de Oliveira Cruz (2024). Colour and temperature of the stars: a demonstration using Arduino. Physics Education, 59, 045006.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6552/ad3c89
This paper introduces a simple experimental setup for instructing the correlation between a star’s colour and its temperature. The experimental setup facilitates the exploration of the topic of colour addition, demonstrating to students how to replicate the colour of a star—a spectrum colour—by employing an RGB LED that emits only primary colours (red, green, and blue).
4.5 Marcelo Dumas Hahn, Natália Alves Machado, Paulo Sime ̃ao Carvalho, & Frederico Alan de Oliveira Cruz (2025). Using physics simulation to understand the biology process of ion channels. Physics Education, 60, 055027.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6552/adf7f9
This work presents a pedagogical proposal that employs the Circuit Construction Kit: DC computer simulation from the PhET platform to address Millman’s theorem and facilitate the understanding of the principles involved in the electrical equilibrium of biological cells. The study models the cell membrane potential as a simplified electrical circuit, considering ion channels (Na+, K+, and Cl−) as resistors and concentration gradients as voltage sources. Through simulation, the effects of varying ionic conductances on the resting potential are analysed, highlighting how the inactivation of the Cl− channel or changes in the conductances of Na+ and K+, aimed at restoring equilibrium, affect cellular homeostasis and excitability.
5. Educational resources
5.1 António Almeida, Igor Melo, Paulo Simeão Carvalho, Marcelo Dumas Hahn (2024). Drop of a sphere in glycerin, Casa das Ciências.
https://www.casadasciencias.org/recurso/9157
This simulation focus on the drop of a steel sphere in glycerin. The position (x, y) of the sphere (in meters) will be visible in a small yellow-background rectangle, which appears when the mouse cursor is placed over the sphere and the left mouse button is pressed. Air resistance is neglected, and it is assumed that the densities of glycerin and steel do not vary significantly with temperature. Possible effects of the glycerin tube walls on the sphere’s motion are also disregarded.
5.2 António Almeida, Igor Melo, Paulo Simeão Carvalho, Marcelo Dumas Hahn (2025). Horizontal launch of a body, Casa das Ciências.
https://www.casadasciencias.org/recurso/9143
In this simulation, a box is released from an inclined plane at various pre-selected positions. At the end of the inclined plane, the box slides along a horizontal surface until it leaves it and falls under the action of gravity. The effects of friction between the box and both the inclined and horizontal planes are neglected, as is air resistance. The box can be placed at different positions on the inclined plane by selecting positions I to V on the control panel. The trajectory of the box can be visualized by activating the checkbox next to the text "Show trajectory."
5.3 António Almeida, Igor Melo, Paulo Simeão Carvalho, & Marcelo Dumas Hahn (2025). One-Dimensional Collisions. Casa das Ciências.
https://www.casadasciencias.org/recurso/9170
In this simulation two blocks, A and B, represented in the simulation by different colors, slide without friction on a horizontal surface. The masses of the blocks, their respective velocities, and the coefficient of restitution can be adjusted. Air resistance is neglected. The initial velocities of the blocks are: vA = 2.0 m/s and vB = 0, and they can be modified in the animation between -3.0 m/s and +3.0 m/s. However, their values are hidden. The coefficient of restitution (e) is initially set to 1 and can be changed between 0 and 1. Its value is also hidden. By placing the mouse cursor over a point on the body and pressing the left mouse button, the (x, y) position of that point (in meters) will be displayed in a small yellow-background rectangle.