Abstract:

This work presents an active learning experience for the topic of electrical circuits. The experience is based on the use of the Tinkercad simulator and the Mathematica computer package. The didactic strategy considers four phases. In the first, students analyze some simple electrical circuits through simulator experimentation. In the second phase, work is done in small teams answering a list of questions that allow inferring results on the behavior of current and load in the circuits analyzed. In the third phase, the physical theory that supports the different types of elements in circuits, their mathematical description via differential equations and their computational modeling are discussed. At the end of this phase, the simulated experimental results and the theoretical results are compared using small programs developed in Mathematica. Finally, various exercises and problems are done in the classroom and the knowledge acquired is evaluated through a conceptual exam on the web. The work shows the classic RC, RLC, double and triple cascade RC circuits, their simulation in Tinkercad and Mathematica, and the learning results obtained in two groups of 30 and 28 students who recently participated in the experience.

Keywords:

Mathematica, Tinkercad, Active Learning, Simulation.