At the end of our first unit about constant-velocity motion, I tasked students to make a sprite move across the display and return to its original position. That was easy for most students.
There was more to the assignment than creating motion. While moving, students were tasked to calculate distance and displacement for the sprite to display. Upon return the displacement would be 0 pixels and the distance would be 600 pixels. Finally, they had to calculate the average velocity and the average speed. Physics teachers will realize that the average velocity would use displacement and would be 0 pixels/second. The average speed would be some positive value of pixels/second. Here is my version of a working script for this task.
I gave students about one period (80 minutes) of class time for the work and expected continuation at home. Students seemed on task, working in pairs or small groups. I was fully engaged working with students that requested help. I know what to expect when I release students on a challenging task. I have also learned that what seems to me to be a complete give-away of the "answer" to students, is rarely such. It is still a challenge for most students to absorb a multi-step process in an extended dialog with a teacher and then go off and complete their own version. In my earliest days of Snap! usage, I guarded the logic that I wanted students to discover. That does not work with new learners. In many cases I worked with students to get the script working for half of the journey, and told them to finish up.
FEEDBACK TIME: During this busy class, I had asked students to respond to a three-question survey. Sixteen of my 25 students did so. The results are summarized in this document. The range of student "feelings" about Snap! ranged evenly from dread to joy. The assessment of difficulty averaged a 3 out of 5. This seems about right to me, based on my own perception of how things are going. I made a special plea for students to provide their honest (and anonymous) opinions about Snap! There are some strong opinions, both ways. I have my work cut out for me to gain more "believers" in using Snap! I could write for many pages about some of the issues I see, including the concern about grades and the fact that the other honors physics teacher is not teaching Snap! to his students. These sentiments are understandable and not a surprise.
The final student products are due on Monday. Early submissions reveal some issues persist. As a physics teacher, I am pleased to have this Snap! context to discuss the difference between distance and displacement. Some students will be resentful of time spent without achieving the comfort of success. My coping mechanism for this is to be sure I give them the information and time they need to be successful. At this stage, if Snap! activities are too taxing for the average student, negative feelings will persist and perhaps grow. I will not allow that to happen.