Update: new, free, version released. See post here.
Download the Free Version of the IB Physics Graphing Template for 2016+ Here!
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IB Physics Students Graduating in 2016 and later face a larger and more sophisticated Internal Assessment (IA). When it comes to making Linearised Graphs, the biggest difference is that students should now consider all their data when drawing best-fit, max, and min trendlines.
Fortunately, I've updated the IB Physics Graphing Template to help do just that! Now when it calculates the max and min trendlines, it will search through every possible combination of corners of your data and select only the most extreme slopes that pass through all your error bars:
The Max and Min Trendlines consider all data points.
That's not the only update. Based on my experience with my own students, I've added a slider to adjust the number of significant figures reported in the trendline equations:
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| You can adjust the number of Significant Figures in the trendline equations. |
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| The last data point appears to be preventing any straight line from fitting through all the error bars |
To help students catch these issues, the template offers feedback:
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| The above error is automatically generated to let you know that something has gone wrong with your graph |
Anyone can download and share the free version of the template which offers all the above features forever for as many graphs as you like. If you are a Physics teacher, you may be interested in purchasing a school-wide license for the full version which offers two extra features:
Additional Full (Paid) Version Features:
- Demonstrate Animated Graphs (like the video at the top of this post)
- Receive further feedback beyond error messages. How much frustration will you save if your students were automatically reminded of key bits of information like:
Example of Additional Feedback available in the Full (Paid) Version
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Example of Additional Feedback available in the Full (Paid) Version
The full version comes with a school-wide license that doesn't expire, or require account management. Just share the file with your students like you would any other file. You can purchase the full version from the store in the upper right hand side of this page.
FAQ
Operating System Compatibility:
No matter what your operating system is, your going to need Microsoft Excel installed. The template will not work with other spreadsheet software like Numbers, Open Office, or Libre Office.
The template works very well in Windows, and acceptably well in Mac OS although I would suggest you download the free version to test functionality on your system before buying a full version license. Linux is untested at this time.
Macros:
Because this template has a lot of new, sophisticated functionality, it wasn't possible to build it without Macros. Macros are extra bits of software written by the spreadsheet author (me, in this case) to add functionality to the spreadsheet. You must enable macros to run this software. If in doubt, talk to the IT department at your school.
Support:
I'm not able to offer a guarantee of support but I will do my best to help you out if you have problems. Just post a message in the comments below and I'll get back to you. I'd recommend you check out the free version before buying the full (paid) version to make sure it meets your needs.
It's Running So Slowly!
In my experience the process of drawing the graph takes quite a while if: your on a Mac, you have a lot of data, or you are animating the graph. To keep things running smoothly, consider un-checking the "automatically generate graph" box. Once you've finished entering your data and uncertainties, then click the "generate graph" button. This way, nothing happens in the background until you're ready.
