Follow Up to “Web 2.0 Resource for the Physics Classroom” – Was Pixton Worth It??

Back on October 12^th, I created an assignment on Pixton.com for my physics students to complete- demonstrate one of Newton’s 3 laws through an original comic. From there, students had to present their comic to the class and explain which law applied in that situation and how it is accurately portrayed.

I gave the students the rubric that I created, set up the classrooms on Pixton, and planned two days in class to create. I was very happy with the results; however, I’m not sure it was worth the time commitment. I wanted to only spend one day on creating the comics but it took quite a long time for the students to activate their accounts, find my assignment, and learn how to make something on the site. The students really enjoyed the assignment and seemed to appreciate the originality. I think it was a good way to have students demonstrate their knowledge while providing a creative outlet for the more artistic students. The only downside was the amount of time it took- two days to create and one day to present. I might do the assignment next year (assuming I can get another 30 day free trial) depending on the time that I have to get through the curriculum. We’re revising the curriculum guide for physics next year and if I have less time to spend on Dynamics then I would cut this assignment first. 

As a side note not related to the usefulness of Pixton in Physics- I was surprised at the violence that students used in their comics. Many students used explosions, guns, fire, and fights to show the laws. Nothing that I thought completely inappropriate for schools, just far more violence than I thought there would be. I have to wonder if that is because cartoons on TV are traditionally violent and students related the physics cartoon to TV cartoons.

Here are some of the comics my students produced. They’re just a sample- not the best ones or the worst ones. Notice the violent themes in most of these. The last one on the page makes me sad- the students explained in class how one of Newton’s Laws applied but the violence overpowers the physics content.