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The Review! Are you a demanding user of interface technology who wants the latest, greatest tool for for collecting and manipulating data in your classroom? Then DataStudio is for you! For those of you who don't know what interfaces are, they are small units that connect to your computer and allow you to plug in sensors that collect scientific information.
The most recent version of DataStudio adds support for the cool new DataStudio Xplorer hand-held remote data-collection device:
No more clunky oscilloscopes or goofy, big blocky readouts - DataStudio provides beautiful color data in real time (data shows up on the screen as you collect it).
The ScienceMan collected the above data with three trials of sticking a temperature probe in and out of my ear (it's a rough job, but somebody's got to do it). Notice the clarity of the display, the legend and the included symbols just in case you are printing to black and white... very thoughtful! A careful look at the display above reveals powerful tools for displaying your data;
Choosing a best fit line is facilitated by an exceptional array of choices from the "fit" pull down menu button;
Note that the above graphic also indicates a statistics pull-down button;
It's pretty easy to see that just about every statistical function you could need is at your fingertips. You can easily choose the sets of data you which to view with the "data" pull-down. View as many or as few trials as you want. What is scary is that there are even more features available in each of the different data displays...
Keep in mind that you can view as many different data displays at the same time on the screen as you like. A very interesting feature is the "Workbook". This feature allows the teacher to present an entire experiment from start to finish in a single file. The workbook acts as a repository for the experiment and it's details but students can also use it as an electronic notebook. Students do their work in the workbook and if you like, they can print it out as a traditional paper lab report. Simply amazing. One can see a future where students will submit their workbook results on the network... no more paper! Cool! Look, if this sounds in any way complicated... it's not. I found the setup window incredibly easy to use;
Double click the sensors you want and they automatically plug in... or drag and drop them if you wish. In fact, DataStudio is fully drag and drop compliant... data sets can be dropped onto displays to see the results! Simply plug your sensors into the actual interface, press "start" (on the convenient bar at the top of the screen) and you're collecting data! To give you an example of how easy and powerful this software is, let me give you an example. I used a force sensor and the remote logging capabilities of the Science Workshop 500 interface to measure the thrust of a rocket engine with my students;
When we got back to the class we reconnected the interface, downloaded the data, and saw this;
Beautiful! You physics geeks can even integrate the curve to calculate the impulse of the rocket engine - so easy!
One other nice little feature - I really like the stopwatch right next to the stop-start button... a great touch! This will be a great lab stopwatch as well.
Having used DataStudio I am more convinced than ever that interface technology is the future of science instruction, so get on board! You really should download the demo and try it... I could write for days about features (you know how the ScienceMan likes to blab). If you are a current owner of Pasco interfaces, I guess the question is... do you shell out the extra money for this program or keep using Science Workshop (the old program)? My advice is to get a site license - you won't regret it. This is really a no brainer if you are considering buying some iMacs; DataStudio is fully compliant with USB adapters (actually, they even sell them in the Pasco catalog). Have fun interfacing!
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This is the "auto-scale" - it automatically fits the data to the size of the window with an appropriate scale.
These are zoom tools, allowing you to move in on the data or move the data further away... and it's animated - no sudden jumps!
This is another zoom tool that lets you move in on a selected piece of data.
Align matching x-scales.
"Smart Cursor" - gives you x and y values to a high degree of precision.
Slope tool - drag a moving tangent line along the data and see the slope calculation instantly!
Pressing the calculator button not only provides you with an excellent on screen calculator but a powerful unit convertor as well! Enter calculations that will be performed on the data as collected... this gives you the power to display your data in any way you please. The text button allows you to add notes of any kind to your display - labelling important parts of your data is easy!
