PhET Interactive Simulations (https://phet.colorado.edu/), a project of the University of Colorado Boulder, provides fun, free, interactive, research-based science and mathematics simulations for use across, primary, secondary, and higher education levels. We extensively test and evaluate each simulation to ensure educational effectiveness. All simulations are open source and free to all students and teachers.
Teaching Electricity and Magnetism with PhET Simulations
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Intermediate level
Recommended experience
3 weeks to complete
at 10 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace
What you'll learn
Develop familiarity with PhET’s electricity and magnetism simulations.
Engage as a learner with model lessons for planning your own electricity and magnetism activities.
Design your own sim-based plans for teaching electricity and/or magnetism.
Details to know
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Recently updated!
January 2026
Assessments
26 assignments
Taught in English
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There are 10 modules in this course
In this module, you will get an overview of PhET’s simulations for electricity and magnetism, including a brief tour of the PhET website, making a teacher account (if you don’t already have one), and thinking about when and why to incorporate simulations into your teaching.
What's included
11 readings2 assignments3 discussion prompts1 plugin
In this module, you will review the concepts of electric charge and electrostatic forces from the perspective of a learner, using PhET simulations to bring key ideas to life. Along the way, you’ll pause to consider how to teach these ideas effectively.
What's included
17 readings6 assignments7 discussion prompts
In this module, you will take a step back from physics content to focus on pedagogical strategies. In the prior lessons, your exploration of PhET simulations was guided by a variety of teacher-created questions, including questions that could best be used when leading discussions with the whole group, using a projected simulation. Learn how to create the best context to promote student inquiry.
What's included
6 readings2 assignments4 discussion prompts
In this module, you will learn about electric fields and electric potential.
What's included
17 readings5 assignments5 discussion prompts
In this module, you will again take a step back from physics content to focus on pedagogical strategies. In the prior lessons, your exploration of PhET simulations was guided by a variety of teacher-created questions, including challenge prompts that scaffold learning when students have direct access to manipulate the simulations themselves.
What's included
3 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
In this module, we shift our attention from charges at rest to charges in motion. Our goal is to help you leverage the natural relevance and excitement that electric circuits offer so that students see circuits not just as diagrams on paper, but as tools for solving real-world problems and imagining new inventions.
What's included
28 readings5 assignments7 discussion prompts
Already throughout this course, you have used multiple models, and you have engaged in modeling of physical phenomena. In this module, you will learn about models and modeling as an underlying process skill that can enhance your use of PhET simulations.
What's included
4 readings1 assignment2 discussion prompts
In this module, you will explore magnetic fields and electromagnetic induction from the perspective of a learner using simulations. While magnets are familiar to many students, the mechanism behind their behavior is invisible and frequently misunderstood. Our goal in this module is to help make magnetic fields visible, directional, and meaningful.
What's included
16 readings4 assignments4 discussion prompts
In the past modules, you engaged with over a dozen powerful PhET simulations. Now, it’s time to think about how you plan to integrate these simulations–and effective strategies for using them with students–into your teaching.
What's included
6 readings1 peer review
In this module, you will take appropriate steps to complete the course and download your certificate.
What's included
1 reading1 plugin
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