arXiv subjects

Craig W. Looney

Publications and source records attributed to Craig W. Looney.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Using Gemini and LuaLaTeX to transcribe physics videos into PDF/UA-2 and ISO 32005 math-accessible PDFs

We present an AI transcription workflow that uses freely available tools to transcribe instructional physics videos with substantial mathematical content into math-accessible PDFs. Guided by our carefully crafted system instructions, Google Gemini transcribes linked or uploaded videos into LaTeX output. Importantly, all board-written or screen-presented equations are transcribed into LaTeX math and incorporated into the verbal flow or presented in descriptive segments, which also describe graphs, diagrams, and pedagogically important actions and interactions. Gemini's LaTeX output is appended to a prewritten SE tagging-enabled preamble and compiled by a LuaLaTeX engine; the resulting PDF transcripts routinely compile without errors and pass PDF/UA-2 and ISO 32005 validation tests. We provide a balanced performance assessment using numerous examples from test transcriptions. The publicly available supplementary resources contain complete transcripts corresponding to all presented examples, and also contain our well-tested system instructions and preamble so that others can use, adapt, study, and further develop our transcription framework.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

The 2017 Merrimack College Mobile Lightboard: Personalized Office-Based Lightboarding on a Shared Mobile Board

We present and evaluate the Merrimack College Mobile Lightboard, which we built in 2017 and which is still in use in 2025. Our design was closely based on that of the groundbreaking 2014 Duke University Lightboard but with a smaller glass pane, 5 feet wide instead of 6 feet wide. The resulting scaled-down board is small enough to move in and out of individual faculty offices, but large enough to make detailed videos. An updated construction cost estimate is provided, and recent upgrades are briefly discussed. We believe that personalized office-based lightboarding represents an attractive option for many faculty members, with strengths that complement those of centralized installations. Our successful build suggests that this option is technically and financially feasible at many if not most higher education institutions.

physics.ed-ph↗

arXiv2025

Taylor Series Kinematics

Has it ever occurred to you that the kinematic equations for uniformly accelerated one-dimensional motion are Taylor series expansions? If not, you are in good company. I didn't know this myself until a colleague pointed it out to me many years ago, and I was stunned to learn something new and wonderful about something so familiar. Accordingly, my first objective in this paper is to clearly present the not-widely-known Taylor series derivations of these basic equations to a population primed to deeply appreciate them: people, like me, who teach introductory physics. Following this, I use the Taylor series approach to derive a generalized one-dimensional expression for x(t) that includes the jerk and further kinematic time derivatives, which have importance in many real-world applications and in which there has been renewed pedagogical interest. I also outline teaching suggestions and provide student-accessible video derivations to support instructors who would like to incorporate Taylor series kinematics into their teaching, while identifying sequencing-related challenges. I close with the observation that the traditional second calculus course, which is largely free of sequencing issues, could be a great place to incorporate and leverage Taylor series kinematics, and I briefly outline an early-stage pilot collaboration to explore this possibility.

physics.ed-ph↗