Digital instructional tools, such as virtual manipulatives, have been widely adopted as an enhanced approach to inquiry-based learning. However, the optimal ratio of mobile devices to students in instructional settings remain controversial. This research introduced a counterbalanced quasi-experiment to compare the learning performance and…

Teaching physical science has been challenging for educators for quite some time, and with the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation has even worsened which made the adoption of blended learning in the different cycles of education only a matter of time. This paradigm requires nevertheless a certain command when it comes to using some specific tools…

The research on students' perceptions after implementing a teaching style is recommended due to its potential to inform reformed education. The present study surveyed 319 students and revealed their perceptions of multimedia usage in teaching and learning quantum physics. Among these students, 156 were surveyed after learning quantum physics with…

Computer simulation and animation (CSA) is educational technology in which computer programs are employed to simulate and animate real-world physical phenomena and processes. CSA has attracted growing attention and received an increasing number of applications in the international science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education…

The Exploding Carts is a popular introductory physics activity in which a one-dimensional explosion is simulated utilizing two dynamics carts that are pushed apart by a spring-loaded plunger released from one of the carts. Traditional treatments of the Exploding Carts usually involve multiple trials where the mass of one or both of the carts is…

Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in using virtual reality (VR) technology to benefit instruction, especially in physics and related subjects. As VR devices improve and become more widely available, there remains a number of unanswered questions regarding the impact of VR on student learning and how best to use this technology in the…

Learning with hands-on experiments can be supported by providing essential information virtually during lab work. Augmented reality (AR) appears especially suitable for presenting information during experimentation, as it can be used to integrate both physical and virtual lab work. Virtual information can be displayed in close spatial proximity to…

It is a widely held view that students' epistemic beliefs influence the way they think and learn in a given context, however, in the science learning context, the relationship between sophisticated epistemic beliefs and success in scientific practice is sometimes ambiguous. Taking this inconsistency as a point of departure, we examined the…

When a shock wave interacts with a contact discontinuity, there may appear a reflected rarefaction wave, a deflected contact discontinuity and a refracted supersonic shock. The numerical simulation of shock wave refraction at a plane contact discontinuity separating gases with different densities is performed. Euler equations describing inviscid…

Guiding inquiry learning has been shown to increase knowledge gains. Yet, little is known about the effect of guidance on attitudes and behaviours, its interaction with student attributes, and transfer of impact once guidance is removed. We address these gaps in the context of an interactive Physics simulation on electric circuits…

A common approach for introducing students to a new science concept is to present them with multiple cases of the phenomenon and ask them to explore. The expectation is that students will naturally take advantage of the multiple cases to support their learning and seek an underlying principle for the phenomenon. However, the success of such tasks…

A common approach for introducing students to a new science concept is to present them with multiple cases of the phenomenon and ask them to explore. The expectation is that students will naturally take advantage of the multiple cases to support their learning and seek an underlying principle for the phenomenon. However, the success of such tasks…

In order to increase students' awareness for and comfort with mathematical modeling of biological processes, and increase their understanding of diffusion, the following lab was developed for use in 100-level, majors/non-majors biology and neuroscience courses. The activity begins with generation of a data set that uses coin-flips to replicate…

This study investigated the effectiveness of a novel inquiry-based instructional sequence using interactive simulations for supporting students' development of conceptual understanding, inquiry process skills and confidence in learning. The study, conducted in Beijing, involved two teachers and 117 students in four classes. The teachers…

Observational tutoring has been found to be an effective method for teaching a variety of subjects by reusing dialogue from previous successful tutoring sessions. While it has been shown content can be learned through observational tutoring, it has yet to been examined if a secondary behavior such as goal setting can be influenced. The present…