This article describes the design and evaluation of a simulation environment for special relativity (SR) education at the secondary level. In recent years, SR has become increasingly popular in secondary school curricula worldwide. Because the key concepts in SR are very remote from everyday experience, they are difficult for students to learn.…

Going beyond simply measuring the effectiveness of a teaching approach with computer simulations during whole-class science instruction, we investigated the interaction between teachers and their students as well as searched for mechanisms in the pedagogical context related to teachers' implementation of the intervention. Our quasi-experimental…

In this study we investigated the pedagogical context of whole-class teaching with computer simulations. We examined relations between the attitudes and learning goals of teachers and their students regarding the use of simulations in whole-class teaching, and how teachers implement these simulations in their teaching practices. We observed…

This article reviews the (quasi)experimental research of the past decade on the learning effects of computer simulations in science education. The focus is on two questions: how use of computer simulations can enhance traditional education, and how computer simulations are best used in order to improve learning processes and outcomes. We report on…

While many researchers in science education have argued that students' epistemological understanding of models and of modelling processes would influence their cognitive processing on a modelling task, there has been little direct evidence for such an effect. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relation between students' epistemological…

Modeling offers a promising form of constructivist learning for students. By making and executing models of dynamic systems in a computer environment, students are stimulated to learn about the specific domain that is modeled as well as about the process of modeling in general. However, learning by modeling also leads to characteristic student…

In this study, we investigated the influence of individual learners' motivation on the collaborative discovery learning process. In this we distinguished the motivation of the individual learners and had eye for the composition of groups, which could be homogeneous or heterogeneous in terms of motivation. The study involved 73 dyads of 10th-grade…

The observed effectiveness and efficacy of discovery learning in simulated environments is reviewed, along with problems learners may encounter in discovery learning. How simulations can be combined with instructional support is discussed. Successful discovery learning is related to reasoning from hypotheses, applying the discovery process, and…

Discussion of computer simulations as a form of computer-assisted learning (CAL) focuses on a framework for domain representation for an Intelligent Simulation Learning Environment (ISLE). Topics discussed include knowledge related to computer simulations; formalization of domain knowledge; and the conceptual domain model. (19 references) (LRW)

Compares dyads of secondary school physics students working on a collaborative modeling task using a text-based model representation, in which correct equations are required to make the model run, with others using a graphical representation, in which the model is build by qualitatively linking variables. (MES)

Discusses a case study on discovery learning with a computer simulation environment in the physics domain of collisions. Finds that providing assignments with the simulation improves students' performance on one aspect of an intuitive-knowledge test. Contains 43 references. (Author/WRM)

Although computer modelling is widely advocated as a way to offer students a deeper understanding of complex phenomena, the process of modelling is rather complex itself and needs scaffolding. In order to offer adequate support, a thorough understanding of the reasoning processes students employ and of difficulties they encounter during a…

Discussion of computer simulations used for exploratory learning focuses on the design of a hypothesis scratchpad that students can use for hypothesis generation and testing. An experiment with college chemistry students that compared three versions of the scratchpad is described, and the effect of the scratchpads on learning environments is…