It is imperative that a profound transformation be carried out in the traditional way in which we teach science subjects, so it is necessary that the role of student change from being a mere recipient of information to being the main player in the construction of his knowledge. One of the strategies to achieve this is to make use of ICT, within…

Teachers use different pedagogies to improve learners' performance. The study explored the effect of Computer Simulations (CS) on Grade 11 learners' performance when taught Plants Biodiversity. A Solomon FourGroup design was used to cater for internal and external validity. Sixty-six learners were assigned to two Control Groups (CG) taught using…

Virtual presence describes a users' perception of a virtual reality (VR) environment (VRE), specifically, of their "involvement" (sense of control within a virtual environment with minimal distractions) and "immersion" (multi-input sensory engagement providing apparent realism of objects and interactions). In education, virtual…

Modeling is an important approach in the teaching and learning of science. In this study, we attempt to bring modeling within the reach of young children by creating the SimSketch modeling system, which is based on freehand drawings that can be turned into simulations. This system was used by 247 children (ages ranging from 7 to 15) to create a…

Uncertainty may be an important component of the motivation provided by learning games, especially when associated with gaming rather than learning. Three studies are reported that explore the influence of gaming uncertainty on engagement with computer-based learning games. In the first study, children (10-11 years) played a simple maths quiz.…

Because of a shortage of physical exercise, concerns about adolescents have recently been raised in Taiwan. In educational environments where student exercise has been limited by scheduling constraints and the lack of physical exercise has become a vital problem, "learning while exercising" may be part of a possible solution. This study…