Summary
This study aimed to analyse the role and the potential contribution of using a simulation in conjunction with the real phenomena. Sixty-three teams of 15-yearold students were presented with two tasks involving real circuits: • drawing the diagram of a real circuit that was presented; • building a real circuit that would function according to given specifications. The tasks were carefully designed to address common difficulties and misconceptions in the domain. A simulation environment, previously used by students at home, was available as an optional aid for the experimental group. The
Fig. 7. A typical example of the process of solving Task II by the experimental group
Simulation - a bridge between theory and reality 25
2000 Blackwell Science Ltd, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 16, 14-26
findings reveal that students, who were familiar with the simulation program, realised its potential and chose to use it, without any intervention or recommendation, when they felt it might help them cope with the problem. Significant differences were found between the achievements of students who solved the tasks with and without the simulation. The use of the simulation contributed to students’ confidence and enhanced their motivation to stay on-task. The detailed analysis of students’ work revealed its role as a source of constructive feedback, helping students realise their misconceptions and correct them. The findings also suggest that the additional experience gained in manipulating the simulated models may have contributed to students’ ability to produce a correct diagram representing a real circuit. According to this study, the use of the simulation helped the majority of students (about 70%) in some way. The simulation was not effective for the following three groups: • No additional help needed: Students with a very good level of conceptual understanding (about 10%) did not need the additional assistance. Some of these students did use the simulation later, when an advanced task was presented to them. • Cannot benefit from using the simulation: Students with an insufficient level of understanding of the domain (about 10–15%) performed a random trial and error process and could not benefit from the feedback provided by the simulation. • Would not use the computer: Few students (about 5%) didn’t make any attempt to use the simulation, stating they ‘hate computers’