In addition to the PME and VME supporters, there are
researchers who advocate in favor of combining the use of
PME and VME. In this case, part of an experiment is con-
ducted with PME and the rest with VME. The reasoning
behind this mode of experimentation is the reaping of the
benefits of both kinds of manipulation (
Toth, Klahr, & Chen,
2000; Winn et al., 2006; Zacharia et al., 2008
). However,
even in this case, physicality, if it proves to be a requirement
for learning, is still an issue because when VME is used, the
disadvantage (absence of physicality) that it carries is still
present, thus, negatively affecting students’ learning. It might
be the case that for a series of experiments within the same
context (e.g., different experiment but same subject domain
and skills involved) there is no need for physicality to always
be present. Nonetheless, there is no research in this domain so
far supporting or questioning such an assumption.