PhET conducts research on both the design and use of interactive simulations to better understand: 1. Which characteristics make these tools effective for learning and why
2. How students engage and interact with these tools to learn, and what influences this process
3. When, how, and why these tools are effective in a variety of learning environments
The PhET simulation design principles are based on research on how students learn (Bransford et al., 2000) and from our simulation interviews (see PhET Design Process). Between four and six think-aloud style interviews with individual students are done with each simulation. These interviews provide a rich data source for studying interface design and student learning. The PhET Look and Feel briefly describes our interface design principles and a complete discussion is found in the pair of papers by Adams et al., 2008.