![]() ![]() ![]() Students are able to run these simulations, manipulating different aspects of a construct to understand science and mathematics concepts. The HTML5 sims will be more useful for this as they will have enhanced versions that support back-end data and an API for configuration and interchangeability with other technologies/wrappers.PhET simulations are interactive simulations of science and math concepts created by the University of Colorado Boulder. We have some work beginning in collaboration with other researchers that focuses on using the sims as part of next-generation assessments. We’ve also done assessments about students and teachers attitudes around the simulations. ![]() What we haven’t done, and would be great to do if we had resources/partners for it, would be a large scale study to examine sim vs business as usual instruction, or another interesting contrast, on a larger scale. We also do studies around sim design through interviews. We’ve also done studies where we contrast instructional approaches – sim vs real world equipment, sim vs no sim with clicker questions, sim vs no sim in tutorials. We do some classroom based assessments where we give pre/post tests to examine student learning around sim-based activities. Hi Janice, We have a few threads of research that have looked at the sims impact. We’ve written a number of papers about design, if you are interested. And for every sim we do student interviews, to make sure the students are engaged, exploring, having no trouble with usability, and importantly that their natural flow and interaction with the sim leads to learning the content ideas. The interaction-feedback connection is absolutely critical. The most critical steps are to think carefully about the learning goals you are trying to achieve, and then about how the interaction with the sim will help support students in discovering and building those ideas/concepts. The software developer is also a member of the design team – and participate throughout the design and development process. One person is the sim lead, and responsible for the team progress, and also pulls in other stakeholders as needed. To develop a sim, we form a sim team which has a content expert, one or more teachers who teach the content to the target audience, and very importantly, a sim interface design expert (someone who knows a lot about how students interact with sims). multiple representation, immediate feedback, showing the invisible, etc.). research has established student difficulties) and which can really benefit from the affordances the simulation can offer (e.g. We look to address topics/concepts that are challenging for students (e.g. In another study, we demonstrated learning of coefficients and subscripts in a chemical formula by 5th graders – a difficulty that persists through college. In another study, we investigated how the students in a large lecture interacted with the sim and the nature of their discussion during an initial free-exploration time of about 10 minutes, and demonstrated that the implicit saffolding in the sim engaged students in productive on-task exploration and investigation. Less guidance produces more engagement with the sim. Some other interesting recent findings: In one study, we investigated how varying guidance in a sim-based activity worksheet impacted student engagement. We’ve studied simulation design quite a bit, and focused on an approach we call implicit scaffolding – that is scaffolding through the design of the sim. We cannot research every sim due to resources, but we test every sim with students. – as well as studying design through interviews. We’ve engaged in research in a number of contexts – lecture, lab, inquiry-based tutorials, etc. ![]() You can browse the materials and see our teacher PD videos and materials here: Yes, we provide classroom materials at both the college and K-12 levels – those developed by us as well as materials contributed by teacher users. ![]()
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