Using Physical and Virtual Manipulatives to Improve Primary School Students’ Understanding of Concepts of Electric Circuits

Zacharia, Zacharias C.; Michael, Marios

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-22933-1_12

Cited by 37 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…However, virtual laboratories and simulations, when used as pre-laboratory exercises, can positively impact learning and performance [88,92]. Studies from [101][102][103] have shown that combinations of virtual and hands-on laboratory environments result in better content knowledge compared to using one type of environment alone.…”

Section: Teachers' Opinionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Implementation of a Virtual Laboratory for Physics Subjects in Moroccan Universities

2021

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Laboratory experimentation has a vital role in science education. With the potential offered by information and communication technologies for the educational domain, virtual laboratories have emerged as a valuable alternative to face-to-face, hands-on laboratories. Moreover, the possibility of virtual laboratories opens new perspectives for higher education sustainability. They are a perfect approach for training learners to understand scientific principles in many fields of science by offering them the possibility to illustrate the scientific phenomena through automated and virtual practical activities that employ computer simulation. In this work, we present the use of computer simulation combined with the JavaScript programming language for the development of a low-cost virtual laboratory integrated into an interactive learning environment based on the Moodle platform. The methodology was based on the instructional design model ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation), which structures the development planning of online teaching resources in different stages (analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation). The virtual laboratory was developed by Moroccan universities, with the help of European partners, and it was implemented in the 12 science faculties in Morocco. It presents a great choice for supporting laboratory activities for learners in the first year of their bachelor’s degree program. This virtual laboratory includes 12 virtual practical activities mapped to the physics curriculum, and they can be operated via the Internet on computers. The proposed virtual learning environment was evaluated by teachers and learners from the science faculties. The obtained results, together with similar findings from other studies, indicate the positive impact of the use of a virtual laboratory on learning outcomes, and support the adoption of the proposed learning environment in laboratory educational procedures as an alternative to physical laboratories.

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Section: Teachers' Opinionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Implementation of a Virtual Laboratory for Physics Subjects in Moroccan Universities

2021

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“…While many researchers have asserted that physical and virtual labs have different affordances to support students’ learning, in recent years, some researchers have started examining the kinds of talk that occurs during physical and virtual labs. For example, students conducting physical labs have been found to engage in more procedurally focused interactions as they set up their experiments, versus more talk about the science phenomena when doing virtual experiments (e.g., Kozma, 2003; Zacharia & Michael, 2016). Further, when comparing students’ talk in blended conditions versus physical or virtual alone, students were found to have more conceptual discussions in the blended condition as they moved back and forth through iterations of physical and virtual labs to make sense of their findings between the labs (Olympiou & Zacharia, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Supporting middle school students’ science talk: A comparison of physical and virtual labs

et al. 2020

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Research exploring students’ learning from physical and virtual labs has suggested that on the whole, students learn science content just as well, if not better from virtual labs as they do from physical labs. However, the affordances of physical labs might support the learning of specific skills and competencies that are just as crucial for learning science. In this study, we examined students’ discussions as they worked on physical and virtual labs to better understand how they learned from each, and the kinds of learning that each type of lab supported. One hundred and fifteen 6th grade students from three science teachers’ classes participated in this study. We examined audio data from all available groups as they engaged in physical and virtual labs (n = 14 groups; physical, n = 8 groups; virtual, n = 6 groups). We found that students conducting physical labs engaged in a significantly higher proportion of talk related to setting up apparatus and taking measurements and calculating outputs. Students who performed virtual labs, on the other hand, engaged in significantly more discussions about making predictions and understanding patterns of relationships between variables, and interpreting science phenomena. While students in the Virtual condition engaged in discussions that were more focused on the relationships between science ideas, students in the Physical condition learned science practices related to planning and carrying out investigations that are equally valuable. Our findings suggest that learning from one experimental modality may complement and supplement the relative weaknesses of the other, indicating a need for strategically combining the two. Implications and future directions are discussed.

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“…The majority of studies take an experimental approach and show mixed results of the benefits of haptic visual manipulatives over basic visual manipulatives, with increased immersion and engagement being one benefit (Jones et al 2006). Haptic-augmented feedback was found to be beneficial for elementary learning (better recall, inference and transfer), given multimodal experience in a simulation environment for learning about how gears work (Han and Black 2011) and for developing psychomotor skills (Zacharia and Michael 2015). In the context of mathematics, Davis et al (2017) found that haptics brought new perspectives on the concept being explored, including partial or unfamiliar perspectives of shapes.…”

Section: Haptic Technologies For Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enacting Elementary Geometry: Participatory ‘Haptic’ Sense-Making

Price

Yiannoutsou

Johnson

et al. 2020

Digit Exp Math Educ

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A central assumption within the embodied cognition paradigm is that particular action experiences are instrumental in providing children with sensorimotor contingencies that form the foundation for conceptualisation of and, later, communication of mathematical ideas. Digital technology designs that foster specific movements offer promising foundations for young children’s mathematical learning, together with haptic technologies that newly bring tactile sensorimotor experiences for children to draw on. This article reports on a qualitative study examining the role of a haptic learning environment supporting 7–8-year-old children’s embodied exploration of 3D shape. It examined the in situ dynamic unfolding of interaction of pairs of children, as they engaged with a haptic device. Multimodal analysis was focused on the process of how the prescribed enaction of the device-mediated interaction, the kinds of action experiences and action schemes it elicited and the strategies children collaboratively developed to complete tasks. Findings show how specific action experiences and, later, communication experiences, were shaped, not only by the prescribed enaction of the design, but also by embodied participatory sense-making, and demonstrate the potential for haptic technology in mediating new learning experiences for mathematics.

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Using Physical and Virtual Manipulatives to Improve Primary School Students’ Understanding of Concepts of Electric Circuits

Cited by 37 publications

References 24 publications

Design and Implementation of a Virtual Laboratory for Physics Subjects in Moroccan Universities

Design and Implementation of a Virtual Laboratory for Physics Subjects in Moroccan Universities

Supporting middle school students’ science talk: A comparison of physical and virtual labs

Enacting Elementary Geometry: Participatory ‘Haptic’ Sense-Making

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