stephens-2011hos

lstephens — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:21:31 +0000

Hands on small-group vs. whole-class use of animations and simulations: Comparative case studies in projectile motion

Stephens, A. Lynn

(2011)

Proceedings of the 2011 Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Orlando, FL

Years one and two of a three-year study revealed that, contrary to their teachers' expectations, students working hands on with computer animations and simulations in small groups with a teacher circulating among the groups performed no better, as measured by pre-post gains, than students engaging in teacher-moderated whole class discussions while observing the animations and simulations projected onto a screen before the class. Similar results have been obtained in year three. Initial case study analyses suggested there might exist teaching strategies for promoting at least some of the active thinking and exploration that has been considered to be the strength of small group work. The present study analyzes transcripts from a Projectile Motion lesson sequence taught during years two and three. Pre-post results are presented. Comparative case study analyses of matched sets of classes look closely at features of whole class and small group discussions that accompanied use of Quicktime animations, coding for presence of several factors that appeared to be associated with active reasoning in the initial case studies. One finding was the presence in whole class discussion of many more episodes of support for interpreting the meaning of visual elements in the animations than was present in the small groups. The Whole Class case studies examined here suggest the possibility that there may be certain instructional situations where there is an advantage to spending at least part of the time with the simulation or animation in a whole class discussion mode.

Attachment	Size
Stephens_2011NARST_final.pdf	805.71 KB

stephens-2010sgw

lstephens — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:31:00 +0000

Small group vs. whole class use of interactive computer simulations: Comparative case studies of matched high school physics classes

Stephens, A. Lynn
Vasu, Ileana
Clement, John, J.

(2010)

Proceedings of the 2010 Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Philadelphia, PA.

Although it is generally felt that online simulations are better used in small groups working hands-on at computers, many teachers do not have ready access to the number of computer stations required. We ask whether teachers can engage students in effective, active learning when the students are not able to explore a simulation/animation on their own. Several teachers taught a number of high school physics topics in their classes using simulations in either of two conditions: a) small groups working hands-on at computers, and b) whole classes observing simulations projected from a single computer onto a screen before the class. We examine sets of matched classes to compare pre-post gains and teaching strategies used. The three teachers of the classes analyzed here anticipated that the small class format would work better, and students did appear at first glance to be more engaged in small groups. However, results showed that the whole class format produced similar—and in one comparison, significantly stronger—gains, as measured by pre-post tests. We use the pre-post results and videotape evidence to look at issues that may have affected student learning in the two kinds of situations.

Attachment	Size
Complete conference paper (PDF)	1.33 MB

Scientific Reasoning Research Institute - computer simulations

stephens-2011hos

stephens-2010sgw