By Jailson Lima
Chemistry Department, Vanier College, Montreal, QC, Canada
Despite my being an exemplary student, I often felt frustrated and dissatisfied during my K-12 studies in Brazil. At that time, knowledge in education was seen as a mere collection of facts and skills that need to be acquired. As a result, learning the content of science courses was based on rote memorization from a dogmatic point of view and the norm was just mechanically solving well-defined problems that had exactly one correct answer.
By emphasizing algorithmic problem solving, these traditional approaches tend to neglect the crucial role of images in the learning process since scientific knowledge relies heavily on mental models and their visual representations. In the last few decades, computational visualizations and interactive simulations have been used to overcome these hurdles and promote a more effective learning of abstract ideas in science.
In 2002, Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman founded the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder. Currently, there are over 160 free interactive math and science simulations that engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where learning occurs through exploration and discovery. The project is based on extensive research in cognitive science and is available in 114 languages.
I have been using this platform since 2011 and can attest to the increase in conceptual learning gains in my courses. I would like to share some findings that I discovered through my practice.
- When designing a lesson plan to use simulations, it is important to consider both the level of cognition of your students as well as their previous knowledge. Although I always browse through the thousands of lesson plans that are available on the site, I have never encountered a script that did not require some adjustments to my specific needs. Students tend to be bored if the assignment is too easy. On the other hand, they might feel overwhelmed if the assignment seems too complicated.
- The simulations were particularly useful during the pandemic since they could be used as virtual labs. I have also used them as part of students’ homework and to illustrate explanations in class.
- After trying different approaches, I discovered that the simulations were most effective when students worked in pairs under my supervision and had an assessment due at the end of the class. This submitted work can be either summative or formative. This finding is not necessarily transferable, and I strongly recommend that you try different formats to decide what works best for your students.
- Students tend to take longer than we initially assume. Make sure to provide enough time and always adjust the length of the assignment accordingly. Also keep moving around the class to ensure that everyone is actually engaged with the task.
- Simulations can be wonderful learning tools, but like anything in life, they are not without their limitations. Poorly designed and implemented simulations might create and propagate misconceptions in the same way that incoherent textbook explanations do.
Since the models are highly abstract and often counterintuitive, learning science poses natural cognitive conflicts. As a student, I personally had a hard time in high school because the lessons assumed that learners should start with absolute, concrete definitions and then move to abstract ideas. In the book The Educated Mind, Kieran Egan points out that the premise of such approaches is the assumption that disciplines have a nature to which the student has to conform.
As an alternative to this framework, Kieran recommends seeking accommodation by exploring intellectual tools that enable learners to engage with the true nature of the discipline. PhET simulations explore this route, which can facilitate the transition going from the linguistically abstract jargon of science to the concrete experiences of students. The use of simulations has the potential to engage students and aid in their transferring of key concepts and ideas to new settings. This in turn can consolidate a coherent and sophisticated conceptual understanding in STEAM pedagogies.
Image: Just Another Quantum Model by Andrei Lupu http://www.artandchemistry.ca/artwork/1466.html
Comments
Register/Login