High School Students' Perceptions About The Helpfulness Of PhET .
High School Students’ Perceptions about the Helpfulness of PhET Simulations for Learning Physics Edward Chi-Ping LIN MBA GradDipEd (Secondary) GradCertBus (Arts Administration) BS (Textile Engineering) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy (Education) School of Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty of Education Queensland University of Technology 2020
Keywords Computer Simulation, Physics Education, PhET, Perceived Helpfulness, Visualisation, Mathematics, Digital Learning, Metacognition, Misconceptions, Secondary School, Cognition, Epistemology, ICT, Ontology. i
Abstract Although PhET Interactive Simulations (PhET) are widely used in school, very few studies have explored students' perceptions of the helpfulness of PhET simulations to their learning in high school physics. A better understanding of students’ perceptions about how these simulations improve their learning can inform their utilisation in classrooms and the future developments of the simulations themselves. This research aimed to investigate Australian senior high school students’ perceptions about how well and in what ways PhET simulations can help overcome some of the challenges to learning physics identified in the literature. This research investigated students’ perceptions of 18 PhET simulations matching the teaching topics during the research period. Survey and interview questions were developed to examine their perceptions of how helpful PhET simulations assisted them in terms of visualising abstract physics concepts and connecting mathematical understanding to physics concepts. A mixed-methods approach was applied with an explanatory sequential design. A total of 217 students from Years 10 to 12 participated in the first phase of quantitative data collection. Eighteen students were interviewed in the second phase of the investigation generating further qualitative data. Students overall found the PhET simulations to be very helpful for visualising abstract physics concepts and for understanding of how mathematics is applied to physics. The study summarised students’ descriptions of why they found the simulations helpful into nine enablers of physics learning: six for visualisation and three for mathematical understanding. The six enablers of learning physics assisted by visualisation of PhET simulations were found to be making the mechanics of a physics phenomenon visible, including more variables, demonstrating counter-intuitive concepts, providing intuitive visual representation, slowing down the process for observation, and visualising mathematical principles in physics contexts. The three epistemological enablers through mathematical understanding assisted by PhET simulations were instant graphing, demonstrating relationships between variables, and testing the predictions. It was also found that the students’ ability to understand graphs affected their perceived helpfulness of the simulations. Six recommendations are made for educators and simulation designers. ii
Table of Contents Keywords .i Abstract .ii Table of Contents .iii List of Figures . vi List of Tables. vii List of Abbreviations . viii Statement of Original Authorship. ix Acknowledgments . x CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 1.1 Background . 1 1.2 Statement of the problem. 6 1.3 Purposes. 6 1.4 Significance . 7 1.5 Thesis Outline. 7 CHAPTER 2. LITERAT URE RE VIEW . 9 2.1 Challenges to students in learning physics concepts . 9 2.1.1 Difficult ies in comprehending abstract and invisib le physics concepts . 9 2.1.2 Difficult ies in connecting mathematical understanding to physics concepts. 10 2.1.3 An under-developed epistemological approach to learning physics . 11 2.1.4 Incompatible ontological categories of physics concepts . 13 2.1.5 Limitations of traditional textbook design . 14 2.2 Previous research on how ICT assists teaching and learning in physics . 15 2.3 PhET. 18 2.4 A constructivist framework of learning . 21 2.5 The construct of ‘helpfulness’ . 22 2.6 Implications for the current research . 23 CHAPTER 3. RESEARCH DESIGN .27 3.1 Methodology. 27 3.2 Explanatory sequential design. 28 3.3 Participants. 29 3.4 Data collection strategies and instruments . 30 3.4.1 PhET simulation integrated pedagogy. 31 3.4.2 Phase 1: Online survey . 32 3.4.3 Phase 2: Interview . 33 3.5 Analysis . 34 3.6 Research integrity . 36 3.7 Ethical conduct and considerations. 37 CHAPTER 4. PHASE 1 SURVE Y RESULTS .39 iii
4.1 Initial Analysis . 39 4.2 Year 10 Survey Results . 39 4.2.1 Overall mean ratings of helpfulness . 39 4.2.2 The perceived helpfulness of simulation for Visualisation . 40 4.2.3 The perceived helpfulness of simulations for Mathematical Understanding . 41 4.2.4 Comparing Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding. 42 4.3 Year 11 Survey Results . 44 4.3.1 Overall mean ratings . 45 4.3.2 The perceived helpfulness of simulation for Visualisation . 46 4.3.3 The perceived helpfulness of simulations for Mathematical Understanding . 46 4.3.4 Comparing Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding . 47 4.4 Year 12 Survey Results . 49 4.4.1 Overall mean ratings . 50 4.4.2 The perceived helpfulness of simulations for Visualisation. 50 4.4.3 The perceived helpfulness of simulations for Mathematical Understanding . 51 4.4.4 Comparing Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding. 52 4.5 Cross-cohort results. 54 4.6 Issues and Questions raised by the Phase 1 investigation . 56 4.6.1 Reliability of Year 11 Mathematical Understanding rating . 56 4.6.2 Other issues raised by survey data . 57 4.6.3 Questions to be explored in the interv iews . 59 CHAPTER 5. PHASE 2 INTERVIEW FINDINGS . 61 5.1 Why are these PhET simulations helpful? . 61 5.1.1 Explanations about perceived helpfulness in Visualisation. 62 5.1.2 Explanations about perceived helpfulness in Mathematical Understanding . 64 5.1.3 Connections between Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding. 67 5.2 Aspects that make some simulations less helpful . 68 5.3 Students’ preferred ways of using the simulations . 69 5.4 Comparison between PhET simulation and other common learning resources. 70 5.4.1 Comparisons with textbooks. 70 5.4.2 Comparisons with animation/video lecture . 71 5.4.3 Comparisons with laboratory practice. 71 5.5 Students’ general evaluations of PhET simulations . 72 CHAPTER 6. DISCUSSION . 75 6.1 Perceived helpfulness in visualisin g abstract physics concepts . 75 6.2 Perceived helpfulness in connecting mathematical understanding to physics concepts . 76 6.3 Examining students’ perceptions within a constructivist framework . 77 6.4 Comparing perceived helpfulness for Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding . 79 6.4.1 Different level of perceived helpfulness between Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding . 79 6.4.2 Correlation between Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding. 80 6.5 Other findings. 82 6.6 Students’ advice about using PhET simulations effectively . 83 6.7 Limitations of the research. 84 CHAPTER 7. CONCL USION. 87 7.1 Summary of the findings . 87 7.2 Implications for educators and PhET designers . 89 7.3 Recommendations for future research . 90 iv
REFERENCES .93 APPENDICES. 101 Appendix 1: PhET interactive simulations used in the research.101 Appendix 1.1 Year 10 Simulations.101 Appendix 1.2 Year 11 Simulations.102 Appendix 1.3 Year 12 Simulations.103 Appendix 2: Survey questions.104 Appendix 2.1 Year 10 Questionnaire .105 Appendix 2.2 Year 11 Questionnaire .109 Appendix 2.3 Year 12 Questionnaire .113 Appendix 3: Interview questions.117 Appendix 4: PhET simulations compared with other learning resources .118 v
List of Figures Figure 2-1 Influences on students’ learning in physics . 25 Figure 2-2 Conceptual framework of students' perceptions to be investigated. 26 Figure 4-1 Year 10 ratings of the helpfulness of simulations for Visualisation. 41 Figure 4-2 Year 10 ratings of the helpfulness of simulations for Mathematical Understanding . 42 Figure 4-3 Year 10 ratings of helpfulness for both Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding . 43 Figure 4-4 Year 11 ratings of the helpfulness of simulations for Visualisation. 46 Figure 4-5 Year 11 ratings of the helpfulness of simulations for Mathematical Understanding . 47 Figure 4-6 Year 11 ratings of helpfulness for both Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding . 48 Figure 4-7 Year 12 ratings of the helpfulness of simulations for Visualisation. 51 Figure 4-8 Year 12 ratings of the helpfulness of simulations for Mathematical Understanding . 52 Figure 4-9 Year 12 ratings of helpfulness for both Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding . 52 Figure 4-10 Comparing mean ratings of Visualisation and Mathematical Understanding across year-cohorts. . 55 Figure 4-11 Comparing mean rating of Least-Square Regression simulation across yearcohorts. 58 Figure 6-1 The perceived helpfulness of PhET simulations in learning physics . 78 Figure 6-2 PhET simulation Hooke’s Law showing potential energy in the bar graph at the top left-hand side of the diagram and the shady area in the line graph. 82 Figure 6-3 PhET simulation Ohm’s Law presenting sliders to adjust variables, an equation with size changeable pronumerals, and an animated diagram. . 85 vi
List of Tables Table 4-1 Year 10 Overall Mean Ratings of Simulations . 40 Table 4-2 Year 10 Simulations with the Lowest Number of Responses. 43 Table 4-3 Year 10 highly rated simulations . 44 Table 4-4 Year 11 Overall Mean Ratings of Simulations . 45 Table 4-5 Year 11 Simulations with the Lowest Number of Responses. 48 Table 4-6 Year 11 Highly Rated Simulations . 49 Table 4-7 Year 12 Overall Mean Ratings of Simulations . 50 Table 4-8 Year 12 Simulations with the Lowest Number of Responses. 53 Table 4-9 Year 12 Highly rated simulations . 53 Table 4-10 Student Comments on PhET Simulation in General from the Survey . 56 Table 4-11 Subscale reliability analysis . 57 Table 5-1 Students’ Quotes About Why the Simulations Are Helpful in Visualisation . 62 Table 5-2 Students’ Quotes About Why the Simulations Are Helpful in Mathematical Understanding. 64 Table 5-3 Perceived Helpfulness of Visualisation Related to Mathematical Understanding . 67 Table 5-4 Students’ Responses about Why Some Simulations Were Less Helpful . 68 Table 5-5 Student Preferred Way of Using the Simulations . 69 Table 7-1 Summary of the Students’ Perceptions about the Helpfulness of PhET Simulations for Learning Physics. 88 vii
List of Abbreviations ACER: Australian Council for Educational Research PhET: Physics Education Technology QCAA: Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority QSA: Queensland Studies Authority SLRC: Science of Learning Research Centre viii
Statement of Original Authorship The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made. Signature: QUT Verified Signature Date: 30 June 2020 ix
Acknowledgments Being a full-time teacher and a part-time HDR student was not easy to me, but I enjoyed it very much because of the treasured support that I received from so many people: My supervisors, Associate Professor Terry Lyons and Dr Andy Yeh, exemplify what being an academic is all about: their professionalism and thoughtful guidance exceeded my expectation. I must thank Associate Professor Katherine Perkins of the University of Colorado, Boulder, who generously provided me with valuable advice and unpublished PhET simulations. I also received tremendous assistance from educational professionals in Brisbane area: Dr Michael Gagen, Mr Wade Haynes, Ms Janice Head, Ms Amanda Nuell, Dr Lisa Hopkins, Mr Jason Warwick, Mr Les Flowers, Mrs Maria Kerruish, Ms Jae Gregory, Mr Cameron Redrop and Mrs Nikki Bazaine have been very supportive, encouraging and inspiring. The students at the research school were kind enough to be research participants, their insights were very important to this research. This thesis was proofread by Adjunct Professor Yoni Ryan; I learnt a good writing lesson from her work. And finally, my dear wife, Susan Yang who tolerated my negligence and covered for me in my family and community duties - this is a debt that I can never repay. Thank you all so very much! x
Chapter 1. Introduction This study explored students’ perceptions about how helpful computer simulations were in assisting them to overcome two of the most pervasive challenges to learning physics. Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman and colleagues at the University of Colorado (Boulder, USA) developed PhET project to “advance science and math literacy and education worldwide through free interactive simulations” (PhET, 2020). The current research selected 18 PhET simulations and integrated them into the teaching of senior physics classes in order to examine the three research questions of interest here. The decision to use the PhET simulations as a suitable gauge of student perceptions of the helpfulness of such resources was based on a review of literature as well as the author’s teaching experience. The research was conducted in a Queensland high school well suited given the number of students studying physics, the characteristics of the student population, and the suitability of the teaching program. A sequential mixed-methods approach including a quantitative survey of 217 students and interviews for 18 identified volunteer participants was applied. The key challenges in learning physics to be investigated were the inability to visualise abstract and invisible physics concepts, and lack of mathematical understandings. Section 1.1 provides some background to the author’s motivation and the research problem. It presents the author’s experience of integrating simulation technology into the classroom and the learning challenges that students are facing. This section also outlines the educational context within which the problems are examined. Some examples of students’ misconceptions are discussed. Section 1.2 presents a statement of problems, in particular how computer simulation programs contribute to students’ conceptual changes and epistemological growth. Students’ perceptions and attitudes can play a vital role in learning success. The aim of this research was to inform educators and simulation designers about students’ perceptions of computer simulation programs (i.e., PhET simulations). Three research questions are presented to direct the ultimate purpose of the research (Section 1.3). Furthermore, the researcher’s attempt to fill a gap within the related field is explained. It focuses on the connection between computer simulations and learning challenges (Section 1.4). Finally, Section 1.5 outlines the structure of this study. The scope and limitations of the research are acknowledged and explained in the related sections. 1.1 Background Two aspects of the author’s experience motivated this research. The first concerned challenges faced by students in learning physics and the widespread prevalence of student misconceptions in fundamental physics concepts. The second aspect was the author’s prior 1
attempts to integrate the use of computer simulation programs into the teaching and learning of physics (Lin, 2017). There has been significant prior research into student misconceptions in science. Overall, misconceptions are considered variously as deep-seated views of science that differ from updated science consensus (King, 2010), intuitive conceptions that are opposed to scientific knowledge (Masson, Potvin, Riopel, & Foisy, 2014), something known and believed that does not match what is known to be scientifically correct (Alwan, 2011; Kartal, Öztürk, & Yalvaç, 2011) that produces a systematic pattern of errors (Antink-Meyer & Meyer, 2016), or incorrect understanding and ideas that are constructed based on a person’s experience (Soeharto, 2016). Misconceptions can also be misinterpretations or misapplications of science principles (Garnett & Treagust, 1992). In general, misconceptions are conceptual beliefs that do not meet scientifically accepted conceptions and can cause further misunderstanding in science. As a high school physics teacher of eight years’ experience, the author is aware that students usually consider physics to be a “difficult” subject. Indeed, this perception has deterred many students from studying senior physics even when they expressed an interest in physics or stated they needed physics for their career choice. This perception has sometimes been based on their previous physics studies in junior secondary years. For those who eventually select physics as one of their senior subjects, misconceptions and confusions occur along the journey. Student confusion between “field” and “force”, “required centripetal force” and “normal force”, and “wave speed on a string” and “sound wave speed” were some examples that the author commonly witnessed. For educators, being aware of students’ learning difficulties or challenges is the first step to addressing these problems. If learning physics is indeed “difficult” for high school students (rather than being merely perceived to be “difficult”), it is worth investigating and understanding these “difficulties” or challenges; after which appropriate solutions can be researched. The challenges to be overcome by students in learning physics can be multifaceted. An analysis of the literature reveals that the most common challenges in learning physics can be summarised into five categories. These five categories will be further discussed in Chapter 2. They are: 1. Difficulties in comprehending abstract and invisible physics concepts (Anderson & Barnett, 2013; Guisasola, Zuza, & Almudi, 2013; Hammer, 1994; Idar & Ganiel, 1985; Olympiou, Zacharias, & deJong, 2012); 2. A lack of required mathematical understandings (McDermott, Rosenquist, & van Zee, 1987; Meltzer, 2002; Planinic, Milin-Sipus, Katic, Susac, & Ivanjek, 2012; Turşucu, Spandaw, Flipse, & de Vries, 2017; Wenno, 2015); 3. An under-developed epistemological approach (diSessa, 1993; Ferguson-Hessler & De Jong, 1993; Hammer, 1995; Hammer & Elby, 2003; Hollingworth & 2
McLoughlin, 2001; May & Etkina, 2002) leading to disjunction between knowledge and experience; 4. Incompatible ontological categories (Brookes & Etkina, 2007; Chi, Slotta, & de Leeuw, 1994; Slotta & Chi, 2006; Yang et al., 2010) which lead to more misconceptions or confusions; 5. Limitations of traditional textbook design (Billah & Scanlan, 1991; Guisasola et al., 2013; Guzzetti, Williams, Skeels, & Wu, 1997; Ogan-Bekiroglu, 2007; Ploetzner & VanLehn, 1997; Sewell, 2002). In view of the timeframe, resources and scale of this study, the research scope was limited to the first two key challenges as they are more prominent in the literature than the latter three. However, these five key challenges were reviewed as a whole before the investigation was conducted because they are related and overlap in some respects. For example, an under-developed epistemological approach may cause difficulty in understanding what the textbooks try to explain. Likewise, lack of mathematical understanding could make
investigated students' perceptions of 18 PhET simulations matching the teaching topics during the research period. Survey and interview questions were developed to examine their perceptions of how helpful PhET simulations assisted them in terms of visualising abstract physics concepts and connecting mathematical understanding to physics concepts.
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