Students’ conceptual understanding in chemistry learning using PhET interactive simulations

This research aims to analyse students’ conceptual understanding of chemical equilibrium matter using Physics Education Technology (PhET) Interactive Simulations. Students’ misconceptions can be caused by the difficulty in connecting the sub-microscopic, macroscopic, and symbolic levels of understanding in chemistry. The study was conducted at a secondary school with a total sample of 108 students using a quantitative research method. The results showed that multiple-choice questions of the two-tier Chemical Equilibrium Diagnostic Instrument (CEDI) used in this study meet with the Rasch measurement model. The students who answered correctly on content knowledge ranged from 11.1-90.7%. However, the percentage decreased to 11.1-84.3% once the content knowledge and reasons were combined. The option probability curve responses identified the students’ misconceptions that were further investigated by interviews. PhET Interactive Simulations require improvements or additional features to help students better understand conceptual understanding through analogies of product and reactant molecules’ movement in the equilibrium systemPeer Reviewe

Investigating the effectiveness of animations in exploring learning a case study in a Chemical Engineering course

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Using technology in the classroom environment has become increasingly popular among educators. One way of employing technology is using instructional animations to teach concepts, favoured owing to their ability to depict changes in object over time. Animations are commonly believed to increase motivation and foster learning, but there is little empirical evidence for this belief. Some researchers have found that animations can be effective; others, however, show that animations have the same effect as a combination of static pictures and text. Some have even showed that animations could actually have negative effects on student learning. A lecturer at the University of Cape Town had planned to use animations in his third year undergraduate Chemical Engineering Course in Reactor Design. This became the context for the present study which investigated the effectiveness of these animations for promoting conceptual understanding as well as exploring students' perspective on learning from animations as well as students' enjoyment level. A quasi-experimental case study was conducted over four topics in Reactor Design and one topic was repeated. Each investigation was on one topic, and in each investigation, the Reactor Design class was split so that the student either attended a traditional lecture or an animation lecture. The two groups of students were used to compare the impact of animations on student learning

Physics Education Technology Project (PhET): Interactive Simulation to Improve Students' Understanding of Concepts and Perceptions

This study aims to analyze 1) the effect of PhET Gene Expression on students' conceptual understanding and 2) students' perceptions of the Gene Expression Essentials simulation. The research method used was Quasi Experiment with a quantitative approach. The research design used a one-group pretest-posttest design. In the treatment phase, students learned using gene expression simulations from PhET simulations. Data on students' understanding of concepts were obtained from tests and perceptions using a questionnaire. Data analysis used the t-test with the help of SPSS 23 and descriptively. The Paired sample t-Test analysis results showed that the significance was 0.000 <0.05. Students stated that PhET in motivation, effectiveness, benefits, and presentation had high interpretations. Based on the research that has been done, PhET Gene Expression Essentials influences students' understanding of concepts, and students respond positively to PhET Gene Expression Essentials