48 research outputs found
Thinking Outside the Box: Enhancing Science Teaching by Combining (Instead of Contrasting) Laboratory and Simulation Activities
The focus of the present work was on 10- to 12-year-old elementary school studentsâ conceptual
learning outcomes in science in two specific inquiry-learning environments, laboratory
and simulation. The main aim was to examine if it would be more beneficial to combine
than contrast simulation and laboratory activities in science teaching. It was argued
that the status quo where laboratories and simulations are seen as alternative or competing
methods in science teaching is hardly an optimal solution to promote studentsâ learning and
understanding in various science domains. It was hypothesized that it would make more
sense and be more productive to combine laboratories and simulations. Several explanations
and examples were provided to back up the hypothesis.
In order to test whether learning with the combination of laboratory and simulation
activities can result in better conceptual understanding in science than learning with laboratory
or simulation activities alone, two experiments were conducted in the domain of
electricity. In these experiments students constructed and studied electrical circuits in three
different learning environments: laboratory (real circuits), simulation (virtual circuits), and
simulation-laboratory combination (real and virtual circuits were used simultaneously). In
order to measure and compare how these environments affected studentsâ conceptual understanding of circuits, a subject knowledge assessment questionnaire was administered
before and after the experimentation. The results of the experiments were presented in four
empirical studies. Three of the studies focused on learning outcomes between the conditions
and one on learning processes.
Study I analyzed learning outcomes from experiment I. The aim of the study was to
investigate if it would be more beneficial to combine simulation and laboratory activities
than to use them separately in teaching the concepts of simple electricity. Matched-trios
were created based on the pre-test results of 66 elementary school students and divided
randomly into a laboratory (real circuits), simulation (virtual circuits) and simulation-laboratory
combination (real and virtual circuits simultaneously) conditions. In each condition
students had 90 minutes to construct and study various circuits. The results showed that
studying electrical circuits in the simulationâlaboratory combination environment improved
studentsâ conceptual understanding more than studying circuits in simulation and laboratory
environments alone. Although there were no statistical differences between simulation
and laboratory environments, the learning effect was more pronounced in the simulation
condition where the students made clear progress during the intervention, whereas in the
laboratory condition studentsâ conceptual understanding remained at an elementary level
after the intervention.
Study II analyzed learning outcomes from experiment II. The aim of the study was to
investigate if and how learning outcomes in simulation and simulation-laboratory combination
environments are mediated by implicit (only procedural guidance) and explicit (more
structure and guidance for the discovery process) instruction in the context of simple DC
circuits. Matched-quartets were created based on the pre-test results of 50 elementary school
students and divided randomly into a simulation implicit (SI), simulation explicit (SE), combination implicit (CI) and combination explicit (CE) conditions. The results showed that
when the students were working with the simulation alone, they were able to gain significantly greater amount of subject knowledge when they received metacognitive support
(explicit instruction; SE) for the discovery process than when they received only procedural
guidance (implicit instruction: SI). However, this additional scaffolding was not enough to
reach the level of the students in the combination environment (CI and CE). A surprising
finding in Study II was that instructional support had a different effect in the combination
environment than in the simulation environment. In the combination environment explicit
instruction (CE) did not seem to elicit much additional gain for studentsâ understanding of
electric circuits compared to implicit instruction (CI). Instead, explicit instruction slowed
down the inquiry process substantially in the combination environment.
Study III analyzed from video data learning processes of those 50 students that participated
in experiment II (cf. Study II above). The focus was on three specific learning
processes: cognitive conflicts, self-explanations, and analogical encodings. The aim of the
study was to find out possible explanations for the success of the combination condition in
Experiments I and II. The video data provided clear evidence about the benefits of studying
with the real and virtual circuits simultaneously (the combination conditions). Mostly
the representations complemented each other, that is, one representation helped students to
interpret and understand the outcomes they received from the other representation. However,
there were also instances in which analogical encoding took place, that is, situations in
which the slightly discrepant results between the representations âforcedâ students to focus
on those features that could be generalised across the two representations. No statistical differences were found in the amount of experienced cognitive conflicts and self-explanations
between simulation and combination conditions, though in self-explanations there was a
nascent trend in favour of the combination. There was also a clear tendency suggesting that
explicit guidance increased the amount of self-explanations. Overall, the amount of cognitive
conflicts and self-explanations was very low.
The aim of the Study IV was twofold: the main aim was to provide an aggregated overview
of the learning outcomes of experiments I and II; the secondary aim was to explore
the relationship between the learning environments and studentsâ prior domain knowledge
(low and high) in the experiments. Aggregated results of experiments I & II showed that
on average, 91% of the students in the combination environment scored above the average
of the laboratory environment, and 76% of them scored also above the average of the
simulation environment. Seventy percent of the students in the simulation environment
scored above the average of the laboratory environment. The results further showed that
overall students seemed to benefit from combining simulations and laboratories regardless
of their level of prior knowledge, that is, students with either low or high prior knowledge
who studied circuits in the combination environment outperformed their counterparts who
studied in the laboratory or simulation environment alone. The effect seemed to be slightly
bigger among the students with low prior knowledge. However, more detailed inspection
of the results showed that there were considerable differences between the experiments regarding how students with low and high prior knowledge benefitted from the combination:
in Experiment I, especially students with low prior knowledge benefitted from the combination
as compared to those students that used only the simulation, whereas in Experiment
II, only students with high prior knowledge seemed to benefit from the combination relative
to the simulation group. Regarding the differences between simulation and laboratory
groups, the benefits of using a simulation seemed to be slightly higher among students with
high prior knowledge.
The results of the four empirical studies support the hypothesis concerning the benefits
of using simulation along with laboratory activities to promote studentsâ conceptual understanding of electricity. It can be concluded that when teaching students about electricity, the students can gain better understanding when they have an opportunity to use the simulation
and the real circuits in parallel than if they have only the real circuits or only a computer
simulation available, even when the use of the simulation is supported with the explicit
instruction. The outcomes of the empirical studies can be considered as the first unambiguous
evidence on the (additional) benefits of combining laboratory and simulation activities
in science education as compared to learning with laboratories and simulations alone.Siirretty Doriast
Bringing simulations to the classroom: teachers' perspectives
acceptedVersionPeer reviewe
Exploring the effects of concreteness fading across grades in elementary school science education
The present study investigates the effects that concreteness fading has
on learning and transfer across three grade levels (4â6) in elementary
school science education in comparison to learning with constantly
concrete representations. 127 9- to 12-years-old elementary school
students studied electric circuits in a computer-based simulation
environment, where circuits remained concrete (bulbs) throughout the
learning or faded from concrete to abstract (bulbs to resistors). The
most important finding was that the outcomes seemed to be influenced by a
developmental factor: the study found a significant interaction between
condition and grade level in relation to learning outcomes, suggesting
that the outcomes generally improved as a function of grade level, but
that there were notable differences between the conditions regarding the
improvement of outcomes across the three grades. According the results,
learning with constantly concrete representations either took less time
or resulted in better learning compared to concreteness fading. Because
transfer is one of the central arguments for concreteness fading, a
somewhat surprising finding was that the concrete condition succeeded at
least as well as the fading condition on transfer tasks. The study also
discusses why the results and issues related to the conceptualisation
and operationalisation of central concepts in the study call for caution
towards generalization and for more research with young learners across
different grades.</p
Video outperforms illustrated text : Do old explanations for the modality effect apply in a learner-paced fifth-grade classroom context?
The modality effect occurs when people learn better from a combination of pictures and narration than from a combination of pictures and written text. Despite the strong empirical results in earlier studies, the modality effect has been less prominent in later studies of children in learner-paced settings. However, the generalizability of these results in practice may be limited because the studies included notable differences compared to a classroom context. The present study examined the modality effect in a learner-paced classroom context. In a within-subjects experiment, fifth graders learned from illustrated texts and videos and completed pre-, post-, and delayed tests on two science topics. The video group outperformed the illustrated text group in retention, delayed retention, cognitive load, and efficiency measures but there were no statistical differences in transfer. In both learning conditions, the cognitive load was moderate and did not correlate with any learning outcomes. The results suggest that while the modality effect can occur in a learner-paced classroom context, it may not be based on the avoidance of cognitive overload. Alternative explanations concerning the differences in settings and materials between classroom contexts and modality effect research are discussed.publishedVersionPeer reviewe
Stability condition for the drive bunch in a collinear wakefield accelerator
The beam breakup instability of the drive bunch in the structure-based
collinear wakefield accel- erator is considered and a stabilizing method is
proposed. The method includes using the specially designed beam focusing
channel, applying the energy chirp along the electron bunch, and keeping energy
chirp constant during the drive bunch deceleration. A stability condition is
derived that defines the limit on the accelerating field for the witness bunch.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure
Yhteiskuntaopin opetus ja poliittinen kiinnittyminen peruskoulun ylÀluokilla
Artikkelissa raportoitavan tutkimuksen kohteena on peruskoulun yhteiskuntaopin opetuksen yhteys nuorten poliittiseen kiinnittymiseen, joka jaetaan tutkimuksessa neljÀÀn ulottuvuuteen: poliittiseen kiinnostukseen, poliittiseen tietÀmykseen ja itsearvioon tietÀmyksestÀ, poliittiseen osallistumishalukkuuteen sekÀ politiikkaa koskeviin kÀsityksiin. Tutkimusaineistona on peruskoulun ylÀkouluikÀisten nuorten vastaukset poliittista kiinnittymistÀ mittaavaan kyselyyn kahtena eri ajankohtana. Osallistujat olivat ensimmÀisen mittauksen aikana kahdeksannella luokalla (n = 67) ja toisen mittauksen aikana yhdeksÀnnellÀ luokalla (n = 63). Nuoret opiskelivat mittausten vÀlillÀ lukuvuoden ajan yhteiskuntaoppia ensimmÀistÀ kertaa koulu-urallaan. Tulosten mukaan nuorten poliittinen kiinnostus, tietÀmys ja itsearvio tietÀmyksestÀ olivat 9. luokalla tilastollisesti korkeampia kuin 8. luokalla. Osallistumishalukkuudessa ei havaittu eroja ikÀryhmien vÀlillÀ, ja politiikkaa koskevien kÀsitysten osalta eroja ilmeni yhden vÀitteen kohdalla. 8.-luokkalaiset pitivÀt kotia tÀrkeimpÀnÀ lÀhteenÀ oppia tietoja yhteiskunnallisten asioiden ymmÀrtÀmiseksi, kun taas 9.-luokkalaisille koulu oli keskeisin tietolÀhde yhteiskunnallisten asioiden oppimisessa. Tulosten mukaan koulu nÀyttÀisi onnistuvan yhteiskunnallisen kasvatuksen tavoitteissaan vain osittain. Jatkossa olisi tÀrkeÀÀ kiinnittÀÀ huomiota siihen, miten koulussa voitaisiin tukea tiedollisten sisÀltöjen oppimisen lisÀksi nuorten yhteiskunnallista osallistumista edistÀvien valmiuksien omaksumista.</p
Teachersâ Experiences of an Inquiry Learning Training Course in Finland
This paper reports outcomes of a 2-day inquiry learning training course for in-service teachers (N=102) with a specific focus on teachersâ self-efficacy beliefs, perceptions of inquiry learning, and satisfaction with the training course. Teachersâ self-efficacy and their perceptions of inquiry learning were measured both at the beginning and at the end of the training course. Satisfaction with the training course was measured only at the end of the training. The study identified three distinct self-efficacy profiles among the participants: Low, moderate, and high. The self-efficacy of teachers belonging to the high and the moderate group remained unchanged throughout the training, while the self-efficacy for student engagement improved in the low-efficacy group. At the beginning of the training course, differences were found between the low and high self-efficacy profiles in terms of teachersâ perceptions of resources for inquiry learning and their anxiety toward inquiry learning; however, only the former difference remained based on the post-test results. Interestingly, although there were three clear self-efficacy profiles and these groups also differed in terms of prior experiences with inquiry learning, all teacher groups were both satisfied in general with the training course and with the utility value of the training.</p
Explainability via Short Formulas: the Case of Propositional Logic with Implementation
We conceptualize explainability in terms of logic and formula size, giving a number of related definitions of explainability in a very general setting. Our main interest is the so-called special explanation problem which aims to explain the truth value of an input formula in an input model. The explanation is a formula of minimal size that (1) agrees with the input formula on the input model and (2) transmits the involved truth value to the input formula globally, i.e., on every model. As an important example case, we study propositional logic in this setting and show that the special explainability problem is complete for the second level of the polynomial hierarchy. We also provide an implementation of this problem in answer set programming and investigate its capacity in relation to explaining answers to the n-queens and dominating set problems.publishedVersionPeer reviewe
Voluntary vs Compulsory Playing Contexts: Motivational, Cognitive, and Game Experience Effects
Background.
Serious games are often used in formal school contexts, in which
studentsâ lack of control over the playing situation may have
repercussions on any motivational gains.Aims and Method. The first aim was to investigate to what extent n
= 579 fifth grade students in Mexico who received a mathematics serious
game played it voluntarily. Then, we explored how students who played
voluntarily (n = 337) differed from those who did not by either
gender or pre-test mathematical skills or motivation. The second aim was
to find out whether two play contexts, the group of voluntary players
and a second group consisting of students playing at school as a
compulsory part of their regular mathematics lessons (n = 482), differed in game experience, game performance, and cognitive and motivational outcomes.Results.
Students from the volunteer group who played had higher pre-test
mathematical skills and math interest than those who did not play.
Students in this group did not otherwise differ. Compared to students
from the volunteer group who played, students in the school group played
for longer, completed more tasks, and enjoyed playing the game more.
However, their advanced mathematical skills did not improve as much.Conclusion.
Motivation did not improve regardless of play context, suggesting
serious games should be implemented for their learning content rather
than because they are assumed to be motivating.</p
ROTS: An R package for reproducibility-optimized statistical testing
Differential expression analysis is one of the most common types of analyses performed on various biological data (e.g. RNA-seq or mass spectrometry proteomics). It is the process that detects features, such as genes or proteins, showing statistically significant differences between the sample groups under comparison. A major challenge in the analysis is the choice of an appropriate test statistic, as different statistics have been shown to perform well in different datasets. To this end, the reproducibility-optimized test statistic (ROTS) adjusts a modified t-statistic according to the inherent properties of the data and provides a ranking of the features based on their statistical evidence for differential expression between two groups. ROTS has already been successfully applied in a range of different studies from transcriptomics to proteomics, showing competitive performance against other state-of-the-art methods. To promote its widespread use, we introduce here a Bioconductor R package for performing ROTS analysis conveniently on different types of omics data. To illustrate the benefits of ROTS in various applications, we present three case studies, involving proteomics and RNA-seq data from public repositories, including both bulk and single cell data. The package is freely available from Bioconductor (https://www.bioconductor.org/packages/ROTS)