IMPROVING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPTS OF WEIGHT AND MASS WITH A COMPUTER SIMULATION

Cândida Sarabando; José P. Cravino; Armando A. Soares

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IMPROVING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPTS OF WEIGHT AND MASS WITH A COMPUTER SIMULATION

Title	IMPROVING STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPTS OF WEIGHT AND MASS WITH A COMPUTER SIMULATION
Publication Type	Journal Article
Year of Publication	2016
Authors	Sarabando, C, Cravino, JP, Soares, AA
Journal	Journal of Baltic Science Education
Volume	15
Issue	1
Start Page	109–126
Pagination	Continuous
Date Published	February/2016
Type of Article	Original article
ISSN	1648-3898
Other Numbers	ICID: 1196720
Keywords	computer simulation, mass and weight, physics education, teaching and learning
Abstract	Although weight and mass are considered fundamental concepts in physics, they are still not well understood by students. A computer simulation was designed to improve students’ learning of these concepts and compared it with other teaching strategies. The research was carried out with 142 students (7th grade; 12-13 years old), from three schools. There is a significant change in conceptual understanding of the concepts weight and mass for all groups. Nevertheless, total gains were higher for students who used the computer simulation. The implication is that using a computer simulation, carefully designed to address specific conceptual difficulties, may help the students understand the concepts of weight and mass. We also interviewed teachers to understand their role in the classroom. It was found that the features most likely to contribute to improve students’ learning are related to the balance between support and autonomy given to students during the use of the computer simulation.
URL	http://oaji.net/articles/2016/987-1481286476.pdf
DOI	10.33225/jbse/16.15.109
Refereed Designation	Refereed
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