Sensemaking using computer simulations as a pedagogical tool in a university chemistry course : A qualitative analysis of episodes of student discussion
avoin
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
Lataukset1
Pysyvä osoite
Verkkojulkaisu
DOI
Tiivistelmä
Science education has moved beyond factual recall and memorization of laws and principles to become a process of integrating students into the practice of science as a discipline. The shift towards inquiry as the means of constructing knowledge has led research into the many facets of how students make sense of science. With interactive technology becoming prevent within science education, this study seeks to understand the processes through which computer simulations aid students in their sensemaking using the epistemic games framework. This was done by describing how students discuss and work to solve real-world based problems through interactions with computer simulations while analysing the affordances simulations offered the students in this sensemaking process. This study analysed student discussions centred on collaboratively working on an inquiry-based activity worksheet set within real-world contexts. The study employed qualitative analysis to identify and analyse episodes within student discussions that featured rich sensemaking discussions and the use of the affordances of the computer simulations. Findings indicate that students engaged in multiple episodes of sensemaking drawing on resources from the worksheet, prior knowledge and the affordances of the simulation. Students engaged in robust explanation building with the fluent use of mechanistic reasoning while using scientific theories, real-world information and analogical thinking. It was also found that students used the simulation output as fact and as a representation of authority along with using it as a resource for sensemaking. The study also found instances of incorrect reasoning, use of incorrect facts and the application of alternate conceptions in the students’ sensemaking episodes, which showed the difference between sensemaking and conceptual understanding. This research indicated that simulations can be used as a tool to stimulate sensemaking in chemistry courses in the university, while highlighting the importance of guidance and scaffolding by teachers and designers to effectively use computer simulations as aids in scientific sensemaking.