n experiences. This research compares students’ conceptual understanding about projectile motion after a laboratory experience based on both hands-on experiment and computer simulation.
Background of the Study
At high school level ‘Projectile Motion’ is considered as the motion of a particle when projected in any direction and subject only to gravitational acceleration. The motion lies entirely in a vertical plane containing the direction of the initial velocity that is the motion is two dimensional. ‘Projectile motion Unit’ includes some basic concepts; these are: angle, initial speed, mass, kinematics, acceleration, position, velocity, gravity, motion and air resistance. At that point, many students have difficulties on their conceptual understanding of important concepts of projectile motion (McCloskey, 1982). Although different teaching strategies is used to increase students learning, any research provide ‘a formula for optimal teaching and learning’ (Knight, 2002, p.4) more than laboratory experimentation in science teaching.
In today, there are two types of laboratory applications: hands-on laboratory and simulated laboratory experimentations. When operationally defined, a hands-on physics laboratory presents laboratory content in a way that students involve in an active learning with real materials and observe how the physical phenomena occur. Then, hands-on learning provides opportunity for the learners to observe a real world experience and to interact with the situation by using real materials. On the other hand, a simulated physics laboratory means a computer simulation integrated experimentation and includes the use of the computer to simulate dynamic systems of objects in a real or imagined world situation (Bernhard, 2007) and in contrast to the hands-on laboratory; simulated laboratory provides opportunity for the learners to observe a real world experience that are costly, unfeasible or risky to conduct.
Although, a variety of other computer applications have also been developed and used in teaching physics, in terms of laboratory applications, the use of the computer simulations has established to be successful in overcoming misconceptions and in promoting conceptual understanding (Thornton, 1987). Then, the present study tries to obtain management from earlier investigations in order to examine the effectiveness of using computer simulations in laboratory applications for physics education.
Computer Simulations
Researchers stated that using simulated laboratory applications in the instructional contexts should provide opportunities for the learners to promote their understanding in science education (De Jong, Martin, Zamarro, Esquembre, Swaak, & Van Joolingen, 1999). Then, computer simulations are effective tools that can be easily used in the classrooms, with the aim of increasing conceptual understanding (Jimoyiannis & Komis, 2001).
The use of simulations as a learning tool has been extant throughout the
history of science teaching and the common use of computers also tended educators to conduct simulated laboratories during science teaching. An educational computer simulation is an instructional tool that provides both educators and learners to relate with an instruction based on computer application of either ‘a scientific model of the real world or a scientific model of
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