Skip to main content

Using Simulations in Science: An Exploration of Pupil Behaviour

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Issues and Challenges in Science Education Research

Abstract

It has long been argued that information communication technologies (ICT) have a role to play in school science classrooms. The edited collections by Barton (Teaching secondary science with ICT. Open University Press, Cambridge, 2004) and Rodrigues (Multiple literacy and science education: ICTS in formal and informal learning environments, IGI Global, Hershey, 2010) provide an informative overview of the field, illustrating options, opportunities and challenges. In this chapter, I focus on one option, the use of multimedia-based simulations, and I describe the opportunities and challenges that can be seen when these simulations are used to support chemistry education. I based the chapter on data collected over the last ten years and will use findings from a variety of projects involving simulations in chemistry classrooms to illustrate opportunities and challenges.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Azevedo, R. (2004). Using hypermedia as a metacognitive tool for enhancing student learning? The role of self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 40(4), 199–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barker, P. (2008). Re-evaluating a model of learning design. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 45(2), 127–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barton, R. (2002). Teaching secondary science with ICT. Cambridge: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barton, R. (2004). Teaching secondary science with ICT. Cambridge: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chabris, C., & Simons, D. (2010). The Invisible Gorilla: And other ways our intuitions deceive us. New York: Crown Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1991). Cognitive load theory and the format of instruction. Cognition & Instruction, 8(4), 293–240.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1992). The split-attention effect as a factor in the design of instruction. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 62(2), 233–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, R., & Mayer, R. (2003). E-Learning and the science of instruction. Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning, California: Pfeiffer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in schools 1980–2000. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deaney, R., Ruthven, K., & Hennessy, S. (2003). Pupil perspectives on the contribution of information and communication technology to teaching and learning in the secondary school. Research Papers in Education, 18(2), 141–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eilks, I., Witteck, T., & Pietzner, V. (2010). Using multimedia learning aids from the Internet for teaching chemistry – Not as easy as it seems? In S. Rodrigues (Ed.), Multiple literacy and science education: ICTS in formal and informal learning environments (pp. 49–69). Hershey: IGI Global.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ginns, P. (2005). Meta-analysis of the modality effect. Learning and Instruction, 15, 313–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill, D. (1988). Misleading illustrations. Research in Science Education, 18(1), 290–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutchby, I., & Wooffitt, R. (1998). Conversation analysis: Principles, practices and applications. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirriemuir, J., & McFarlane, A. (2004). Report 8: Literature review in games learning. A report for NESTA Futurelab. http://www.nestafuturelab.org/research/reviews/08_01.htm

  • Koeber, C. (2005). Introducing multimedia presentations and a course website to an introductory sociology course: How technology affects student perceptions of teaching effectiveness. Teaching Sociology, 33(3), 285–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, R. E., Sobko, K., & Mautone, P. D. (2003). Social cues in multimedia learning: Role of speaker’s voice. Journal of Educational Psychology, 95, 419–425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreno, R. (2006). Does the modality principle hold for different media? A test of the methods-affects-learning hypothesis. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 22, 149–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ng, W. (2010). Empowering students to be scientifically literate through digital literacy. In S. Rodrigues (Ed.), Multiple literacy and science education: ICTS in formal and informal learning environments (pp. 11–31). Hershey: IGI Global.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paivio, A. (2006). Mind and its evolution; a dual coding theoretical interpretation. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pizzighello, S., & Bressan, P. (2008). Auditory attention causes visual inattentional blindness. Perception, 37(6), 859–866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ploetzner, R., Bodemer, D., & Neudert, S. (2008). Successful and less successful use of dynamic visualizations. In R. Lowe & W. Schnotz (Eds.), Learning with animation – Research implications for design (pp. 71–91). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues, S. (2000). The interpretive zone between software designers and a science educator: grounding instructional multimedia design in learning theory. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 33, 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues, S. (2003). Conditioned pupil disposition, autonomy, and effective use of ICT in science classrooms. Kappa Delta Phi: The Educational Forum, 67(3), 266–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues, S. (2007). Factors that influence pupil engagement with science simulations: The role of distraction, vividness, logic, instruction and prior knowledge. Chemical Education Research and Practice, 8, 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues, S. (Ed.). (2010). Multiple literacy and science education: ICTS in formal and informal learning environments. Hershey: IGI Global.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues, S. (2011). Using chemistry simulations: Attention capture, selective amnesia and inattentional blindness. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 12(1), 40–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rodrigues, S., Smith, A., & Ainley, M. (2001). Video clips and animation in chemistry CD-ROMS: Student interest and preference. Australian Science Teachers Journal, 47, 9–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, L., & Finlayson, H. (2003). Does ICT in science really work in the classroom? Part 1, the individual teacher experience. School Science Review, 84(309), 105–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, E., & Garcia-Rodicio, H. (2008). The use of modality in the design of verbal aids in computer based learning environments. Interacting with Computers, 20, 545–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schnotz, W., & Bannert, M. (2003). Construction and interference in learning from multiple representations. Learning and Instruction, 13(2), 117–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz, N., Andersen, C., Hong, N., Howard, B., & McGee, S. (2004). The influence of metacognitive skills on learners’ memory of information in a hypermedia environment. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 31(1), 77–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Segall, A. (2004). Revisiting pedagogical content knowledge: The pedagogy of content/the content of pedagogy. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(5), 489–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Testa, I., Monroy, G., & Sassi, E. (2002). Students’ reading images in kinematics: The case of real-time graphs. International Journal of Science Education, 24, 235–256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trindade, J., Fiolhais, C., & Almeida, L. (2002). Science learning in virtual environments: A descriptive study. British Journal of Educational Technology, 33(4), 471–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wardle, J. (2004). Handling and interpreting data in school science. In R. Barton (Ed.), Teaching secondary science with ICT (pp. 107–126). Cambridge: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan Rodrigues .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Rodrigues, S. (2012). Using Simulations in Science: An Exploration of Pupil Behaviour. In: Tan, K., Kim, M. (eds) Issues and Challenges in Science Education Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3980-2_14

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics