An Investigation of Virtual Learning
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC Ballroom A
Start Date
17-5-2012
End Date
17-5-2012
Abstract
Learning is becoming a more and more virtual experience as teachers are beginning to come from a new generation, a generation raised on technology. The main question of my study is: Do students benefit more from virtual simulation-based experiments or from doing experiments hand on? Virtual simulation often provides more information than can be acquired in hands-on experiments. In order to test this question a pre and posttest about the relevant physics concepts were given to a class of 40 general physics students. The students were put into 3-person groups and the groups were randomly assigned to either the virtual or the hands-on lab. The pre and posttest were administered before and after students were to complete their assigned experiment. The assessments and activities covered material relevant to the unit being covered in the class. This process was repeated twice during the quarter with the two units covered being projectile motion, and forces in a plane. During the projectile motion lab students were to observe and predict the properties of projectile motion. While in the forces in a plane experiment the students were asked to solve and demonstrate the effects of frictional forces. In the end the virtual learners seemed to have the greatest increase in comprehension, increasing their assessment scores by an average of 12 percent while hands on students average only an increase of 4 percent.
Recommended Citation
Powers, Kegan, "An Investigation of Virtual Learning" (2012). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 103.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2012/posters/103
Poster Number
6
Additional Mentoring Department
Physics
An Investigation of Virtual Learning
SURC Ballroom A
Learning is becoming a more and more virtual experience as teachers are beginning to come from a new generation, a generation raised on technology. The main question of my study is: Do students benefit more from virtual simulation-based experiments or from doing experiments hand on? Virtual simulation often provides more information than can be acquired in hands-on experiments. In order to test this question a pre and posttest about the relevant physics concepts were given to a class of 40 general physics students. The students were put into 3-person groups and the groups were randomly assigned to either the virtual or the hands-on lab. The pre and posttest were administered before and after students were to complete their assigned experiment. The assessments and activities covered material relevant to the unit being covered in the class. This process was repeated twice during the quarter with the two units covered being projectile motion, and forces in a plane. During the projectile motion lab students were to observe and predict the properties of projectile motion. While in the forces in a plane experiment the students were asked to solve and demonstrate the effects of frictional forces. In the end the virtual learners seemed to have the greatest increase in comprehension, increasing their assessment scores by an average of 12 percent while hands on students average only an increase of 4 percent.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Bruce Palmquist