Supporting Middle School Students' Science Talk: A Comparison of Physical and Virtual Labs

Autor/inn/en	Puntambekar, Sadhana; Gnesdilow, Dana; Dornfeld Tissenbaum, Catherine; Narayanan, N. Hari; Rebello, N. Sanjay
Titel	Supporting Middle School Students' Science Talk: A Comparison of Physical and Virtual Labs
Quelle	In: Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 58 (2021) 3, S.392-419 (28 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Gnesdilow, Dana)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0022-4308
DOI	10.1002/tea.21664
Schlagwörter	Science Laboratories; Computer Simulation; Educational Technology; Technology Uses in Education; Middle School Students; Grade 6; Interpersonal Communication; Discussion (Teaching Technique); Science Process Skills; Science Experiments; Laboratory Experiments + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Computergrafik; Computersimulation; Unterrichtsmedien; Technology enhanced learning; Technology aided learning; Technologieunterstütztes Lernen; Middle school; Middle schools; Student; Students; Mittelschule; Mittelstufenschule; Schüler; Schülerin; School year 06; 6. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 06; Interpersonale Kommunikation; Laboratory work; Laborarbeit
Abstract	Research exploring students' learning from physical and virtual labs has suggested that on the whole, students learn science content just as well, if not better from virtual labs as they do from physical labs. However, the affordances of physical labs might support the learning of specific skills and competencies that are just as crucial for learning science. In this study, we examined students' discussions as they worked on physical and virtual labs to better understand how they learned from each, and the kinds of learning that each type of lab supported. One hundred and fifteen 6th grade students from three science teachers' classes participated in this study. We examined audio data from all available groups as they engaged in physical and virtual labs (n = 14 groups; physical, n = 8 groups; virtual, n = 6 groups). We found that students conducting physical labs engaged in a significantly higher proportion of talk related to setting up apparatus and taking measurements and calculating outputs. Students who performed virtual labs, on the other hand, engaged in significantly more discussions about making predictions and understanding patterns of relationships between variables, and interpreting science phenomena. While students in the Virtual condition engaged in discussions that were more focused on the relationships between science ideas, students in the Physical condition learned science practices related to planning and carrying out investigations that are equally valuable. Our findings suggest that learning from one experimental modality may complement and supplement the relative weaknesses of the other, indicating a need for strategically combining the two. Implications and future directions are discussed. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01