The Impact of Computer Simulation on the Development of the Inquiry Skills of High School Students in Physics

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of visualization of natural phenomena via computer simulation and manipulations of concrete objects, in a physics laboratory, on the development of students’ inquiry skills in mechanics. A quasi-experimental method that employed the 2 Learning Tools x 2 Time of learning split-plot factorial design was applied in the study. The sample consisted of 54 Grade 11 students from two physics classes of the university preparation section in the Ottawa-Catholic School Board. One class was assigned to interactive computer simulations (treatment) and the other to concrete objects in physics laboratory (control) as learning tools. Both tools were embedded in the general framework of the guided-inquiry cycle approach. The results showed that the interaction effect of the Learning Tools x Time of learning was not statistically significant. However, the results also showed a significant effect on the development of students’ inquiry skills (indicated by the pre- and post-inquiry skills test) regardless of the type of learning tool they had used. The findings suggested that these two strategies are effective in developing students’ inquiry skills in mechanics.