Abstract
The persistence of this study was to investigate the contribution of a computer simulation to students´ learning of physics concepts (charging and discharging of capacitors). Interactive computer simulation (Crocodile simulation) was used to spread over the aim of this study. This attempt assesses the progress in understanding the concepts by grade 11 Scientific section after four complete periods (200 minutes) in two different situations: 1- using only a computer simulation; 2-using computer simulation with “hand- on†activities. The progress was measured through post-test. The results of both descriptive and inferential statistics show that the learners’ understanding of capacitors’ concepts that can be enhanced and were highly achieved when learners used the computer simulation combined with “hand- on†activities. The use of Hands-on activities was identified as the cause of this differentiation.
Highlights
Learning physics concepts are perceived as one of the toughest missions in the secondary schools (Colletti, 2010)
The difficulty in learning many of physics concepts is attributed to their abstract nature, complexity and its microscopic features that lead to various misconceptions (Chen et al, 2013)
The capacitors concepts are important in physics learning, there is a lack of the studies that focus on the effects of teaching strategies on learners' understanding of these concepts
Summary
Learning physics concepts are perceived as one of the toughest missions in the secondary schools (Colletti, 2010). The difficulty in learning many of physics concepts is attributed to their abstract nature, complexity and its microscopic features that lead to various misconceptions (Chen et al, 2013). The capacitors concepts are important in physics learning, there is a lack of the studies that focus on the effects of teaching strategies on learners' understanding of these concepts. Bilal and Erol (2009) in an experimental study over 177 undergraduate students by means of an electricity concept test (ECT) aimed to determine university learners’ conceptions about some electricity concepts showed that half of the learners have clear difficulties of understanding capacitor effects and capacitance. The results of ECT revealed the evidence that the most common learners’ confusion that was determined about a basic RC circuit was the importance of the order of the elements in the circuit: the capacitor filled with charge flowing through one part of the circuit only. Most of the studies have been described, with the aim of highlighting learners’ misconceptions
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