Supporting Student Active Engagement in Chemistry Learning with Computer Simulations: Five Actions

Abstract

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are widely recognised as paving the way towards national sustainable development and innovative socioeconomic transformation. However, some students consider STEM as a difficult field to study. Consequently, teachers need to shift from traditional teaching approaches towards participatory and interactive methods to promote the development of students’ higher-order thinking, critical reasoning, and problem-solving skills. This study is an attempt to investigate how computer simulations can contribute to engaging students’ active participation in new knowledge creation in chemical bonding problem solving with computer simulations. Empirical data were collected through interviews, a survey and a test on secondary school student performance in Rwanda. The findings reveal four main forms of participating in knowledge construction with computer simulations: self-reliance, peer collaboration-reliance, teacher-guided-reliance and strategic variation-reliance. The study found no statistically difference between male and female students’ preferences to engage in these forms and in their performance in terms of higher-order thinking skills in chemical bonding problem solving with computer simulations. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that computer simulations can help students to create multisensory connections with the object of learning enabling them to become actively engaged in chemistry learning through various settings. Consequently, the lines between abstract concepts and related chemical reactions and processes become closely related in a virtual reality. Finally, this study suggests five actions that teachers can undertake to support student active engagement in chemistry learning with computer simulations.