Tutorials + PhET: a simple and efficient active-learning approach for the teaching of kinematics of circular motion in a technically-oriented high school

Abstract

A quasi-experimental group comparison experiment was conducted to improve the conceptual learning of rotational kinematics by 11th grade students of a technically-oriented high school in Argentina. The experimental instruction complemented the original Tutorials in Introductory Physics activities with the PhET simulation Ladybug Revolution. Conceptual learning was determined with pre and post instruction application of the multiple-choice test Rotational Kinematics Inventory (RKI). This procedure allowed for the determination of a large difference in normalized learning gain between the experimental (g = 0.48) and control (g = 0.17) groups. It is also shown that the final conceptual knowledge of the experimental group is clearly higher than that of the students and teachers samples used in developing the RKI. An analysis of the institutional evaluation showed that this important difference in conceptual learning between the two groups did not affect the problem-solving performance of the experimental group. These results indicate the convenience of affecting part of the problem-solving classroom time in the proposed experimental instruction. A few recommendations to improve the experimental teaching approach are given.