Supporting Learners' Experiment Design

Autor/inn/en	van Riesen, Siswa; Gijlers, Hannie; Anjewierden, Anjo; de Jong, Ton
Titel	Supporting Learners' Experiment Design
Quelle	In: Educational Technology Research and Development, 66 (2018) 2, S.475-491 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1042-1629
DOI	10.1007/s11423-017-9568-4
Schlagwörter	Inquiry; Teaching Methods; Experiments; Scaffolding (Teaching Technique); Comparative Analysis; Experimental Groups; Control Groups; Educational Technology; Technology Uses in Education; Knowledge Level; Physics; Scientific Principles; Prior Learning + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode; Erprobung; Unterrichtsmedien; Technology enhanced learning; Technology aided learning; Technologieunterstütztes Lernen; Wissensbasis; Physik; Vorkenntnisse
Abstract	Inquiry learning is an educational approach in which learners actively construct knowledge and in which performing investigations and conducting experiments is central. To support learners in designing informative experiments we created a scaffold, the Experiment Design Tool (EDT), that provided learners with a step-by-step structure to select variables and to assign values to these variables, together with offering built-in heuristics for experiment design. To further structure the students' approach, the EDT was offered within a set of detailed research questions which again were grouped under a set of broader research questions. Learning results for learners who worked with the EDT were compared to results for learners in two control conditions. In the first control condition, learners received only the detailed research questions and not the EDT; in the second control condition, learners received only the limited set of general research questions. In all conditions, learners conducted their experiments in an online learning environment about the physics topic of Archimedes' principle. Conceptual knowledge was measured before and after the intervention using parallel forms of a knowledge test. Overall results showed significant learning gains in all three conditions, but no significant differences between conditions. However, learners who started with low prior knowledge showed a significantly higher learning gain in the EDT condition than in the two control conditions. This result indicates that the effect of providing learners with scaffolds does not follow a "one-size-fits-all" principle, but may depend on specific learner characteristics, such as prior knowledge. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01