Computational simulations in Physics education: A critical review of the literature

JUAN VELASCO; LAURA BUTELER

San Pablo

Congreso; 2n World Conference on Physics Education; 2016

IUPAP-GIREP-USP

Computational simulations have become important tools in physics classrooms as much as a focus of attention of the PER community. Many articles were published in this field in the last twenty years. However, the extension of the field and the variety of results make it difficult to take up work in this area of research. In spite of some existing reviews about computational simulations, results are dissimilar and they usually focus on outcomes. The strategies and methodologies are often excluded from compilations, which contribute to the confusing scene of this area.In order to meet these needs, this work offers a critical review of the literature of the last 17 years. This review is oriented to give a general view of the actual state of this field and it is focused on the main nucleus of agreement and discussions in the literature, regarding methodological aspects too. The review contains more than 60 articles which were classified in three categories: design (articles oriented to the interface development), process (those dedicated to the study of the learning process through simulations in detail) and effectiveness (comparative papers which center on the analysis of how effective this tool is as compared to others). A certain tendency was observed from the results: the majority of the articles are characterized for presenting a pre-posttest methodology. Many papers in the category ?effectiveness? were found, while there are only a few of them in ?process?. Some strong agreements can be found in the literature: computational simulations are an effective learning tool for many contexts; their effectiveness depends on their design?s features like the interface, interactivity possibilities, realism, among others; the programs have to be guided by light instructions and they can replace laboratory in certain contexts. On the other hand, some papers affirm that no benefits were found in an instructional sequence from simulations. Some discussion points were found about the relationship between interactivity and complexity, simulations vs. lab, features of support, among others.There are a few items dedicated to illuminate the process of learning through a simulation in detail. Valuable results are exposed but still, it remains an unexplored field. This kind of study gives a more precise information about which features of a simulation favor (or not) learning and in which context. The present work offers a view of the actual state of the field of computational simulations in physics education research, highlighting the main consensus and discussions. A future work is planned in order to approach the process of learning through simulations in detail. For this, the frame of coordination classes will be used.