Topic complexity moderates the simulation advantage: the multidimensional Baltic Sea topic showed a much larger simulation benefit than the one-dimensional ocean acidification topic¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The authors interpret the larger knowledge advantage of simulations in Study II as related to that study's higher topic complexity, where all environmental processes were considered together. → Krüger 2022

Evidence¶

Krüger 2022¶

Krüger, J. T., Höffler, T. N., Wahl, M., Knickmeier, K., & Parchmann, I. (2022). Two comparative studies of computer simulations and experiments as learning tools in school and out-of-school education. Instructional Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11251-021-09566-1

q2 · i? · causal · r2

Authors' interpretation (type e) comparing the two studies: Study II treated warming, eutrophication, acidification and salinity simultaneously with organism interactions, whereas Study I treated one process; the d = 1.05 advantage is linked to this complexity.

"The second study showed an even higher degree of complexity than the first, as all processes were considered together, whereas in the first study "only" one process was considered."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Secondary school students learn more complex marine ecology content from interactive computer simulations than from hands-on experiments, with a larger advantage for the more complex multidimensional topic — related
• A hierarchical internal knowledge organization facilitates performance on complex recall and problem-solving tasks more than a single-level organization of the same knowledge — related