Claims

Model progression benefits learning only in sufficiently complex simulations; in a simple domain it was less efficient than full complexity from the start

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (3 entries) · review r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 1998 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q2 i? In a simple disease-spread simulation, model progression had no overall positive effect on performance and was less efficient than immediate full complexity. → Ton de Jong 1998 q2 i? In a harmonic oscillation simulation, model progression enlarged students' intuitive knowledge (but not conceptual knowledge) relative to an environment without progression. → Ton de Jong 1998 (2) q2 i? With increasing control over variables in a Newtonian motion simulation, learners scored significantly higher on application of rules than learners with full control from the start. → Ton de Jong 1998 (3)

Evidence

Ton de Jong 1998

Ton de Jong, Wouter R. van Joolingen. (1998). Scientific Discovery Learning with Computer Simulations of Conceptual Domains. Review of Educational Research. https://telearn.hal.science/hal-00190680v1

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports Quinn and Alessi's experiment with a disease-spread simulation with four input variables, comparing groups given full access immediately against staged access; "model progression had no overall positive effect on performance" in this simple, non-interacting domain.

"Their data revealed that Scientific Discovery Learning with Computer Simulations 27 model progression had no overall positive effect on performance."

Ton de Jong 1998 (2)

Ton de Jong, Wouter R. van Joolingen. (1998). Scientific Discovery Learning with Computer Simulations of Conceptual Domains. Review of Educational Research. https://telearn.hal.science/hal-00190680v1

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports Swaak et al.'s SETCOM study on harmonic oscillation, where the model developed from free through damped to externally forced oscillation; model progression enlarged "intuitive knowledge" but not conceptual knowledge.

"Swaak et al. (1996) found that model progression was successful in enlarging the students’ intuitive knowledge (but not their conceptual knowledge) as compared to an environment without model progression."

Ton de Jong 1998 (3)

Ton de Jong, Wouter R. van Joolingen. (1998). Scientific Discovery Learning with Computer Simulations of Conceptual Domains. Review of Educational Research. https://telearn.hal.science/hal-00190680v1

q2 · i? · review · r3

The review reports Rieber and Parmley's Newtonian motion study; learners given gradually increasing control "scored significantly higher at a test measuring application of rules" than full-complexity learners; no effect size is printed.

"Rieber and Parmley (1995) found, in the area of Newtonian motion, that subjects learning with a simulation that presented an increasing control over variables, scored significantly higher at a test measuring application of rules, than subjects who could exercise control in its full complexity from the start."

Discussion

Page metadata
Field Value
type claim
id model-progression-complexity-boundary
title Model progression benefits learning only in sufficiently complex simulations; in a simple domain it was less efficient than full complexity from the start
description Model progression benefits learning only in sufficiently complex simulations; in a simple domain it was less efficient than full complexity from the start
status review
evidence_strength mixed
newest_evidence 1998
generated by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-16
trust unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources 3 — ton-de-jong-1998, ton-de-jong-1998-2, ton-de-jong-1998-3

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