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¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r2 · q3 · i1–i3
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 In the school study (90-min intervention, N=443), simulation students scored higher on content knowledge than experiment students (d Study I = − 0.19). → Krüger 2022 q3 i3 In the student-laboratory study (180-min intervention, N=367), simulation students scored substantially higher on content knowledge than experiment students (d Study II = − 1.05). → Krüger 2022 (2)

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

q3 · i1 · causal · r2

Randomized comparison in Study I: 443 grade 10–13 students randomly assigned to experiments (n=221) or simulation (n=222) during a 90-min school intervention; post-test t-test with FDR correction showed higher knowledge for simulation, with printed effect size d Study I = − 0.19.

"learning with the simulation compared to learning with experiments resulted in higher students’ content knowledge achievement (d Study I = − 0.19; d Study II = − 1.05)"

Krüger 2022 (2)¶

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

q3 · i3 · causal · r2

Study II table row (Table 7) for the student-laboratory intervention: experiment group mean 8.58 (SD 3.81) versus simulation group mean 13.33 (SD 4.49), t = −10.95, p < .001, printed effect size d = −1.05, favoring the simulation on the 24-point post-test.

"Content knowledge 8.58 (3.81) 13.33 (4.49) 365 − 10.95 < .0.001 − 1.05"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Topic complexity moderates the simulation advantage: the multidimensional Baltic Sea topic showed a much larger simulation benefit than the one-dimensional ocean acidification topic — related
• The simulation advantage and interest differences hold across subgroups of age, gender, school form, and grade — related
• Hands-on experiments promote epistemic and value-related situational interest more than computer simulations, while emotional situational interest does not differ — related