A student used slider extremes to make qualitative comparisons of skater mass effects¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2013 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person
Evidence quality · No study behind this claim is a peer-reviewed article with a DOI: it rests on a source with no registered publication record (a web page, book or unpublished report). It is kept because 2 design pages cite it; treat it as a lead to check, not an established finding.

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In the same interview, the student used the extremes of the Skater Mass slider to compare the motion of a large versus small skater qualitatively. → Podolefsky 2013

Evidence¶

Podolefsky 2013¶

Podolefsky, N. S., Moore, E. B., & Perkins, K. K. (2013). Implicit scaffolding in interactive simulations: Design strategies to support multiple educational goals. http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/energy-skate-park-basics. doi:10.48550/arxiv.1306.6544

q2 · i? · the article prints no effect size for this finding · qualitative · r1

Continuation of the same single-student think-aloud case study. The student moved the mass slider to Large and Small, observed the skater's size change dynamically, and compared speeds, illustrating how boundary conditions of parameters invite productive comparison.

"Here the student uses the extremes of the “Skater Mass” slider to make qualitative interpretations of the effect of the skater’s mass."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Authors report that flexibility in sim access supports student agency while students tend to explore in a productive sequence — a broader claim this one bears on
• A student began interacting with the sim within 10 seconds and verbalized sense-making without explicit guidance — related