Interactive Simulations Instructional Approach (ISIA): a five-step inquiry sequence for conceptual change

Design · All designs
Evidence · 3 claims (3 for) · 1 study (1 causal), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description

The ISIA is an inquiry-based instructional sequence that uses interactive simulations to support conceptual change in physics, grounded in Posner et al.'s conceptual change theory and Vygotsky's zone of proximal development. "The ISIA includes five steps": elicitation and clarification, prediction and implications, testing predictions using interactive simulations, elucidation and linking, and metacognitive evaluation and further testing. Each step elicits and challenges existing conceptions, has students test predictions against simulations, and builds metacognitive evaluation, with scaffolds from teachers, peers, worksheets and the simulations themselves.

Design Implications

Context

Requirements

• Scaffolds are essential: the article states scaffolds such as teachers, lab partners, PhET simulations, scientific language and student worksheets support students through the sequence and can be gradually removed

Constraints

• Alternative conceptions are resilient, so more than one cycle through steps 2–4 may be required in a single teaching sequence

Target Learners

• Grade 10 senior secondary physics students

Learning Goals

• conceptual understanding of physics (forces and motion)
• inquiry process skills
• confidence in learning

Claims

• Isia Greater Conceptual Understanding Gains [+M]
• Isia Greater Inquiry Process Skills [+M]
• Isia Greater Confidence In Learning [+M]

Related Designs

Examples

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Key Sources

• Xinxin Fan, David Geelan and Robyn Gillies. (2018). Evaluating a Novel Instructional Sequence for Conceptual Change in Physics Using Interactive Simulations. Education Sciences. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci8010029

Page metadata

Field	Value
type	design
id	isia-five-step-instructional-sequence
title	Interactive Simulations Instructional Approach (ISIA): a five-step inquiry sequence for conceptual change
description	The ISIA is an inquiry-based instructional sequence that uses interactive simulations to support conceptual change in physics, grounded in Posner et al.'s conceptual change theory and Vygotsky's zone of proximal devel...
status	review
generated	by process:settle-candidates on 2026-11-02
trust	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
sources	1 — xinxin-fan-2018

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