Algorithms, Visualization, and Mental Models: High School Students' Interactions with a Relative Motion Simulation

摘要: Galileo's contemporaries as well today's students have difficulty understanding relative motion. We hypothesize that the construction of visual models, resolution these models with numeric and, in many cases, rejection commitments such belief one “true” velocity, are necessary for to form integrated mental motion events. To investigate students' problem solving, high school science were videotaped classroom and laboratory settings they performed collaborative predict-observe-explain activities computer simulations. Half interacted simulations provided animated feedback; other half received feedback. Learning, measured by a diagnostic test, occurred following both conditions. There is evidence condition used faulty mechanical algorithms solve problems, while animation imagery problems. In this paper, interactions which student involvement was model based will be contrasted algorithm based. Implications pedagogy educational uses discussed.