ON THE EFFECT OF VIRTUAL REALITY ON STUDENT UNDERSTANDING OF AND INTEREST IN PHYSICS

This study investigated the effect that the video game Portal 2 had on students understanding of Newton’s Laws and their attitudes towards learning science during a two-week afterschool program at a science museum. Using a pre/posttest and survey design, along with instructor observations, the results showed a statistically relevant increase in understanding of Newton’s Laws (p=.02<.05) but did not measure a relevant change in attitude scores. The data and observations suggest that future research should pay attention to non-educational aspects of video games, be careful about the amount of time students spend in the game, and encourage positive relationships with game developers.

Comparison of the effects of inquiry-based cooperative learning and demonstrations in science education

The reported research project involved studying how teaching science using demonstrations, inquiry-based cooperative learning groups, or a combination of the two methods affected sixth grade students’ understanding of air pressure and density. Three different groups of students were each taught the two units using different teaching methods. Group one learned about the topics through both demonstrations and inquirybased cooperative learning, whereas group two only viewed demonstrations, and group three only participated in inquiry-based learning in cooperative learning groups. The study was designed to answer the following two questions: 1. Which teaching strategy works best for supporting student understanding of air pressure and density: demonstrations, inquirybased labs in cooperative learning groups, or a combination of the two? 2. And what effect does the time spent engaging in a particular learning experience (demonstrations or labs) have on student learning? Overall, the data did not provide sufficient evidence that one method of learning was more effective than the others. The results also suggested that spending more time on a unit does not necessarily equate to a better understanding of the concepts by the students. Implications for science instruction are discussed.