Constructionism and microworlds as part of a 21st century learning activity to impact student engagement and confidence in physics
Citation:
Wickham C., Girvan C., and Tangney B., Constructionism and microworlds as part of a 21st century learning activity to impact student engagement and confidence in physics, Constructionism, Bangkok, Feb, Sipitakiat A. and Tutiyaphuengprasert N., Suksapattana Foundation, 2016, 34 - 43Download Item:
carina girvan Physics_C2016.pdf (Accepted for publication (author's copy) - Peer Reviewed) 281.4Kb
Abstract:
The affordances of microworld simulations to promote student engagement and motivation are
well documented in the literature. These technologies which can be highly have the potential to
enhance a student’s learning experience. Nevertheless their widespread use in mainstream
secondary school classrooms remains limited as these technologies do not sit well in conventional
classroom settings, where short class durations, didactic pedagogy and an emphasis on teaching
to the test prevail.
The problems in secondary school STEM education, such as declining number of students
considering a career in science related disciplines, have often been linked to didactic teaching
styles in classrooms, with an emphasis on transference of knowledge from the teacher to student
and where text books are the main source of curriculum content. In physics, teaching is often
focused on the application of mathematical formulae and lacks context and applicability to real
world problems. As a result many students find physics a ‘difficult and hard subject to study’
leading to poor motivation and low engagement with the subject. This research brings three key
elements together - microworld technology, a constructionist, contextualised pedagogy and a 21st
century learning model – to investigate their combined impact on student engagement and
confidence in physics. Students worked in teams using a constructionist microworld simulation to
build electrical circuits. An exploratory case study was carried out involving 39 secondary school
students (aged ~15/16) participating in 4 separate physics workshops.
An attitudinal questionnaire was used for quantitative data capture, while focus groups and
observation provided rich qualitative data for triangulation. The findings from the study indicate
positive changes in student engagement, confidence in physics and attitude to the use of
technology for learning. The qualitative data provides context for these findings, which while being
based on a modest sample in terms of the number of participants and duration of the learning
experience, nevertheless support the hypothesis that a 21st century pedagogical approach is a
suitable framework for exploiting the potential of microworlds to promote engagement and
confidence in physics.
Author's Homepage:
http://people.tcd.ie/dtangney
Author: Tangney, Brendan
Other Titles:
ConstructionismPublisher:
Suksapattana FoundationType of material:
Conference PaperCollections:
Availability:
Full text availableKeywords:
Constructionism, Social constructivism, Microworlds, Twenty-first century learning, Engagement, STEM, Contextualised learningSubject (TCD):
Creative Technologies , Digital Humanities , Information technology in educationLicences: