The effects of an interactive computer -based simulation prior to performing a laboratory inquiry-based experiment on science teachers' conceptual understanding of physics

This paper investigated how use of an Interactive Computer-Based Simulation (ICBS) prior to performing a Laboratory Inquiry-Based Experiment (LIBE), in a conceptually oriented physics course, affects students' conceptual development of some physics ideas in Mechanics, Waves/Optics and Thermal Physics. ICBS and LIBE were selected from previous research studies, or developed to challenge students' ideas. These were integrated into a sixteen-week semester physics content class. The 13 science teachers who participated in the study were not physicists.;The data collection process was based upon a self-control design where each participant alternated between treatment and control presentations. Interviews (pre-, inter-, and post-interviews) and conceptual tests (pre-, inter- and post-tests) were used, for each module presented in the class. Each one of the three physics areas had four modules, and for each module the participants responded to the three tests and participated in the three interviews.;Both the tests and the interviews were statistically analyzed for (a) any significant changes in students' ability to make "scientifically accepted" predictions (a physics textbook was used as criterion) and give "scientifically accepted" explanations regarding a LIBE, after they had used an ICBS, (b) the extent to which students' experience with an ICBS, before and after the conduction of a LIBE, fostered conceptual change, and (c) investigating students' attitudes towards ICBS, LIBE, or both ICBS and LIBE, and which of them promotes more positive attitudes towards the physics areas of the study.;Results indicated that students that used an ICBS before a LIBE performed significantly better than students who did not use an ICBS before a LIBE. The use of an ICBS improved students' ability to make "scientifically accepted" predictions and give "scientifically accepted" explanations regarding a LIBE, and fostered a significant conceptual change in all three physics areas that were selected for this study. Students' attitudes towards Physics, ICBS, LIBE, and both ICBS and LIBE were all found positive.