written by Jared B. Stang, Megan Barker, Sarah Perez, Joss Ives, and Ido Roll

Pre-class reading assignments help prepare students for active classes by providing a first exposure to the terms and concepts to be used during class. We investigate if the use of inquiry-oriented PhET-based activities in conjunction with pre-class reading assignments can improve both the preparation of students for in-class learning and student attitudes towards and engagement with pre-class assignments. Over three course modules covering different topics, students were assigned randomly to complete either a textbook-only pre-class assignment or both a textbook pre-class assignment and a PhET-based activity. The assignments helped prepare students for class, as measured by performance on the pre-class quiz relative to a beginning-of-semester pretest, but no evidence for increased learning due the PhET activity was observed. Students rated the assignments which included PhET as more enjoyable and, for the topic latest in the semester, reported spending more time on the assignments when PhET was included.

• Download PERC2016_Stang.pdf - 1922kb Adobe PDF Document

Last Modified December 1, 2016

This file is included in the full-text index.