Never far from shore: productive patterns in physics students’use of the digital learning environment Algodoo

In this paper, we present three types of activity that we have observed duringstudents’ free exploration of a software calledAlgodoo, which allows students to explore a range ofphysics phenomena within the same digital learning environment. We discuss how,by responding to any of the three activity t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics education 2020-07, Vol.55 (4), p.045015
Main Authors: Euler, Elias, Prytz, Christopher, Bor Gregorcic
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Learning
Students
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Summary:In this paper, we present three types of activity that we have observed duringstudents’ free exploration of a software calledAlgodoo, which allows students to explore a range ofphysics phenomena within the same digital learning environment. We discuss how,by responding to any of the three activity types we identify in thestudents’ use of Algodoo, physics teachers canspringboard into a range of relevant physics discussions while supporting andvaluing student agency and divergent thinking. Thus, while one might not expectstudents’ undirected use of a digital tool such asAlgodoo to be particularly worthwhile for the physicsclassroom, we highlight how students are never ‘far from the shore’of a productive physics discussion.
ISSN:0031-9120
1361-6552
DOI:10.1088/1361-6552/ab83e7