ERIC Number: EJ921693
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0735-6331
EISSN: N/A
Objects, Entities, Behaviors, and Interactions: A Typology of Student-Constructed Computer-Based Models of Physical Phenomena
Louca, Loucas T.; Zacharia, Zacharias C.; Michael, Michalis; Constantinou, Constantinos P.
Journal of Educational Computing Research, v44 n2 p173-201 2011
The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for analyzing and evaluating student-constructed models of physical phenomena and monitoring the progress of these models. Moreover, we aimed to examine whether this framework could capture differences between models created using different computer-based modeling tools; namely, computer-based programming environments which, in prior research, were found to differ in various aspects of the models constructed through them. We analyzed 220 computer-based models of physical phenomena developed by two groups of elementary-school students. Using open coding we developed a framework that includes five elements of scientific models that code for representations of: (i) the physical objects; (ii) the physical entities; (iii) the object behaviors; (iv) the interactions among physical objects, physical entities, and object behavior(s); and (v) the accuracy of the phenomenon depiction. The implementation of this framework confirmed that it can differentiate student-generated models according to their sophistication and structural components, independent of the computer-based programming environments used to create the models. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Programming, Classification, Student Evaluation, Elementary School Students, Coding, Science Instruction, Scientific Concepts, Evaluation Criteria, Physical Sciences, Programming Languages, Educational Technology, Electronic Learning, Computer Software, Models, Computer Graphics, Computer Assisted Instruction
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Cyprus
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A