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ERIC Number: EJ921693
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
Reference Count: 58
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0735-6331
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.)
Baywood Publishing Company, Inc. 26 Austin Avenue, P.O. Box 337, Amityville, NY 11701. Tel: 800-638-7819; Tel: 631-691-1270; Fax: 631-691-1770; e-mail: info@baywood.com; Web site: http://baywood.com
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: Cyprus