Electricity Explained - at John Cabot CTC
Teacher's view
I'd taught the group the GCSE module on "Electrical Circuits" and covered most of the theory relevant to the topic. The package aims to clarify the understanding of electrical concepts, many of which cause students difficulty. The CD covers 10 electrical topics. Around 500 explanatory slides. using a mix of text and animation, enable the concepts to be developed. The animations offer ways to visualise voltage, current and power. The progression is from simple ideas about complete circuits to the subtleties of potential divider circuits.
For most students the package was useful in reinforcing understanding of the concepts. For the higher achievers who already had a clear grasp and understanding it was less successful as they felt they were wasting time.
Students' perspective
"The animations are helpful as they show you what's happening and you can watch them as many times as you like to make sure you understand it thoroughly. When we're just using the board [in a lesson] you don't always have enough time to figure everything out so it's good to be able to work at your own pace. I like the option tabs at the top of the explanation boxes...to have essential information or a deeper option if your prefer. The wrong ideas section is also good as if you're thinking this it explains why you are wrong rather than just telling you."
"The way it actually does experiments on the animations is good, as in the lab they don't always work. This means that when you analyse your results you don't necessarily get what you expected. However I don't think simulations should repace practical activities completely, just support them if things go a bit wonky. After all, practical work in science might give the teacher a bit of a headache but they're really what it's all about."
"The actual analysis of the results shown on the program is good as well, as it allows you to compare your results with others and shows you how the graphs/tables are useful in finding information. The quick quiz section is also good as it lets you test yourself on what you've understood, so you can go back and look at things you didn't understand again."
MultiMedia Science School - at John Cabot CTC
Teacher's view
Students generally find it difficult to understand alpha, beta and gamma radiation, but, having observed the physical demonstration of the Geiger Muller tube, they could easlily appreciate the software version. Being able to switch between a graphical and video simulation helped student's appreciate the differences between types of radiation. I'd also taught the students about radioactive half-life through an exercise modelling a radioactive sample by using plastic cubes with one side painted. The students were asked to randomly throw 100 cubes and then remove the cubes which fell with the painted side uppermost. After each throw the throw number and the number of cubes remaining were recorded until all the cubes had been removed. Students could then plot this data on a graph and produce as "decay" curve for the activity. The Half-lives simulation in the package built on this previous work very effectively as the students were able to see the different decay mutations for radioactive elements and realise that the half-life varied significantly between different elements.
Student's perspective
"These simulations definitely need a teacher to go through the subject with you first or tell you how to go through most of the demonstration/animation as it doesn't really explain it that well. But it does help reinforce your knowledge if you go through it by yourself afterwards. It's good to work at your own pace."
"The Half-lives sequences are good as it shows you what is happening. This is a bit hard to understand at first, but this is a good way of representing it. The Radioactive Penetration simulation is well done as you can adjust it many ways, like an experiment without the scary radioactive samples! "
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