Learning practices in education are constantly evolving to provide high-quality education. One of... more Learning practices in education are constantly evolving to provide high-quality education. One of the trends used to provide high-quality education is incorporating technological tools to teach and learn STEM concepts. Implementing physical manipulative tools and virtual manipulative tools in STEM classrooms positively influenced conceptual learning. Furthermore, visuohaptic simulations are learning tools that combine physical and virtual manipulative affordances in a single learning experience. For investigating the value of visual and haptic feedback in virtual environments, we designed an embodied learning experience where learners used a hands-on tool for learning friction concepts. The theoretical framework of embodied learning guided the design of the learning tools and the research design. The learning tools were visuohaptic simulations and physical manipulative tool. Results suggested no influence in conceptual knowledge of the physical manipulative tool. On the opposite, re...
Los estudiantes presentan problemas para aprender conceptos en ramas STEM, debido a su naturaleza... more Los estudiantes presentan problemas para aprender conceptos en ramas STEM, debido a su naturaleza abstracta y el enfoque de procedimiento matemático que se le da en las lecciones. Por lo cual, este artículo se enfoca en el proceso de diseño y validación de una experiencia de aprendizaje de conceptos de densidad. El manipulativo físico utilizado como objeto de aprendizaje se basó en el Modelo de Cuadros y Puntos (MCP) para demostrar de forma gráfica, la relación que existe entre los conceptos de masa, volumen y densidad. Seis escenarios se utilizaron para guiar la interacción con el manipulativo físico. Además, un total de seis estudiantes de colegio participaron en la validación de la experiencia de aprendizaje. Como resultado, se obtuvo una mejoría de los conceptos entre la prueba inicial y la prueba final; sin embargo, se demostró que los participantes tienen problemas con los conceptos de masa, volumen y su relación con la densidad.
2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2018
Statics is a backbone course for several engineering disciplines and also a pre-requisite for dyn... more Statics is a backbone course for several engineering disciplines and also a pre-requisite for dynamics and mechanics of materials. Researchers have identified a lack of understanding of statics as a significant source of difficulties in terms of both conceptual understanding, representation of free body diagrams (FBD) and problem-solving ability. Our approach to improve the learning of the concept of friction focuses on students’ understanding of acting forces and specific components of such forces of a system. The presented quasi-experimental study investigates how the use of visuo-haptic simulations can improve students understanding and use of FBD. Specifically, we compared two visuo-haptic simulations; one that explicitly visually depicts FBD of multiple objects interacting with different surfaces, while the other only provides haptic feedback while students engage in the same forms of interaction. Our results suggest that using the visuo-haptic simulator with FBD leads to bette...
The current study investigates the differences in students’ explanations of friction concepts aft... more The current study investigates the differences in students’ explanations of friction concepts after the use of the visuohaptic simulation with two different of sequenced approaches: enhanced visual first to enhanced visual and haptic feedback second (V → V + H), and haptic enhanced first to enhanced visual and haptic feedback second (H → V + H). Participants were students from a midwestern university who participated as part of their physics course assignments during the Fall of 2017 ( n = 29). Participants first received a lecture about friction concepts, followed by the pretest. Then, they participated in a laboratory session where they interacted with the visuohaptic simulation and completed the posttest. Participants answered two conceptual questions at the different stages of the study, the first conceptual question was regarding the role of the objects’ weight in friction, and the second conceptual question was regarding the role of the objects’ size in friction. Results suggest three major findings: (a) the visuohaptic simulation had a positive influence in students’ conceptual knowledge; (b) students in the H → V + H sequenced approach outperformed the students in the V → V + H approach; and (c) the role of the object weight in friction resulted in an intuitive concept for the students, while the role of the object size in friction resulted in a counterintuitive concept for the students. Possible explanations of our findings are further discussed.
Learning practices in education are constantly evolving to provide high-quality education. One of... more Learning practices in education are constantly evolving to provide high-quality education. One of the trends used to provide high-quality education is incorporating technological tools to teach and learn STEM concepts. Implementing physical manipulative tools and virtual manipulative tools in STEM classrooms positively influenced conceptual learning. Furthermore, visuohaptic simulations are learning tools that combine physical and virtual manipulative affordances in a single learning experience. For investigating the value of visual and haptic feedback in virtual environments, we designed an embodied learning experience where learners used a hands-on tool for learning friction concepts. The theoretical framework of embodied learning guided the design of the learning tools and the research design. The learning tools were visuohaptic simulations and physical manipulative tool. Results suggested no influence in conceptual knowledge of the physical manipulative tool. On the opposite, re...
Los estudiantes presentan problemas para aprender conceptos en ramas STEM, debido a su naturaleza... more Los estudiantes presentan problemas para aprender conceptos en ramas STEM, debido a su naturaleza abstracta y el enfoque de procedimiento matemático que se le da en las lecciones. Por lo cual, este artículo se enfoca en el proceso de diseño y validación de una experiencia de aprendizaje de conceptos de densidad. El manipulativo físico utilizado como objeto de aprendizaje se basó en el Modelo de Cuadros y Puntos (MCP) para demostrar de forma gráfica, la relación que existe entre los conceptos de masa, volumen y densidad. Seis escenarios se utilizaron para guiar la interacción con el manipulativo físico. Además, un total de seis estudiantes de colegio participaron en la validación de la experiencia de aprendizaje. Como resultado, se obtuvo una mejoría de los conceptos entre la prueba inicial y la prueba final; sin embargo, se demostró que los participantes tienen problemas con los conceptos de masa, volumen y su relación con la densidad.
2018 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), 2018
Statics is a backbone course for several engineering disciplines and also a pre-requisite for dyn... more Statics is a backbone course for several engineering disciplines and also a pre-requisite for dynamics and mechanics of materials. Researchers have identified a lack of understanding of statics as a significant source of difficulties in terms of both conceptual understanding, representation of free body diagrams (FBD) and problem-solving ability. Our approach to improve the learning of the concept of friction focuses on students’ understanding of acting forces and specific components of such forces of a system. The presented quasi-experimental study investigates how the use of visuo-haptic simulations can improve students understanding and use of FBD. Specifically, we compared two visuo-haptic simulations; one that explicitly visually depicts FBD of multiple objects interacting with different surfaces, while the other only provides haptic feedback while students engage in the same forms of interaction. Our results suggest that using the visuo-haptic simulator with FBD leads to bette...
The current study investigates the differences in students’ explanations of friction concepts aft... more The current study investigates the differences in students’ explanations of friction concepts after the use of the visuohaptic simulation with two different of sequenced approaches: enhanced visual first to enhanced visual and haptic feedback second (V → V + H), and haptic enhanced first to enhanced visual and haptic feedback second (H → V + H). Participants were students from a midwestern university who participated as part of their physics course assignments during the Fall of 2017 ( n = 29). Participants first received a lecture about friction concepts, followed by the pretest. Then, they participated in a laboratory session where they interacted with the visuohaptic simulation and completed the posttest. Participants answered two conceptual questions at the different stages of the study, the first conceptual question was regarding the role of the objects’ weight in friction, and the second conceptual question was regarding the role of the objects’ size in friction. Results suggest three major findings: (a) the visuohaptic simulation had a positive influence in students’ conceptual knowledge; (b) students in the H → V + H sequenced approach outperformed the students in the V → V + H approach; and (c) the role of the object weight in friction resulted in an intuitive concept for the students, while the role of the object size in friction resulted in a counterintuitive concept for the students. Possible explanations of our findings are further discussed.
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