THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTIFIC THINKING OF STUDENTS USING SIMULATIONS

Abstract

Computer simulations have become a standard tool in physics education, mainly at universities. But this kind of the teaching aid can find its place at secondary schools as well. This paper introduces our investigations of the influence of the use of simulations within physics lessons at the secondary school on the students' knowledge in mechanics, specifically in kinematics, dynamics and the gravitational field. A pedagogical experiment was used as a research method and students' achievements were measured with a nonstandardised test. The obtained results are compared with the knowledge acquired by students who didn't use this kind of teaching aid during their physics lessons. In the next step, we have focused on the analysis of the impact of the use of simulations on a development of students' scientific thinking. (English) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]