Incorporating Computer Visualizations and Simulations into

Your Teaching

Marsha C. Lovett, Ph.D.

GAISE Recommendations for Teaching

• Recommendation 5: Use technology for developing concepts and analyzing data.

• Implementation Suggestion: Perform simulations to illustrate abstract concepts

• Considerations for selection include: ease of use, interactive capabilities, portability

http://www.amstat.org/education/gaise/

Naive application of this guideline is a BAD idea.

What do you get out of simulations?• You hone in on the most important features and

connect what you see to what you already know.• You “play” with the simulation productively and

draw meaning from the results.• Your attention is not overloaded by the many

threads of information, so you can do it and learn at the same time.

Students are at a disadvantage in all three ways!

Now, what about students?

• They might not know what to look for and wouldn’t see it if they did.

• Students tend not to “play” effectively with simulations, nor to draw meaning from the results.

• Students’ attention is easily overloaded, so their learning is hampered.

Bottom line: You need to set up the right conditions for simulations to help students learn.

Students Do Not See What You See• Remember: as an expert, you know where to

look and what is important in a simulation or visualization

• Students tend not to focus on the key aspects• Students tend not to see relationships that you

see.

Example: Reese’s Pieces Simulation

Rossmanchance.com

Students Do Not “Play” Productively…• Research studies have found that

Students working in simulation worlds generally do not explore helpful hypotheses or generate useful “experiments”

Students do not accurately collect or interpret the “data” coming out of simulations

The result? Students often spend their time unproductively: floundering, pursuing dead ends or incorrect ideas, practicing bad habits

• For students, processing information, especially new information, takes a lot of attention

• In most learning tasks, students face three kinds of load: extraneous, essential, generative

extraneous essential generative

Students’ Attention is Easily Overloaded

extraneous

essential generativeextraneous

essential generative

Attentional Capacity

How Students Learn from Multimedia

Text Textbase

Verbally based model

Visualization

Imagebase

Visually based model

selectingwords

selectingimages

organizing

words

Organizing

images

INTEGRATING

Adapted from Clark & Mayer (2007)

But simulations and visualizations can be powerful.

Simulations and Visualizations Offer the Opportunity for Students to:• see what is otherwise difficult to see (e.g., too big/small, too fast/slow, too dangerous or expensive)

• interact with dynamic processes• make connections between different

representations • reason about qualitative relationships (with or

without quantitative…)• gain skills in using “tools of the trade”

How to Use Simulations Effectively

The goal’s the thing…

How to Use Simulations Effectively1. Identify and articulate what you want students

to learn from the simulation, your learning goal2. Find/Select a simulation that aligns with your

learning goal3. Create instructional activities to go with the

simulation that will guide students’ thinking in a way that promotes your learning goal

www.causeweb.org

2. Finding/Selecting a Simulation

www.merlot.org

What makes simulations more likely to promote learning• Contiguity Principle: When text and graphics

are coordinated, learning is better.• Modality Principle: Words as speech (rather

than onscreen text) are better for learning.

• Non-redundancy Principle: Narration alone is better than narration plus text.

• Coherence Principle: Adding interesting material can hurt learning

Clark & Mayer (2007)

3. Strategies for Using Simulations• Highlight for students where to look & what it means• Give students specific tasks to work on• Give students questions/reflection exercises

during/after• Gradually progress from simple to complex (e.g., start

with a physical simulation and move to computer)

• Overall: Giving students guidance and support so they are more likely to engage in the processes that will help them learn

Example: Reese’s Pieces

• Identifies instructional goals• Starts with physical sample; count/compare across

class• Instructor models use of computer simulation• Students get specific questions to answer with the

simulation• Students reflect on key concepts (back to goal)• Instructor assesses students’ learning

http://www.tc.umn.edu/~aims/http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/cause/datasim/examples/reeses.html

Summing Up…

• Answering these key questions can help instructors incorporate simulations and visualizations effectively What goal will they serve? Make sure it’s

worth it. Where do I find them? CAUSEWEB, MERLOT,

etc. Which one(s) should I select? How do I support students in learning from

them?Consider what students will be thinking/doing with them and how you can help make that productive for their learning

Evidence for Contiguity Principle

In 5 out of 5 studies testing this, integrated text & illustrations led to better learning. On average, the “integrated” group produced 68% more solutions.

Evidence for Modality Principle

In 7 out of 7 studies testing this, integrated text & illustrations led to better learning. On average, the “integrated” group showed an 80% greater learning gain.

Students’ Attention is Limited• We have separate visual and auditory channels• Each channel is limited in the amount of processing

that can take place at one time

Eyes VisualComponen

t

Narration Ears AuditoryComponen

t

PrintedWords

Visualization

Computer Sim’n/Vis’n Sensory Memory Working Memory