Abstract

BECERRA G, Fernando. APRENDIZAJE EN COLABORACIÓN MEDIADO POR SIMULACIÓN EN COMPUTADOR: EFECTOS EN EL APRENDIZAJE DE PROCESOS TERMODINÁMICOS. rev.estud.soc. [online]. 2005, n.20, pp.13-26. ISSN 0123-885X.

I report on a research project exploring the effects of using the Modellus software, aided by collaborative discussion, on the learning of thermodynamic principles in 10th grade students at a private school in Bogotá. Modellus is a tool designed to simulate model systems. I worked with 41 students organized in a control group and an experimental group. The control group had a reading and a lab activity and solved a set of given problems. The experimental group received the same instruction as the control group and also worked in pairs to design the simulation of the physical event with the Modellus program. I compared the learning results of both groups by means of a written test and an application project and found them better in the students who had developed the simulation collaboratively. I qualitatively describe the contribution that the students assign to the program and to collaborative work. Then I discuss the pedagogical implications of these findings.

Keywords : Collaborative work; thermodynamics; physics simulators.

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