562b Categorizing and ThematizingThe categories that were Free Essay Example

5.6.2b Categorizing and Thematizing

The categories that were generated from the data were based on the relationships between the codes. One of the categories was that physics and dynamics in particular was tough and strenuous.

The other category was that physics is innovatory and inspirational noted from remarks that Ozilly echoed when he said physics inspires people to “make things that can prevent certain accidents from happening or being worse”.

Based on the data collected from the respondents (interviewees) the core category that dominated in the responses was that of perceiving physics as being tough and strenuous. This emerged as a key theme in the data. Therefore, the previous perception by learners about dynamics was that dynamics was a very tough and strenuous topic to learn and understand.

5.6.3 What role did computer simulations play in conceptual learning?

5.6.3a Coding

When asked what they liked about the way they learnt dynamics; the codes that emerged from the data from respondents were, seeing, understanding, doing, and brainstorming part of PSIS.

Chanda said “the first part. The part of using computers. But the big questions were difficult that paper you gave us question C was hectic somehow yes you can answer some of the questions. but most of the questions there were hard sir”.

Jane further said that the reason why computer simulations made their understanding better was that; “sir we could see. Yes, we could see what was happening there. Sir it’s hard to just hear information and then your mind is able to process it than when you are able to see it then having notice to the real life so”.

Peter further said they were able to understand better because they were able to see forces acting on objects and also the motion of objects. From here it’s clear that when learners saw the magnitude forces and motion, they were able to connect to their intuitive knowledge that culminated into conceptual understanding.

Mary said that when it was important to see what they were learning “because you can tell what friction is, what force is, you can tell the mass of an object and you can easily calculate because you’ve been given everything. And you can come up with something given a pen and a paper you can be able to know what you are doing. Now sir where you are just explaining”, it is difficult to understand.

Mary was expressing the fact that when a teacher is just talking, they don’t understand the concepts being taught. However, when learners are given an opportunity to learn using multiple visual representations, they were able to understand because they were able to see and do what they were learning virtually.

When asked whether or not they should continue learning physics using interactive simulations, Chanda said “Yeah. And more examples and a lot of exercises” be given to them. In other words, their conceptual understanding of dynamics was greatly scaffolded by the computer simulations and so they wanted to continue learning using computers. In addition, they needed a lot of worksheets with more practice problems so that as they work on those problems, they search, discuss, argue and seek clarification from one another in order to have a workable understanding of the core concepts surrounding the problems under investigation. Learners needed a great deal of multisensory activities in order to experience learning through multiple sense organs for them to have a holistic understanding of the core concepts in dynamics.

Other data was collected during their group discussions by audio recordings. In one group discussion Martha (names were changed) was seeking clarification about the difference between speed and velocity, and also distance and displacement using simpler terms. She further expressed lack of understanding of the meaning of acceleration. In this group Chipo a seemingly more knowledgeable other (MKO) clarified correctly the difference between distance and displacement by saying;

“displacement is the distance covered in a specific direction”. Chipo further explained that “the reason why I was using velocity and displacement is because this is a straight line, this is a specific direction”.

Martha acknowledged the understanding of the difference between distance and displacement by saying “no ine (me) pa (at) first shachilachita (I did not) understand nomba (now) because you have explained I now understand”.

Form this conversation, it was clear that MKOs were scaffolding the less knowledgeable peers. Learners were free to express themselves with their peers sometimes using their mother tongue language to seek clarification. Social interaction was an integral part of PSIS method of instruction which emerged from the data. It was noticed that the MKO was explaining while referring to the simulation visually.

In another group discussion, learners were debating whether it is force or mass that causes objects to move. The question they were investigating was:

What causes objects to move or stay still? Make a claim and provide evidence.

When learners opened up the PhET simulation on Forces and Motion, they carried out an experiment to collect evidence and here is how the debate went:

Simon: its force

Musonda: “how is it force? But for me am able to defend it. If you say its mass because if you say mass, evidence will be that if you look at what we were doing there, where we had a cart, where we had more mass, we saw that those who had more mass were easily pulling those that had less mass”.

Simon: “but you see those that had more mass were applying a lot of force to pull that cart”.

Musonda: “so, what causes objects to move?”

Simon: “if someone has applied force, the object will move but if someone has applied no force the object can’t move”.

Musonda: “so, you are saying if force is applied, there is movement”.

Simon: “yes, if force is not applied, there is no movement. Even a person with large mass, if he is not touching the object, it will not move”.

Looking at this discussion between Simon and Musonda, it was clear that Simon had an alternative conception about what causes objects to move. However, Musonda had a correct conception that forces are responsible for causing movement of objects. When they faced this challenge, Musonda and Simon were brainstorming based on what they observed in the simulation. Looking at the intuition that Musonda brought out concerning the cause of motion, he remarked that a person with larger mass who is not exerting any force on the object will not make the object move. They resolved that forces make objects to move and their evidence was that they observed from the simulation that those who exerted more force pulled those who exerted less force. The use of force as a cause of movement to account for changes in speed, rather than as an explanation for motion in some direction, constituted a refined use of this simulation. Forces do not keep objects in motion but they cause objects to move, accelerate or slow down and stop.

When they were faced with another challenge to give an example of a balanced force, Simon asked for a textbook to do some research on forces in order to look for examples of balanced forces. Textbooks were used as additional resources for digging for more information on the subject under investigation.

The role of computers in the learners conceptual understanding can be summarized in figure 5.5.4 concept map.

Fig 5.5.4

Learners found the interactive simulations very motivating in their conceptual learning.

5.6.3b Categorizing and thematizing

The coding process with the inclusion of axial coding in the discussions led to identification of increasingly dense conceptualizations that culminated into themes. The core category that emerged from the data was that the visual part of the simulations enabled the learners to easily understand the concepts in dynamics. This is because based on what learners were able to see in the simulations, they were able to brainstorm and scaffold each other in order to challenge each other’s initial conceptions so that they abandon those alternative conceptions and accommodate new conceptions. So, we can see correlation and derivative subsumption taking place amongst the learners leading to meaningful learning. In other words, because learners were able to see, all their arguments, explanations, brainstorming and activities were related to what they were seeing.

5.6.3c What is the influence of PSIS on the learners’ perceptions of Dynamics?

In the conclusion part of the interview;

Chinyemba remarked that; “at first, I used to think that Physics was a very difficult subject because of what people were saying about formulas, but I have come to learn that physics is not difficult to understand especially when we started using computers. We were able to see what was happening and things came into my mind like in a new world. I think that was very interesting to me”.

5.6.3c Grounded Theory – The theory of simulated-visualization of phenomena to enhance learners’ conceptual understanding

The majority of other participants also agreed with Chinyemba’s remarks. Based on the participants’ remarks and the researcher’s observations and memos, it was very clear that the perception of learners towards physics changed with time. In other words, learning dynamics with computer simulations was very interesting and understandable to the learners because of its visual features. The theoretical statement that was generated as a result of connecting the relationships among the categories culminated into – The theory of simulated-visualization of phenomena to enhance learners’ conceptual understanding.

The theory of simulated-visualization of phenomena to enhance learners’ conceptual understanding is an emergent perception within the process of problem-solving using interactive simulations by learners. The process requires active engagement of learners in exploring phenomena surrounding the problem under investigation using computer-simulated environments. Most importantly, learners perceive concepts in the topic of dynamics in physics as easy to understand with the visual-aid of interactive simulations. Learners also perceive themselves as more capable problem-solvers as they actively engage in research and phenomena exploration of the problem under investigation using interactive simulations. Furthermore, learners were eager to take responsibility for their own learning provided they had resources for research and interactive simulations for their phenomena exploration of the problems.