• Open Access

Sketching to support visual learning with interactive tutorials

Antje Kohnle, Shaaron E. Ainsworth, and Gina Passante
Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 16, 020139 – Published 4 December 2020
An article within the collection: Curriculum Development: Theory into Design
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Abstract

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] This manuscript discusses how learning theories have been applied to shape multiple aspects of the design of curricular activities combining interactive computer simulations and University of Washington style tutorials (so-called simulation-tutorials). When considering the curriculum goals (what to teach), we drew on theories of representational competence and learning with multiple representations. When considering how to teach, we drew on theories of constructivism and sketching to learn, leveraging the advantages of sketching as a constructive process that requires students to make their current understanding explicit in visual form, to make specific choices in order to make their ideas concrete, and to organize information to support deep processing. When considering when and why to sketch, we drew upon theories of representational competence, learning with multiple representations and inventing to prepare for future learning to describe six distinct purposes of sketching both prior to and while working with the simulation. This is illustrated by presenting specific sketching tasks to show how theory informed the design and the sequencing of the tasks. We followed a design-based research method, working at two institutions in two countries and with multiple cohorts of students to understand, and where necessary improve, the design of these activities, primarily basing our decisions on the sketches that students had created. The key message of this research is that the design and sequencing of sketching tasks needs to be carefully matched to the pedagogical rationale and that theory can shape these decisions in many ways.

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  • Received 28 June 2019
  • Accepted 20 December 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020139

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics Education Research

Collections

This article appears in the following collection:

Curriculum Development: Theory into Design

A special collection on theory and design of curriculum.

Authors & Affiliations

Antje Kohnle1,*, Shaaron E. Ainsworth2, and Gina Passante3

  • 1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9SS, United Kingdom
  • 2Learning Sciences Research Institute, School of Education, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG8 1BB, United Kingdom
  • 3Department of Physics, California State University Fullerton, Fullerton, California 92831, USA

  • *ak81@st-andrews.ac.uk

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Issue

Vol. 16, Iss. 2 — July - December 2020

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