Students' Attitudes towards Online Pre-Laboratory Exercises for a Physics Extended Curriculum Programme

Autor/inn/en	Van De Heyde, Valentino; Siebrits, André
Titel	Students' Attitudes towards Online Pre-Laboratory Exercises for a Physics Extended Curriculum Programme
Quelle	In: Research in Science & Technological Education, 37 (2019) 2, S.168-192 (25 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Van De Heyde, Valentino) ORCID (Siebrits, André)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0263-5143
DOI	10.1080/02635143.2018.1493448
Schlagwörter	Student Attitudes; Physics; Science Instruction; Blended Learning; Science Laboratories; Laboratory Experiments; College Freshmen; College Science; Foreign Countries; Comparative Analysis; Science Activities; Educational Technology; Technology Uses in Education; Integrated Learning Systems; South Africa + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schülerverhalten; Physik; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Laboratory work; Laborarbeit; Studienanfänger; Ausland; Unterrichtsmedien; Technology enhanced learning; Technology aided learning; Technologieunterstütztes Lernen; Südafrika; Süd-Afrika; Republik Südafrika; Südafrikanische Republik
Abstract	Background: Students' well preparedness for laboratory sessions is of importance for a number of reasons including them being able to engage in and learn from the session and in acquiring the necessary laboratory skills needed for the scientific community and for possible further work in industry. To enhance the preparedness of the students an online environment was designed, developed and implemented in a structured logical manner. Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory study is to investigate student perceptions in a Science Extended Curriculum Program (ECP) of both the traditional pen and paper method they used in 2016, and the new online resource method they used in 2017 to better prepare them for Physics laboratories, and to compare the two methods. Sample: N = 51 students from a first-year Extended Curriculum Programme in physics at a South African university voluntarily participated in this study. Design and methods: The research was conducted using two non-standardised structured questionnaires where the enrolled ECP students were asked both open-ended -- and closed questions (using a Likert response scale). Google Forms using graphs assessed these responses. An additional source of data was iKamva/Sakai which is the University of Western Cape's institutional Learning Management (LMS) system, which allowed for detailed information regarding online activities. Results: Four main research questions focussing on preparedness, time spent, lab activities and online resources were identified. Findings from these suggest that an introduction of an online environment positively affected the students' perceptions of the online environment for pre-laboratory preparation in comparison with using traditional pen and paper. Conclusions: The present study has successfully managed to both reveal that the introduction of online environment for Physics laboratories brought about some positive benefits as perceived by the students, as well as fruitful avenues for future research. While more work is needed, in terms of research and continuing evaluation of eLearning in Physics education, there is reason to be positive in terms of renewed emphasis to add blended learning within the broader Physics learning and teaching communities. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01