Using Computer Animation in Science Instruction for the Study of Misconception Correction

Abstract

The effect of computer animation developed by Interactive Physics – an easy-to-use computer software with friendly graphic user interface, was studied in a science lesson involving 201 ninth grade students. Both pre-test and posttest problems were chosen from the Force Concept Inventory with emphasis in the fields including, Kinematics, the Newton Second Law, superposition principle, and gravitation. Results show three conclusions: a. Students given by traditional instruction and computer animation instruction do not have significant difference in pre-test.; b. Students given by computer animation instruction perform much better than students instructed by traditional teaching; c. Students instructed by traditional teaching do make progress at posttest, but makes no significance change. These results suggest that instructions by computer animation can promote learning, and they also demonstrate a successful application of interactive graphics in the design of cognitively based practice activities.