Innovation in Language Learning
Teaching Concepts of Electricity and the Related Terminology by Means of Computer Simulations
Filippos Evangelou, University of Ioannina & Ioannina Primary School of Intercultural Education Greece (Greece)
Abstract
This paper will present a project aiming at teaching students the concepts of electricity and simple electrical circuit through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and, especially, simulations (Jaakkola & Nurmi, 2008; De Jong, 2006; Steinberg, 2000). Simulations were performed by means of the simulation software “Crocodile Clips Elementary Edition”.
This is a free software which can be found in the website: http://www.crocodile-clips.com. It is characterized by the ease and simplicity of design and execution of virtual experiments concerning simple electric circuits and it is suitable for performing virtual experiments at all levels education. In the case of the current project it was used in primary education.
This software was chosen for the following reasons: i) students after following a brief demo of the program will be able to create their own experiments. More specifically, there are a lot of tools (such as light bulbs, battery, wires, switch, etc.) which students can easily select and drag-and-drop in order to place in the desired position, ii) the environment is user-friendly, therefore and iii) students have the opportunity to repeat the experiment, as many times as needed (Hofstein & Lunetta, 2004; Zacharia, 2007).
Two activities in the form of virtual experiments were performed using this software. The project had a dual focus, to teach with an interactive and innovative way both the basic concepts of electricity and simple electrical circuit, as well as the specific terminology related to the issue. Also, the teaching was based on the theory of constructivism.
More specifically, the first activity focuses on the concepts/items of electric current, light bulbs, wires and battery. In the relevant experiment, students are asked to light the bulb using the wires and battery. In the second activity a similar experiment is performed, only this time the item of the switch is added. The focus now is on students understanding the role of the switch in the “open” or “closed” electric circuit. In this second experiment, students are asked to light the bulb using the wires, the battery and the switch
Students participated actively in the experiments and seemed more comfortable to use the relevant terminology, as well as to perform similar off-line experiments in the classroom.
