Comparing the Effects of Physical and Virtual Experimentation Sequence on Students’ Understanding of Mechanics

This study aims to understand how the sequence of physical and virtual activities affects student conceptual understanding of pulleys. We compared pre-, midand post-test scores of two treatment groups, which differed by the temporal order in which the physical and virtual activities were completed. We examined overall scores as well as scores on individual questions. In questions dealing with the concept of work, students who performed the virtual experiment first seemed to have blocked information learned in the physical. In questions about force, students in each treatment group showed similar gains from preto mid-test but from midto post-test there was no gain, consistent with the primacy effect. Further, students who performed the physical experiment first did better on force mid-test questions, consistent with advantages of kinesthetic learning. No statistically significant difference between the PV and VP sequences at the α=.05 level. Significant difference between the midand post-test scores in the PV sequence only.