Children's participation in a virtual epidemic in the science classroom: Making connections to natural infectious diseases

被引：39

作者：

Neulight N. ^{[1
]}

Kafai Y.B. ^{[1
]}

Kao L. ^{[1
]}

Foley B. ^{[2
]}

Galas C. ^{[3
]}

机构：

[1] UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, 2128 Moore Hall 951521, Los Angeles

[2] California State University, Northridge

[3] Corinne Seeds University, Elementary School, University of California, Los Angeles

来源：

Journal of Science Education and Technology | 2007年 / 16卷 / 1期

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

Classroom; Infectious disease; Multi-user virtual environment; Simulation;

D O I：

10.1007/s10956-006-9029-z

中图分类号：

学科分类号：

摘要：

This study investigated students' understanding of a virtual infectious disease in relation to their understanding of natural infectious diseases. Two sixth-grade classrooms of students between the ages of 10 and 12 (46 students) took part in a participatory simulation of a virtual infectious disease, which was integrated into their science curriculum. The results from our analyses reveal that students perceived the simulation as similar to a natural infectious disease and that the immersive components of the simulation afforded students the opportunity to discuss their understandings of natural disease and to compare them to their experiences with the virtual disease. We found that while the virtual disease capitalized on students' knowledge of natural infectious disease through virtual symptoms, these symptoms may have led students to think of its transfer more as an observable or mechanical event rather than as a biological process. These findings provide helpful indicators to science educators and educational designers interested in creating and integrating online simulations within classroom environments to further students' conceptual understanding. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007.

引用

页码：47 / 58

页数：11

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