Thirty-Second International Conference on Learning

Abstract

This study investigates differences in students’ explanations of why objects float or sink in a fluid before and after being exposed to a physical or a virtual hands-on experiment. Participants included 51 students from an undergraduate course in physics. Twenty-six students were exposed to a physical hands-on experiment and twenty five students were exposed to a visuo-haptic simulation. The physical hands-on experiment consisted of an activity where students submerged objects with different masses and volumes in fluids with different densities. In the physical experiments the objects where tied to a thread enabling students to feel the effect of the buoyancy force created by the interaction of the object and the fluid. In the visuo-haptic simulation students were provided with a simulation of a cube that could be submerged in a fluid contained on a beaker. Students experimented with an interface where they were able to modify the object’s density and volume, as well as the fluid’s density. A Novint falcon haptic device exercised a force feedback as students submerged the object in the fluid. This feedback allowed students to feel the buoyant force after modifying the variables. Students responded a pre-test and post-test assessment designed to identify their conceptual understanding of buoyancy. There was an statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores for both treatments, however, statistically the treatments were not significantly different from each other. Misconceptions related to mass and weight were also prevalent in the learners’ responses even after treatment implementation.