A comparison of the effectiveness of motion-based laboratories and computer-based simulations for teaching skills in graphing

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two modes of instruction for teaching graphing skills to students. The modes of instruction involved use of assigned learning activities associated with Motion-Based Laboratory (MBL) and Computer-Based Simulation (CBS) for teaching graphing skills to students. One-hundred twenty middle school students enrolled in a seventh grade science course participated in this study. A posttest-only design with random assignment and two covariate measures was used. Students were randomly assigned to one of three groups: a control group, which received no treatment; a MBL treatment group; and a CBS treatment group. Students were administered the Test of Graphing in Science and the Motion Content Test (MCT) at the beginning of the study to serve as covariate measures. At the end of the study, all students completed the MCT for the posttest. Data were analyzed using the General Linear Model and a one way ANCOVA. Results indicated that students who received either the MBL treatment or the CBS treatment outperformed the control group. A follow-up Bonferroni post hoc analysis comparing the two treatment groups revealed that the MBL group outperformed the CBS group by an amount that was statistically significant.