An advantage of the technologies that come with e-learning environments is the variety of easily accessible modes of learning. Knowledge representations such as images, diagrams, audio clips, videos, animations, text, 3D interactive animations, and simulations all provide an alternative way to portray information, allowing students to choose and use the mode that suits them best.

This last representation, simulations, has the potential to be highly effective in communicating and teaching content. A small study by Ersen Çıgrık and Remziye Ergül found that the classes who studied electrostatic induction through simulation-based learning achieved a significate increase in test scores compared to a control group who studied the topic through traditional methods.

Scientific simulations can be used to investigate a phenomenon. A simulation will have been built based on the equations, relationships and theories that describe a phenomenon This means students can apply the scientific method to these simulations, investigating how one factor behaves when other is varied, just like how students perform experiments in the lab.

This past year, a lot of schools have been teaching through distance learning. Students have not had access to the labs in schools due to covid restrictions so have not been able to perform hands-on investigations and develop their understanding of the scientific method though these investigations. Scientific simulations have been able to fill this hole because they are easily accessible through e-learning channels. Students can continue to investigate phenomena from home without the need for specialist equipment. They can record data, analyze the data, and write up a report based on their findings. While this solution is not perfect, mainly because simulations are not exact representations of the real world and the investigation is not hands-on, it does allow students to investigate phenomena using critical thinking. This may not have been possible during distance learning without simulations.

Ersen Çığrık, Remziye Ergül,

The investigation of the effect of simulation-based teaching on the student achievement and attitude in electrostatic induction,

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences,

Volume 1, Issue 1,

2009,

Pages 2470-2474,

ISSN 1877-0428,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2009.01.434.