Practical Work or Simulations? Voices of Millennial Digital Natives

Students nowadays grow up with electronic devices and are adept at navigating the virtual world. Practical activities may be more of a novelty for them than simulations. Using the topic of electric circuits as a context, we examined the ways in which Grade 11 students perceived and learned from practical work and simulations, respectively. In this quasi-experiment study, a group of 19 students used a free online simulations package “Circuit Construction Kit,” while another group of 17 students learnt through practical work. We administered a validated instrument to both groups and found that practical work and simulations supported students’ learning in similar ways. The interventions were then reversed so that all participants experienced both practical work and simulations. Finally, seven students from each group were selected for a group interview. Through the interviews, we identified features of simulations and practical work respectively that students believed contributed to their learning.