A Self Study Learning Environment for Modeling Abilities: Do All Learners Take the Same Learning Path?

LEMA (Learning Environment for Modeling Abilities) is an ICT based tool developed in order to promote students' modeling abilities such as developing explanations of phenomena based on microscopic models, predicting the outcome of new phenomena and revising explanations in the light of experimental evidence. It is developed for the context of self study. In a prior study, we have reported that students learning with LEMA showed statistically significant difference in their learning outcomes on a modeling ability based test than the control group. While we know that LEMA helped develop students modeling skills, the prior study did not address how it helped or why. In order to gain insight into this, in this study we investigate the different paths that different learners take as they interact with LEMA. Using screen capture logs of students' interaction with LEMA, we characterize the difference in behavior between students who score low and students who score high in a modeling based post test. We find that in spite of the fact that the total time spent by all students while interacting with LEMA is the same, the duration of time spent on each feature of LEMA and the action taken within, varies for high and low scorers.