Bringing Simulations to the Classroom: Teachers’ Perspectives

The potential value of simulations in education has been argued already for many years, with the arguments often referring to learning, motivation, or both. However, implementation of educational simulations in classrooms is still lower than what policy makers and researchers would like to see. This study is a continuation of a series of empirical studies where students have investigated the basic principles of electric circuits in a simulation environment in controlled research settings. These studies show positive effects of the simulation both in terms of learning outcomes and interest. The present study focuses on the same simulation environment but changes the focus from students to teachers in regular classrooms. The participants were nine Finnish elementary school teachers. They implemented the circuit simulation in their regular classrooms and reflected on their and their students’ experiences regarding the implementation. The overall picture that emerges is that for most teachers this was a positive experience, but the results also reveal useful pointers and areas of improvement to take into consideration when thinking about bringing simulations to the classroom. Both the positive experiences and the useful pointers will be discussed in the broader framework of bringing simulations to the classroom.