Equipe de recherche en ingénierie pédagogique et didactique des sciences (ERIPDS), Ecole normale supérieure, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Tetouan, Morocco
Computer simulation offers several advantages for electricity learning, such as visualization and interactivity. Computer simulation enables learners to interactively understand electrical phenomena by visualizing them. As a result, abstract concepts become easier for students to grasp. This study aims to determine the impact of computer simulation on students’ understanding of electricity concepts at the Higher Institute of Applied Techniques (ISTA). To achieve this objective, we employed the ‘Circuit Wizard’ software, which was tested with 65 students randomly divided into two groups: a control group (n=30) and an experimental group (n=35), both supervised by four experienced instructors. Prior to the start of their respective courses, a pre-test was administered to each group of students. After the course period, they underwent a post-test to assess their knowledge acquisition. The first group followed the traditional approach to electric circuit learning. The second group, however, underwent the same course but with the ‘Circuit Wizard’ simulator. Data were collected using questionnaires and tests, which were analyzed using SPSS software. The results obtained from the Wilcoxon test, as well as the calculation of normalized learning gains for both groups, indicated a better improvement in terms of conceptual comprehension rate among students in the experimental group during the post-test (Normalized gain is 0,81 for the experimental group and 0,39 for the control group). As evidenced by the results of the Wilcoxon test, this improvement is statistically significant with p < 0.05 for both groups, meaning the p-value is 0.000 for each of the two groups. Consequently, we concluded that the use of computer simulation, such as ‘Circuit Wizard, ’ in physics teaching-learning enables a better understanding of electricity concepts compared to the traditional approach.