Interactive screen experiment

Students work in real experiments with a model of the human eye

An interactive screen experiment (IBE) enables experimentation on the computer screen. It consists of a photographic representation of a real experiment . Ideally, all activities relevant to the experiment and didactically are supported by the IBE. An IBE combines the advantages of a simulation with the realistic representation of a real film. The creation of an IBE is time-consuming, since photo series or video sequences have to be produced for every action that can be performed and every arrangement of the components of the real experiment. The photos are linked to the actions (mouse movements) of the user in such a way that the impression of direct manipulation of the depicted experiment is created. The first IBE were developed in 1999 at the TU Berlin . Technically, IBE are implemented by embedding the photos in authoring systems (e.g. Adobe Director or ActionScript ).

Differentiation from real film and simulation

properties	Real film	IBE	simulation
1 type of representation
a) artificial images	0	0	X
b) real images	X	X	0
2 data based on
a) mathematical models	0	0	X
b) real processes	X	X	0
3 sequence
a) linear	X	0	0
b) branched (multi-dimensional)	0	X	X
4 interaction
a) Indirect manipulation	X	0	0
b) Direct manipulation	0	X	X

Source: Physics didactics at TU Berlin

Possible uses

IBE can be used in learning situations in which experimentation by the learner is didactically desired:

• in a university or company internship,
• at school, e.g. B. in physics class,
• to prepare or follow up on real experiments at other locations (outside of the internship rooms or the school).

Compared to real experiments, IBE have the advantage that - with existing computers - the logistics effort is considerably lower. The disadvantage is that the IBE lacks the haptic component of the real experiment.

Research and Development

Much research around IBE is development projects in which new IBE were developed from real experiments, few studies have so far empirically investigated the learning effectiveness. Their results can be summarized:

• Comparable learning success: The comparison with the help of minor subject students who worked in the physics internship with IBE (embedded in a hypermedia learning environment ) or with the real experiments showed the same learning effectiveness .
• Higher learning efficiency: When used in the student internship (physics lesson in 9th grade high school) it was found that the students learn just as well with the IBE as with the real experiment, but the students work 28% faster with the IBE.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jürgen Kirstein: Interactive screen experiments; Technology and didactics of a new method for multimedia mapping of physical experiments. Dissertation, Technical University of Berlin, 1999
2. ↑ Theyßen, Heike: A physics internship for medical students. Presentation of the development and evaluation of a target-specific internship based on the model of didactic reconstruction Dissertation, University of Bremen. Berlin, Logos Verlag, 2000. ISBN 3-89722-334-1
3. ^ Hüther, Monika: Evaluation of a hypermedia learning environment on the subject of gas laws. A study as part of the physics internship for medical students. Dissertation, University of Duisburg-Essen. Berlin, Logos Verlag, 2005. ISBN 3-8325-0911-9
4. ↑ Brell, Claus: Learning media and learning success - real and virtual materials in physics lessons. Empirical studies in eighth grade at high schools (laboratory study) on the use of computers with simulation and IBE. Dissertation, University of Bremen. Berlin, Logos Verlag, 2008. ISBN 978-3-8325-1829-5 ISSN  1614-8967

Web links

• Examples of several IBE (FU Berlin)
• IBE with single photons for entanglement and quantum cryptography (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)
• Download learning environment "Experimenting with an eye model"
• For the use of interactive screen experiments in the physics lab
• Virtual experiments (physics class, University of Bayreuth)