High school students' perceptions about the helpfulness of PhET simulations for learning physics

This research investigated Year 10 to 12 students' perceptions about the helpfulness of 18 interactive PhET simulations for learning physics. A quantitative survey followed by qualitative interviews were conducted to examine students' perceptions of why and how PhET simulations assisted them in terms of visualising abstract physics concepts and connecting mathematical understanding to physics concepts. Overall, the students found the PhET simulations to be very helpful for both aspects of their learning, particularly for visualisation. The study summarised students' descriptions of why they found the simulations helpful into nine enablers. Six recommendations are made for educators and simulation designers