Effects of Microcomputer-Based and Simulation-Based Laboratories on Students’ Conceptual Learning under Multiple Representation Thinking

In chemistry education, instructing students to make connections between multiple representations helps to promote their more profound understanding of concepts. Reactions in aqueous solutions are a significant challenge for many students because of their abstract nature and difficulty in visualizing them. Microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) and simulation-based laboratory (SBL) can visualize the invisible reaction processes in aqueous solutions, thus tapping the potential for linkage between macro observation and submicro analysis. The participants in this study were grade 10 students who were randomly assigned to the MBL group (N = 12) and the SBL group (N = 12). Both groups studied the same content. The difference is that the MBL activities manipulated real experimental materials, while the SBL activities manipulated virtual experimental materials. During the experiment, the eye-tracking technology captures the students’ eye movements in real-time. At the end of the experiment, the data were fed back through different eye-tracking measures. The data of the MBL and SBL groups were statistically analyzed, and effect sizes were calculated. Students in the MBL group were found to be more accurate, be efficient, have less cognitive load, and be more dependent on using images to solve the multiple representation tasks of salt hydrolysis. These results are a preliminary indication that the MBL provides students with an effective image scaffold for understanding submicro chemistry. The results of this study further confirm the advantages of MBL in learning reactions in aqueous solutions. However, more research is needed to compare the efficacy of MBL and SBL in other chemical topics.