To guide or not to guide: issues in the sequencing of pedagogical structure in computational model-based learning

This research explores issues related to the sequencing of structure that is provided as pedagogical guidance. A study was conducted that involved grade 10 students in Singapore as they learned concepts about electricity using four NetLogo Investigations of Electricity agent-based models. It was found that the low-to-high structure learning sequences group participants scored significantly higher on the posttest assessments of conceptual and procedural understanding of electricity concepts, whereas the high-to-high structure learning sequences showed no significant changes from pretest to posttest. The implications of these findings are discussed with respect to other research into the sequencing and design of pedagogical structure and guidance in the literature.