Instructional Simulations for Teaching High School Computer Science Concepts: A Technology Acceptance Perspective

The Experiential-based Learning of Computer Science (ELCS) was employed as a pedagogical framework for instructional simulation design supporting high school students to learn abstract concepts of computer science. ELCS aims to provide teachers and high school learners with flexible-to-adopt, ease-of-use, from-concrete-to-abstract, and from-observation-to-experimentation digital materials on computer science concepts and to fulfill the High School Computer Curricula of Taiwan 2010. Various types of digital media, such as graphics, pictures, animations, simulations, instructional games, etc., were employed to implement four types of learning objects, including examples of concrete experiences, contexts for reflective observation, conceptual models for abstract conceptualization and contexts for active experimentation. A quality evaluation of content expert review revealed that the design of ELCS instructional simulations were appropriate for learning computer science concepts as measured from the perspective of technology acceptance. Further efforts were suggested to examine the effectiveness of types of instructional simulations for the target learners.