Pair modeling with DynaLearn - Students' attitudes and actual effects

With DynaLearn learners can construct scientific knowledge by manipulating icons and their in-ter-relationships, using a diagrammatic representation. The diagrams represent models that can be simulated, confronting learners with the logical consequences of the knowledge they expressed. Such modeling activities are highly advocated by science educators. Learning from the construction and debugging processes of modeling can be enhanced by collaboration. The modeling elements can serve as anchors for discussing, justifying, and explaining the model. Researchers have suggested various ways of supporting collaboration. In this study we employed Pair Modeling, which is an adaptation of the pair programming technique that is used for enhancing collaborative programming both in the industry and in academia. In this paper we present encouraging results for the use of this collaboration technique based on assignments' scores, observations, and a ques-tionnaire. Students' attitudes were neutral on the average, but the average score of the group that employed Pair Modeling was significantly higher than the average score of the control group that employed unstructured pair collaboration. We discuss the implications of the obtained results and the limitations of the study.