A physics education research team wanted to investigate whether using interactive digital simulation software affects high school students' understanding of orbital mechanics.
An opportunity sample of 30 sixth-form physics students volunteered to take part. There were 18 males and 12 females, aged 16–17 years. The participants were randomly assigned to either the 'simulation' condition or the 'textbook' condition, with 15 participants in each group.
In the 'simulation' condition, 15 participants were placed in a modern, air-conditioned computer suite at 8:30 AM on a Monday morning. A strict, senior male physics teacher administered the simulation software on high-end desktop computers. The participants were given 15 minutes to interact with the simulation, after which they completed a 20-item multiple-choice test on Kepler's laws.
In the 'textbook' condition, 15 participants were placed in a humid, drafty school library at 3:30 PM on a Friday afternoon. A friendly, young female trainee teacher instructed them to read physical textbook extracts in silence for 15 minutes, after which they completed the identical 20-item multiple-choice test.
Before the study began, participants were told the experiment was measuring computer screen glare. They were fully debriefed after completing the test.
The test was scored out of 20. The findings from the 'simulation' condition were: mean = 14.80, standard deviation = 2.10. The findings from the 'textbook' condition were: mean = 11.20, standard deviation = 3.40.
Outline and explain two extraneous variables that might have affected the results of this study.
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