The Effect of Initial Conditions and Discussion on Students’ Predictions for Interactive Lecture Demonstrations.

Over the past eight years at McDaniel College, students’ Predictions for various Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILDs) have improved markedly. One explanation is that students have become increasingly sophisticated in their understanding of kinematics and dynamics. Another possible explanation is that the class as a whole is only slightly more sophisticated, and during the Discussion Phase of the ILD the correct Predication is very successfully transmitted within groups and between groups. The purpose of this paper is to support the proposition of this possible explanation. To begin to address this idea, I present an overview of and results from a preliminary, computer-based simulation of classroom discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]