PhET simulations incorporate research-based practices on effective teaching to enhance the learning of Science concepts through inquiry-driven assignments. These simulations can be found under the Interactives page in the Science catalog:
PhET Simulation Overview
Teachers and students can move between the directions and questions within the assignment through the drop down menu or with the left and right arrows in the Question and Direction Area.
Each Question consists of three different tabs: Instructions, Question, and Notes
Instruction
Teachers can edit or add assignment directions at the beginning of the assignment by clicking on the "edit" button and then the "save" button to save their changes.
Teachers can also add instructions for each individual question in the assignment. All they need to do is go to the specific question number, click on the instruction tab, and click on the "edit" button to add instructions.
Question
Teachers can edit existing questions in PhET simulations by going to the question and clicking on the "edit" button to change or edit the question.
Teachers can also add more questions to the assignment by going to the last question in the assignment and clicking the "add question" button that appears after the last question.
Notes
Each question in the assignment will have a Notes tab that teachers and students can add notes to the question, just like any other Actively Learn assignment. To add a note, go to the Notes tab and click on the "add note" button and click "save" to save the note.
Move Question
Teachers can move questions around within the PhET simulations by going to the "Options" button while editing the question, clicking on "Move Question," and then click the up and down arrows to reorder the question.
Teacher's Guides and Extra Help Summaries
Teachers can also add Teacher's Guides and Extra Help Summaries to PhET Simulation assignments.
Only teachers with permissions to add Teacher's Guides will be able to add them to these assignments. To add a Teacher's Guide, they need to go to the drop down menu and select "Teacher's Guide," then click on the "Add Teacher's Guide" button.
The Extra Help Summary will appear after the assignment directions, and teachers can add a summary by clicking on the "Add Extra Help Summary" button.
Students will see a full screen view of the assignment instructions and extra help summary when the student first opens the assignment.
Progress Bar
There is a progress bar below the interactive area for all PhET simulations that will show one icon per question. Please note that only question icons are used whether or not instructions or notes have been added to the question, and icons are always equally spaced along progress bar.