Journal of Educational Sciences > Volume 24, No. 4, 2012
Teaching Applied Sciences through Simulation / Ahmed I. Al-Safadi,Lilac A. E. Al-Safadi
Learning is the process by which a learner accesses content, information, knowledge, or experience from a source. Learning is at its best when the learner can achieve that on his/her own momentum , learn-direct, . For this way the student not only accesses the information, but also the experience of accessing which will remain a mechanism with him/her through the whole life-long learning. However, other factors intervene to assist in achieving the goal. These include: the teacher, the administrator, audio-visual aids , AV, , information technology , IT, , the school environment and the community at large. The effectiveness of this learn-direct approach could be cited in many school applications. One such application was in the Case Western Reserve medical and nursing schools in Ohio, USA. In Saudi Arabia, public schools like Mand Al Dahab LEA adopted the electronic Virtual Lab , VL, in their education, and national schools like Al-Faisal in Riyadh and Al-Bayan in Jeddah adopted e-Learning as a modified alternative for learn-direct. The paper will discuss extensively e-learning as a proof of student-information interaction. Information, knowledge, content, students as thinker-learners are also discussed in the paper. Applied sciences, being an experimental field of knowledge, values gaining experience through experimentation and makes it essential in conceptualizing, understanding and learning the content. However, the problem discussed still stands, i.e. how to teach applied sciences through simulation with IT tools? The overall aim of discovering how IT affects teaching applied sciences through simulation is to provide an educational tool for living the 21st Century.
1. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The Muslim nation is suffering from many problems that are still holding and constraining it from progress. Most prominent of these problems is alienation of education, its dissociation from the nation's ideology, and carelessness to develop thinking and personality in individual learners. These self-evident facts are associated with an inferiority complex that Muslims are at the tail of the convoy of technologically developed nations. These technologies may be in the form of information and communication technology; technology of invention and discovery; technology of exploiting resources, equipments, tools, and machines; or other technologies. Most prominent in this 21st Century is information technology , IT, . Teaching applied sciences and mathematics through watching and negative observation was an obstacle to meaningful learning, and a barrier against teaching the meaning and objectives forming scientific concepts. The problem is clear: How to teach applied sciences effectively, and by-pass the huge gap in technology shackling Muslims? The logical consequent question will be: What means can realize that? There are many available means to accomplish the second objective. One of these means is to view education as a mean of survival. According to this research, the overall objective of education is realized when the learner is able to access the information , knowledge, content, on their own momentum. Consequently, students locate the source of information, access the information, understand it, and comprehend it by their individual efforts. However, in order to make these concepts clear the paper will first start by identifying concepts of: thinking, virtual, learning as thinking, teaching,
