Discovery simulations and the assessment of intuitive knowledge

The objective of the present work is to have a closer look at the relations between the features of discovery simulations, the learning processes elic ited. the knowledge that results, and the methods used to measure this acqu ired knowledge. It is argued that discovery simulations are 'rich', have a relatively low transparency, and require active involvement of learners. Di scovery simulations are suited to support data-driven, partly implicit lear ning. Discovery learning leads to intuitive knowledge. To complement this c onceptual investigation, a series of five experimental studies is described . In all five studies, learners were pretested and post-tested with several knowledge measures. Central to the set of tests was one with the objective of measuring intuitive knowledge. One conclusion of these experimental stu dies is that assignments contribute most clearly to the instructional effec tiveness of simulations. Another conclusion is that the intuitive knowledge tests seem able to measure the results of learning with discovery simulati ons.