Microcontrollers and Digital Simulations in Physics Teaching: Effects of a Teaching Intervention on Students' Learning Motivation

The present study investigated changes in the learning motivation of Grade 12 students following of a teaching intervention in Physics on damped oscillations. In particular, it examined the extent to which different levels of teaching interventions—traditional experimental work, experimental work with a microcontroller, and an experimental combination of a microcontroller with a digital simulation—are associated with differential changes across the dimensions of learning motivation. The study involved 105 Grade 12 students assigned to three groups (one control group and two experimental groups). The research design is characterised as quasi-experimental, with measurements before and after the intervention. Learning motivation was assessed using the Students' Adaptive Learning Engagement in Science—SALES questionnaire, which captures four dimensions: learning goal orientation, perceived value, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. The results of the initial measurement before the teaching interventions showed no statistically significant differences between the groups, whereas the post-intervention results indicated that changes in motivation differed according to the teaching condition (a statistically significant Time × Group interaction). The two experimental groups exhibited stronger positive changes in the dimensions of motivation compared with the control group. In particular, the group that combined microcontroller and a digital simulation showed the greatest increase in self-efficacy. The findings support the view that a pedagogically designed combination of experimentation, microcontrollers, and digital simulations may be associated with the enhancement of critical dimensions of learning motivation in Physics. The study contributes to the investigation of how different levels of technology integration are associated with dynamic changes in students' motivation in Science.