The observed effectiveness and efficacy of discovery learning in simulated environments is reviewed, along with problems learners may encounter in discovery learning. How simulations can be combined with instructional support is discussed. Successful discovery learning is related to reasoning from hypotheses, applying the discovery process, and…

Discussion of computer simulations used for exploratory learning focuses on the design of a hypothesis scratchpad that students can use for hypothesis generation and testing. An experiment with college chemistry students that compared three versions of the scratchpad is described, and the effect of the scratchpads on learning environments is…