How does the type of guidance a ect student use of an interactive simulation?

For students using carefully designed computer simulations, we nd that the type of guidance provided to the student during interviews strongly in uences the amount of independent exploration and inquiry in which they engage. What would be considered relatively little guidance for typical educational activities appears to limit the bene ts of a complex simulated environment. In a study of student interaction with a PhET simulation, we nd that when students follow a carefully-designed activity that gently guides their exploration and sense-making of the important concepts, they actually exhibit less engagement with the simulation and do less exploration and discovery than students who receive only minimal guidance.