This paper examines the e¤ects of substituting a computer simulation for real laboratory equipment in the second semester of a large-scale introductory physics course. The direct current (DC) circuit laboratory was modi...ed to compare the e¤ects of using computer simulations with the e¤ects of using real light bulbs, meters, and wires. Two groups of students, those who used real equipment and those who used a computer simulation that explicitly modeled electron ‡ow, were compared in terms of

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... eir mastery of physics concepts and skills with real equipment. Students who used the simulated equipment outperformed their counterparts both on a conceptual survey of the domain and in the coordinated tasks of assembling a real circuit and describing how it worked.