Guided Digital Simulations in High School Physics: A Scoping Review of Conceptual Understanding, Transfer, and Retention

Abstract

Introduction: Interactive simulations make difficult-to-observe physical relationships visible and allow learners to manipulate variables with immediate feedback. Availability alone does not ensure conceptual change: outcomes depend on the question, guidance, representations, comparator, and assessment quality. Objective: To map evidence published through March 31, 2026, on guided digital simulations and their relationships with conceptual understanding, transfer, and retention in secondary physics education. Methods: A JBI-oriented scoping review was reported using PRISMA-ScR. Ten historical Crossref searches retrieved 600 records; 549 were unique and 102 passed a thematic filter. Forty reports were assessed and 20 sources were included. Design, population, domain, simulation, guidance, comparator, measurement, findings, and limitations were extracted. Results: Evidence was generally favorable for immediate conceptual understanding when simulations were integrated with prediction, exploration, explanation, guided inquiry, or problem-based learning. Reviews suggested that virtual experiments can match or outperform traditional practices for some outcomes and that real–virtual combinations are often beneficial; no universally superior sequence emerged. School studies clustered around electricity, mechanics, waves, and energy, with quasi-experimental designs, locally developed instruments, and short follow-up periods. Transfer, retention, accessibility, and fidelity were measured less often. Conclusions: Simulations should be understood as manipulable representations within a pedagogical architecture rather than self-sufficient interventions. The most defensible design connects prediction, productively constrained exploration, multi-representational explanation, comparison with physical phenomena, and transfer tasks. Current evidence does not support a universal causal effect or Ecuadorian outcomes.