SodaConstructing knowledge through exploratoids

In this article, we describe a preliminary study that integrates research on engineering design activities for K‐12 students with work on microworlds as learning tools. Here, we extend these bodies of research by exploring whether—and how—authentic recreations of engineering practices can help students develop conceptual understanding of physics. We focus on the design–build–test (DBT) cycle used by professional engineers in simulation‐based rapid modeling. In this experiment, middle‐school students worked for 10 hr during a single weekend to solve engineering design challenges using SodaConstructor, a Java‐based microworld, as a simulation environment. As a result of the experiment, students learned about center of mass. Our data further suggest that in the process of simulation‐based modeling, rapid iterations of the DBT cycle progressively linked students' interest in the design activities and understanding of the concept of center of mass. We suggest that these rapid iterations of the DBT cycle functioned as exploratoids: short fragments of exploratory action in a microworld that cumulatively develop interest in and understanding of important scientific concepts. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach     

Insights into Students’ Geometric Reasoning Relating to Prisms

Whilst spatial reasoning skills have been found to predict mathematical achievement, little is known about how primary (elementary) students’ conceptual understanding of three-dimensional objects develops. In this article, we report a qualitative study and the impact of rich learning experiences on 48 Years 3–6 students’ geometric reasoning relating to prisms. A one-to-one task-based interview, refined by the researchers, was used to assess student learning. Coding and data analysis were informed by our previous research. The findings reveal noticeable shifts in students’ knowledge of and reasoning about prisms, their ability to construct and describe prisms with geometric language, and their visualisation and spatial structuring skills. The implications of these findings highlight the importance of teachers’ choice of tasks that require students to compose and decompose three-dimensional (3D) objects; compare 3D objects through physical and mental transformations; take different perspectives; and visualise and reason geometrically.

     

Promoting cognitive and social aspects of inquiry through classroom discourse

We investigated how Chinese physics teachers structured classroom discourse to support the cognitive and social aspects of inquiry-based science learning. Regarding the cognitive aspect, we examined to what extent the cognitive processes underlying the scientific skills and the disciplinary reasoning behind the content knowledge were taught. Regarding the social aspect, we examined how classroom discourse supported student learning in terms of students' opportunities to talk and interaction patterns. Our participants were 17 physics teachers who were actively engaged in teacher education programs in universities and professional development programs in local school districts. We analyzed one lesson video from each participating teacher. The results suggest both promises and challenges. Regarding the cognitive aspect of inquiry, the teachers in general recognized the importance of teaching the cognitive processes and disciplinary reasoning. However, they were less likely to address common intuitive ideas about science concepts and principles. Regarding the social aspect of inquiry, the teachers frequently interacted with students in class. However, it appeared that facilitating conversations among students and prompting students to talk about their own ideas are challenging. We discuss the implications of these findings for teacher education programs and professional development programs in China.     

Students’ experiences of studying physics concepts: The effects of disintegrated perceptions and approaches

Recent research on student learning has revealed that a number of students in any learning context are unable to distinguish between contrasting contextualised approaches to learning. In other words, the relationship between their perceptions of the learning context and their approaches to learning disintegrates and becomes incoherent. These students are observed to be among the lower academic achievers in their group. This paper reports on the results of a study which shows that physics students’ prior understandings of key concepts are systematically related to the way they approach their studies, their perceptions of the learning context and the quality of the outcomes of their studies. As with previous studies, one group reported disintegrated learning experiences. As a group they were found to have the poorest pre-conceptual knowledge, to have the poorest postconceptual knowledge, and to be the lowest achievers. These results are consistent with the earlier studies, but extend them by showing that disintegrated perceptions and approaches are related to students’ understanding before and after the subject as determined using qualitative indicators of understanding as well as assessment results.     

学习技术典型案例：从社交机器人到大脑刺激——学习科学国际大会“学习技术”专题综述

学习科学作为一门研究教与学的新兴交叉学科,自诞生以来就将学习技术设计作为重要的研究方向。在最近召开的学习科学国际大会“学习技术”专题研讨中,来自不同国家和地区的研究人员重点对四个方面进行了交流研讨。在社会性学习技术方面,社交机器人RUBI通过与儿童的对话和交互能有效提高儿童语言学习的效率;社会性教学代理（TA）能帮助学生学习并提高他们的学习和推理能力。在学习设计与分析技术方面,学习设计平台PPC能使教师在大数据的支撑下选择或设计学生学习方案;教育数据仓库DataShop能为研究者们提供研究学生学习行为、预测学生学习绩效、验证学习理论的环境。在认知描绘技术方面,CogSketch采用独特的方式促进学生对于描绘的认知理解,有利于学生高阶推理能力与空间能力的培养。在大脑刺激技术方面,经颅电刺激技术（tES）能够对大脑的功能进行塑造,有助于提高学生的数学学习效果。这些研究表明,学习技术正在从理论走向实践,逐渐影响教育决策和教育实践;学习技术的健康发展需要教育学、计算机科学、认知科学、脑科学等各领域研究者的紧密合作,只有这样才能使学习科学研究走向真实的学习境脉,促进学习者的深度学习。     

The challenge of multiple perspectives: multiple solution tasks for students incorporating diverse tools and representation systems

This study focuses on the role of multiple solution tasks (MST) incorporating multiple learning tools and representation systems (MTRS) in encouraging each student to develop multiple perspectives on the learning concepts under study and creativity of thought. Specifically, two types of MST were used, namely tasks that allowed and demanded multiple solutions and tasks that allowed but did not demand multiple solutions from each student. Each of these tasks was tested in the field using 14-year-old students, through a comparative experiment on the learning of the mathematical notion of area within the C.AR.ME computer microworld that provides MTRS for the learning of area. Data analysis reveals that all students who were asked to encounter tasks allowing and demanding multiple solutions within C.AR.ME were motivated to invent a plethora of solution strategies to these tasks, by integrating both their intuitive and school-based knowledge with the knowledge embodied within C.AR.ME, and to construct diverse perspectives on the concepts in question which are non-common to paper-and-pencil and school practices. On the other hand, students expressed limited views on these concepts when faced with tasks that allowed but did not demand multiple solutions.     

What do science teachers consider when selecting formative assessment tasks?

The purpose of this qualitative exploratory study was to identify factors that influenced prospective and experienced secondary level science teachers' reasoning as they evaluated or selected tasks to formatively assess their students' understanding of scientific concepts. The analysis of the coded written responses revealed two categories of factors that influenced the teachers' reasoning: (1) characteristics of the task and (2) characteristics of students or the curriculum. Characteristics of the task related to qualities of the task regardless of the learning environment in which it would be used, such as the level of student thinking demanded by a task. Characteristics of the students and the curriculum related to the learning environment in which an assessment task would be implemented, such as students' abilities to complete the task. Both prospective and experienced teachers' task evaluations were influenced by the same factors related to the characteristics of the task, although their interpretations of the meaning of each factor varied. In addition, experienced teachers' task evaluations were more likely than prospective teachers to be influenced by factors related to characteristics of students and the curriculum. The findings are discussed as a conceptual framework that presents the identified factors along three different dimensions: (1) the influence of task, student, and curriculum characteristics, (2) the influence of expectations for success, and (3) the influence of teaching experience. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 1113–1130, 2008     

The acquisition of notions of qualitative speed: The importance of spatial and temporal alignment

An understanding of kinematics is predicated upon the ability to understand preliminary notions of movement and speed. This study investigated the order of acquisition of intuitive notions of qualitative speed. The results indicated that an array of prerequisite, equivalent, and independent relationships existed among the tasks administered. The levels of difficulty implied within the hierarchy formed confirmed the evolution of reasoning for notions of qualitative speed found by Piaget. The findings also indicated that the concepts investigated were interrelated and separable into distinct categories based upon spatial and temporal aspects of the motion. The alignment or nonalignment of objects, either spatially or temporally, provide an indication of the difficulty of the task presented and explain the order of acquisition of notions of qualitative speed.     

原有陈述性知识和溯因推理对小学生科学假设形成的影响

为了探讨原有陈述性知识和溯因推理能力在学生科学假设形成中的作用,用单摆作为研究工具对49名小学六年级的学生进行测试。结果发现,学生不能利用已有陈述性知识提出相应的科学假设。即使用探究方式对学生进行单摆运动原理的教学,学生具备摆长影响单摆运动周期的陈述性知识,部分学生仍不能提出摆长影响单摆运动速度的科学假设。研究表明,科学假设的形成是陈述性知识和溯因推理能力共同作用的结果。为培养学生的科学假设能力,教师应循序渐进地训练学生的溯因推理技能。     

Students’ Ideas about How and Why Chemical Reactions Happen: Mapping the conceptual landscape

Research in science education has revealed that many students struggle to understand chemical reactions. Improving teaching and learning about chemical processes demands that we develop a clearer understanding of student reasoning in this area and of how this reasoning evolves with training in the domain. Thus, we have carried out a qualitative study to explore students reasoning about chemical causality and mechanism. Study participants included individuals at different educational levels, from college to graduate school. We identified diverse conceptual modes expressed by students when engaged in the analysis of different types of reactions. Main findings indicate that student reasoning about chemical reactions is influenced by the nature of the process. More advanced students tended to express conceptual modes that were more normative and had more explanatory power, but major conceptual difficulties persisted in their reasoning. The results of our study are relevant to educators interested in conceptual development, learning progressions, and assessment.     

The relation between the control-of-variables strategy and content knowledge in physics in secondary school

The control-of-variables strategy (CVS) is considered a hallmark in the development of scientific reasoning. It holds that informative experiments need to be contrastive and controlled. Prior evidence suggests that CVS is connected to the acquisition of science content knowledge. In a cross-sectional study involving 1283 high school students (grades 5–13), we investigate whether students’ mastery of CVS is related to their science content knowledge in physics. A latent variable model indicates that CVS is substantially associated with students’ science content knowledge, even when controlling for common effects of general reasoning abilities. Substantial differences in students’ CVS skills and their science content knowledge exist between the lower grade levels in secondary school when students receive physics education. A latent profile analysis shows that the most difficult aspect of CVS is understanding the impact of confounding. This sub-skill emerges in late secondary school and it requires that students master more procedural sub-skills of CVS. These findings indicate that CVS and science content knowledge are closely related within secondary school science contexts. In addition, the findings emphasize that students show various distinct patterns of CVS skills. The identified skill patterns can inform researchers and science educators about the CVS skills that students typically show and thus can be utilized in inquiry activities in different school grades, while the CVS skills students are lacking might be trained in focused interventions.     

Some features of causal reasoning: common sense and physics teaching

The idea of causality is central in science and has long given rise to debate among philosophers and scientists. While the tendency to avoid causality seems to have become dominant in science and philosophy, research in science education has shown the strong presence in common reasoning of causal explanations, often conceived as a ‘mechanism’ capable of accounting for physical transformations. Some researchers have proposed using this common causal reasoning as a basis for teaching–learning sequences, especially in electricity and mechanics. This paper analyses some features of causal reasoning used in physics by students, using questionnaires and interviews involving students and teachers. This study has shown three aspects which are related to one another: a confusion between efficient and contingent causes, between the conditions of occurrence of a phenomenon and the cause actually producing it; a tendency to ‘displace’ causes, skipping intermediate objects; and a difficulty in connecting local causes and global effects. The paper highlights the differences between common reasoning and scientific usage, and their effect on learning. In fact, these trends of reasoning must be taken into account in teaching: they should be considered not only as creating an obstacle to learning physics, but also as resources at the learner’s disposal.     

IMPACT OF A REPRESENTATIONAL APPROACH ON STUDENTS’ REASONING AND CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN LEARNING MECHANICS

The aim of this study was to explore whether a representational approach could impact on the scores that measure students’ understanding of mechanics and their ability to reason. The sample consisted of 24 students who were undergraduate, preservice physics teachers in the State University of Malang, Indonesia. The students were asked to represent a claim, provide evidence for it, and then, after further representational manipulations, refinement, discussion, and critical thought, to reflect on and confirm or modify their original case. Data analysis was based on the pretest–posttest scores and students’ responses to relevant phenomena during the course. The results showed that students’ reasoning ability significantly improved with a d-effect size of 2.58 for the technical aspects and 2.51 for the conceptual validity aspects, with the average normalized gain being 0.62 (upper–medium) for the two aspects. Students’ conceptual understanding of mechanics significantly improved with a d-effect size of about 2.50 and an average normalized gain of 0.63. Students’ competence in mechanics shifted significantly from an under competent level to mastery level. This paper addresses statistically previously untested issues in learning mechanics through a representational approach and does this in a culture that is quite different from what has been researched so far using student-generated representational learning as a reasoning tool for understanding and reasoning.     

The Difficult Process of Scientific Modelling: An analysis of novices' reasoning during computer‐based modelling

Although computer modelling is widely advocated as a way to offer students a deeper understanding of complex phenomena, the process of modelling is rather complex itself and needs scaffolding. In order to offer adequate support, we need a thorough understanding of the reasoning processes students employ and of difficulties they encounter during a modelling task. Therefore, in this study 26 students, working in dyads, were observed while working on a modelling task in the domain of physics. A coding scheme was developed in order to capture the types of reasoning processes used by students. Results indicate that most students had a strong focus on adjusting model parameters to fit the empirical data with little reference to prior knowledge. The successful students differed from the less successful students in using more prior knowledge and in showing more inductive reasoning. These observations lead to suggestions for the design of appropriate scaffolds.     

IMPROVEMENT OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION—THE CASE OF SUBTRACTION

The research study this article is based on aims to implement research knowledge to teaching, that is, the concept of critical aspects and dimensions of variation used in the variation theory. To do this, the researchers worked with willing teachers to explore how to make mathematics teaching more effective. This paper illustrates how teachers make use of a learning theory, the variation theory, as well as their own professional expertise and collaboration to help students improve their mathematical understanding of subtraction as well as their learning of it. The students’ tests, examinations of students’ mathematical work, the teachers’ lessons plan and reports of the instructions for lessons form the data base for the article. The analysis indicates that one of the critical aspects in the process of implementation of the variation theory in the teachers’ practice was to identify the critical aspects in students’ learning. Another critical aspect in the implementation of the variation theory was to open up dimensions of variation in the identified critical aspects of the students. By giving teachers the possibility to develop the ability to identify critical aspects in students’ learning, dimensions of variation are opened up in these aspects, and by applying this knowledge in the daily teaching, they have the possibility to improve students’ learning. The findings suggest that developing an understanding of the students’ critical aspects can be a productive basis in helping teachers make fundamental changes in their instructions and improve students’ learning.     

Exploring the Use of Conceptual Metaphors in Solving Problems on Entropy

A growing body of research has examined the experiential grounding of scientific thought and the role of experiential intuitive knowledge in science learning. Meanwhile, research in cognitive linguistics has identified many conceptual metaphors (CMs), metaphorical mappings between abstract concepts and experiential source domains, implicit in everyday and scientific language. However, the contributions of CMs to scientific understanding and reasoning are still not clear. This study explores the roles that CMs play in scientific problem-solving through a detailed analysis of two physical chemistry PhD students solving problems on entropy. We report evidence in support of three claims: a range of CMs are used in problem-solving enabling flexible, experiential construals of abstract scientific concepts; CMs are coordinated with one another and other resources supporting the alignment of qualitative and quantitative reasoning; use of CMs grounds abstract reasoning in a “narrative” discourse incorporating conceptions of paths, agents, and movement. We conclude that CMs should be added to the set of intuitive resources others have suggested contribute to expertise in science. This proposal is consistent with two assumptions: that cognition is embodied and that internal cognitive structures and processes interact with semiotic systems. The implications of the findings for learning and instruction are discussed.