Learning natural selection through computational thinking: Unplugged design of algorithmic explanations

Computational thinking (CT) is a way of making sense of the natural world and problem solving with computer science concepts and skills. Although CT and science integrations have been called for in the literature, empirical investigations of such integrations are lacking. Prior work in natural selection education indicates students struggle to explain natural selection in different contexts and natural selection misconceptions are common. In this mixed methods study, secondary honors biology students learn natural selection through CT by engaging in the design of unplugged algorithmic explanations. Students learned CT principles and practices and applied them to learn and explain the natural selection process. Algorithmic explanations were used to scaffold transfer of natural selection knowledge across contexts through investigation of three organisms and the creation of generalized natural selection algorithms. Students' pre- and post-unit algorithmic explanations of natural selection were analyzed to answer the following research questions: (a) How do students' conceptions of natural selection change over the course of a CT focused unit? (b) What is the relationship between CT and natural selection in students' algorithmic explanations? (c) What are students' perspectives of learning natural selection with CT? Results indicate students' conceptions of natural selection increased and natural selection misconceptions decreased over the course of the unit. Within their post-unit algorithmic explanations, students used specific CT principles in conjunction with natural selection concepts to explain natural selection, which helped them to learn the details of the natural selection process and correct their natural selection misconceptions. Students indicated the use of CT in unplugged algorithmic explanations in different contexts helped them learn natural selection. This study shows unplugged CT can be used to teach students science content, and it provides an example for further CT and science integrations. Implications for the field are discussed.     

Performance of the generalized S-X2 item fit index for the graded response model

The utility of Orlando and Thissen’s (2000, 2003) S-X² fit index was extended to the model-fit analysis of the graded response model (GRM). The performance of a modified S-X² in assessing item-fit of the GRM was investigated in light of empirical Type I error rates and power with a simulation study having various conditions typically encountered in applied testing situations. The results show that the Type I error rates were controlled adequately around the nominal alpha by S-X². The power of the S-X² statistic was much lower when the source of misfit was multidimensionality than when it was due to discrepancy from the true GRM curves. Once the data size increased sufficiently, however, appropriate power was obtained regardless of the source of the item-misfit. In summary, the generalized S-X² appears to be a promising index for investigating item fit for polytomous items in educational and psychological assessments.     

Population validity for educational data mining models: A case study in affect detection

Information and communication technology (ICT)‐enhanced research methods such as educational data mining (EDM) have allowed researchers to effectively model a broad range of constructs pertaining to the student, moving from traditional assessments of knowledge to assessment of engagement, meta‐cognition, strategy and affect. The automated detection of these constructs allows EDM researchers to develop intervention strategies that can be implemented either by the software or the teacher. It also allows for secondary analyses of the construct, where the detectors are applied to a data set that is much larger than one that could be analyzed by more traditional methods. However, in many cases, the data used to develop EDM models are collected from students who may not be representative of the broader populations who are likely to use ICT. In order to use EDM models (automated detectors) with new populations, their generalizability must be verified. In this study, we examine whether detectors of affect remain valid when applied to new populations. Models of four educationally relevant affective states were constructed based on data from urban, suburban and rural students using ASSISTments software for middle school mathematics in the Northeastern United States. We found that affect detectors trained on a population drawn primarily from one demographic grouping do not generalize to populations drawn primarily from the other demographic groupings, even though those populations might be considered part of the same national or regional culture. Models constructed using data from all three subpopulations are more applicable to students in those populations than those trained on a single group, but still do not achieve ideal population validity—the ability to generalize across all subgroups. In particular, models generalize better across urban and suburban students than rural students. These findings have important implications for data collection efforts, validation techniques, and the design of interventions that are intended to be applied at scale.     

Open‐Mindedness in a “Post‐Truth” Era

In discussing open‐mindedness, virtue epistemologists emphasize revising one's cognitive standpoint by taking seriously the views of others, where this process is seen to be a reliable way of identifying one's biases and forming true beliefs. Yet in defending open‐mindedness, virtue epistemologists tend to give little attention to two areas of scholarship. First, they tend to overlook the psychoanalytic challenges of evasion and disavowal that so often operate in the enactment of and attempts at open‐mindedness. Second, they undervalue scholarship that notes the longer arc of a relation between post‐truth conditions and settler colonial structures. In other words, there appears to be an evasion of those views that associate the United States with dispossession, settler colonialism, and projects of decolonization according to postcontinental philosophies. This essay by Troy Richardson clarifies some of the critical vocabulary needed to bridge virtue epistemology committed to open‐mindedness and scholarship that has shifted the terms of analysis toward active projects for decolonization based on postcontinental philosophies.     

What difference do role models make? Investigating outcomes at a residential environmental education center

Role models may be essential in helping students develop environmental literacy and characteristics associated with positive youth development (PYD). We examine the identities of middle school students’ self-reported role models before, immediately after, and three months following an immersive 5-day residential environmental education (EE) experience that targets environmental responsibility, character development and leadership, and attitudes toward school as programmatic outcomes. We explore whether students who identified different types of role models score differently on these factors. Students who identified parents, teachers, and pastors as role models scored higher on each of these outcomes. Moreover, who students identified as role models changed significantly after the EE program. We discuss the potential influence of the program on role model development and implications for EE and PYD programs.     

Research-informed teaching from a risk perspective

There is now considerable support in the higher education literature for research-informed teaching as a means of improving student learning, particularly where this involves students as co-investigators. Such an approach, however, comes with a number of risks that have received little pedagogic attention. This paper addresses that knowledge gap by advocating a novel approach to research-informed teaching which adopts a risk-management philosophy. We review the literature surrounding the challenges of this style of teaching and identify why a risk-management approach might be appropriate to address some of the inherent issues of research-informed teaching previously reported. Our findings indicate a range of potential risks associated with either the delivery, or non-delivery, of research-informed teaching. We offer a broad framework categorising these risks. Forming the basis of a wider risk-management approach, this framework could promote increased reflection and enhancement of teaching practice.     

Unnecessary Requests: Examining Patrons’ Reliance on Interlibrary Loan for Electronically Owned Items at an Academic Library

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Library analyzed 4,567 interlibrary loan borrowing requests for articles and other non-returnables. From 2017–2018, nearly 44% of requests were for items that the library owned electronically. Patrons could have accessed the full-text immediately but submitted interlibrary loan requests instead. This prevalence raises questions about user behavior and deficiencies in discovery tools.     

Consistency of Practical and Formal Epistemologies of Science Held by Participants of a Research Apprenticeship

The purpose of this research was to examine the consistency between students’ practical and formal understandings of scientific epistemologies (also known as nature of science (NOS) understandings) in the context of a research apprenticeship program. Six high school student participants of a residential summer research apprenticeship program at a major university in the southeastern USA were interviewed twice during their experience to elicit their perspectives regarding their practical epistemologies. A phenomenological approach was used to analyze these interviews. The students held practical epistemological understandings of scientific knowledge that were described as being developmental, valuable, formulaic, and authoritative. A survey administered at the end of the program was used to reveal students’ formal epistemologies of science. These practical and formal epistemologies were described in terms of Sandoval’s (Science Education 89:634–656, 2005) epistemological themes and then compared for all participants. Findings revealed that, for most students, at least some level of consistency was present between their formal and practical epistemological understandings of each theme. In fact, for only one student with one theme, no consistency was evident. These results hold implications for the teaching, learning, and assessment of NOS understandings in these contexts as well as for the design of apprenticeship learning experiences in science.