Collaborative Research: Improving Science Learning in Inquiry-based Programs

“合作研究：在基于探究的项目中改进科学学习”改善了那些在高质量的基于探究的项目中没有发挥其潜力的学生的科学学习。虽然FOSS、STC和Insights等项目在提高学区内和学区之间的科学成绩方面是有效的，但许多参加这些项目的孩子，特别是代表人数较少的少数族裔和英语学习者，无法证明他们在科学成绩标准化测试中的熟练程度。这个项目旨在通过开发一个名为My Science Tutor的计算机程序来实现其目标，学生们将在课堂科学调查结束后立即使用该程序来加强和扩展调查中嵌入的概念。该项目使用了一个栩栩如生的动画角色，让学生参与到指导学习活动和教程对话中，以激发科学推理。教程对话基于一种成熟的技术，即询问作者，该技术挑战学生学习将新概念与先前的知识相结合，以构建可用于解释和预测科学现象的丰富的心理模型。为了评估干预措施，四年级和五年级学生在四个科学领域的标准化科学成就测试中，比较了随机分为三组的学生的学习成果：计算机治疗组、人工辅导组或继续课堂教学组。形成性评估分析学生和教师的经验，以及通过分析学生科学笔记本中的条目来学习概念和科学推理。

"Collaborative Research: Improving Science Learning in Inquiry-Based Programs" improves science learning by students who are not achieving their potential in high quality inquiry-based programs. While programs like FOSS, STC and Insights are effective in improving science achievement within and across school districts, many children enrolled in these programs, especially underrepresented minorities and English language learners, fail to demonstrate proficiency on standardized tests of science achievement. This project aims to achieve its goal by developing a computer program, My Science Tutor, which students will use immediately following classroom science investigations to reinforce and extend concepts embedded in the investigations. The program uses a lifelike animated character to engage students in guided learning activities and tutorial dialogs that stimulate scientific reasoning. Tutorial dialogs are based on a proven technique, Questioning the Author, which challenges students to learn to integrate new concepts with prior knowledge to construct enriched mental models that can be used to explain and predict scientific phenomena. To evaluate the intervention, learning gains are compared on standardized tests of science achievement by fourth and fifth grade students in four areas of science by students randomly assigned to three groups: the computer treatment, human tutoring or continued classroom instruction. Formative assessments analyze student and teacher experiences, and learning of concepts and scientific reasoning through analysis of entries in students' science notebooks.