Collaborative Research: Improving Science Learning in Inquiry-based Programs

“合作研究：改善探究性项目中的科学学习”改善了那些在高质量的探究性项目中没有发挥潜力的学生的科学学习。虽然像FOSS、STC和Insights这样的项目在提高学区内和学区间的科学成就方面很有效，但许多参加这些项目的孩子，尤其是代表性不足的少数民族和英语学习者，未能在科学成就的标准化测试中表现出熟练程度。该项目旨在通过开发计算机程序“我的科学导师”来实现其目标，学生将在课堂科学调查后立即使用该程序来加强和扩展调查中嵌入的概念。该项目使用一个栩栩如生的动画角色，让学生参与引导学习活动和指导对话，激发科学推理。辅导课对话基于一种经过验证的技术，即“质疑作者”，它要求学生学会将新概念与先前的知识结合起来，构建丰富的心智模型，用于解释和预测科学现象。为了评估干预措施，对四年级和五年级学生在四个科学领域的科学成就标准化测试中的学习成果进行了比较，这些学生被随机分配到三组：计算机治疗、人工辅导或继续课堂教学。形成性评价通过分析学生的科学笔记来分析学生和教师的经验，以及概念和科学推理的学习。

"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.