Collaborative Research: Supporting whole-class science investigations with spatial simulations

学习技术曾经受到台式电脑外形因素的限制，而新兴的无处不在的计算和通信技术正在产生新的设计，扩大了学生和教师可用的活动结构空间。本项目探索了嵌入式现象设计框架的功能，在该框架中，传统的教室计算机作为位置依赖的“门户”，通过它，学习者可以协同进行模拟空间现象的调查。嵌入式现象以其对课堂空间和时间的独特利用而著称。模拟现象意在占据教室的物理空间，使现象嵌入到空间中，学习者自身也嵌入到现象中。模拟连续运行数天或数周，与常规的教学流程同时进行，但不同步，让学习者有机会探索那种需要在长时间内收集证据的“耐心科学”。该项目包括学习目标和技术研究目标。本项目的学习研究目标是探讨嵌入式现象框架对学生学习、动机和参与的影响。本研究将透过对小学高年级地震学与昆虫生态学的学习成果进行实证研究。包括教师、领域专家、技术专家和学习研究人员在内的设计团队将设计每个教学单元的两个“匹配”版本，一个使用现有的嵌入式现象应用程序（分别为RoomQuake和RoomBugs），另一个使用相同的教学设计和活动集，但没有空间和时间嵌入。在两个学年的过程中，两名教师（分别来自城市和郊区学校）将教授这两个单元的两个变体。在每个干预中，结果包括科学实践技能的发展、概念理解和对调查的情感立场，将使用一系列形成性和总结性评估工具进行表征。该项目的技术研究目标是扩大对嵌入式现象应用程序的访问，并开发和评估新的交互技术，这些技术可以进一步扩大学生和教师可用的活动结构空间。为了增加访问，研究小组将建立一个基于互联网的现象服务器，允许教师配置和安排模拟现象，并将其交付给他们的教室，同时还有一个电子现象案例手册，允许教师存储和检索单元的课堂经验记录。新的互动技术，包括使用手持电脑作为模拟便携式仪器，对声音和运动做出反应的模拟现象，以及跨多个教室共享模拟现象的机制，将在与正式学习研究研究相关的教室分开的教室中设计、实施和试点测试。

Where learning technologies were once circumscribed by the form factor of the desktop computer, emerging ubiquitous computing and communications technologies are giving rise to new designs that expand the space of activity structures available to students and teachers. This project explores the capabilities of one such design framework, Embedded Phenomena, in which conventional classroom computers serve as location-dependent "portals" through which learners collaboratively conduct investigations of simulated spatial phenomena. Embedded phenomena are distinguished by their unique utilization of classroom space and time. The simulated phenomena are purported to occupy the physical space of the classroom, so that not only are phenomena embedded within the space, but also learners themselves are embedded within the phenomena. The simulations run continuously for days and weeks, concurrent but asynchronously with respect to the regular flow of instruction, giving learners the opportunity to explore the kind of "patient science" that requires the accumulation of evidence gathered over extended periods of time.The project includes both learning and technology research objectives. The learning research objective of the project is to explore the impact of the embedded phenomena framework on student learning, motivation, and participation. This question will be investigated through an empirical study of learner outcomes in upper elementary school units in seismology and insect ecology. Design teams including teachers, domain specialists, technologists, and learning researchers will design two "matched" versions of each instructional unit, one using existing embedded phenomenon applications (RoomQuake and RoomBugs, respectively), the other employing the same instructional design and set of activities but without the spatial and temporal embedding. Over the course of two school years, two teachers (one each from an urban and suburban school) will teach both variants of the two units. In each intervention, outcomes including development of skill in science practice, conceptual understanding, and affective stances toward investigation will be characterized using a battery of formative and summative assessment instruments. The technology research objectives of the project are to broaden access to embedded phenomena applications and to develop and evaluate new interaction techniques that could further expand the space of activity structures available to students and teachers. To increase access, the research team will build an Internet-based Phenomenon Server that will allow teachers to configure and schedule simulated phenomena for delivery to their classroom, along with an electronic Phenomenon CaseBook permitting teachers to store and retrieve records of classroom experiences with the units. New interaction techniques involving the use of handheld computers as simulated portable instruments, simulated phenomena that respond to sound and motion, and mechanisms for sharing simulated phenomena across multiple classrooms, will be designed, implemented, and pilot-tested in classrooms separate from those involved in the formal learning research study.