Investigation of alternative conceptions about Plate Tectonics across the expert-novice continuum: When a well-known theory isn't so well known

地质学这个项目正在调查学生和专家对板块构造的概念性理解。由于板块构造是理解地球上大多数动态过程的概念模型，因此对该模型的基本原理的扎实理解对于培养未来的地球科学家和具有科学素养的公众至关重要。这个项目的总体目标是：1)突出对学生理解造成障碍的具体概念；2)通过在报告和期刊出版物中传播结果，使教师意识到问题的严重程度；3)调查板块构造模型的复杂性、跨学科和持续演变是否导致替代概念嵌入教学工具，并有可能将这些替代概念传递给当前的本科生和研究生；以及4)通过使教师意识到学生持有的常见替代概念以及图形表示的模棱两可的问题，以及通过建议使用图像进行板块构造教学的替代方法，来改进教学实践。正在开发专门针对研究中揭示的可供选择的概念和问题领域的讲座教程。讲座教程将通过出版物和全国会议上的教师研讨会进行传播。该项目影响了几个社区，包括地理认知研究人员、教职员工和学生。该项目正在为STEM教育知识库做出贡献，方法是在整个专家-新手连续体中生成一个独特的、全面的板块构造概念数据集。此外，这项工作对未来的地球科学教育实践和研究具有重大影响，因为它洞察了常用插图在开发概念模型方面的重要性和影响。

Geology (42)This project is investigating students' and experts' conceptual understanding of plate tectonics. Because plate tectonics is the conceptual model through which most dynamic processes on Earth are understood, a solid understanding of the basic tenets of the model is crucial in developing future geoscientists and a scientifically literate public. The overarching goals for this project are to 1) highlight specific concepts that pose barriers to students' comprehension; 2) make faculty aware of the extent of the problem by disseminating results in presentations and journal publications; 3) investigate whether or not the complexity, interdisciplinarity, and the continual evolution of the plate tectonic model leads to alternative conceptions being embedded within instructional tools, with the potential for passing these alternative conceptions on to current undergraduate and graduate students; and, 4) improve educational practices by making instructors aware of common alternative conceptions held by students as well as problems with equivocal representations in figures, and by suggesting alternative approaches to teaching about plate tectonics using images. Lecture Tutorials are being developed that specifically target alternative conceptions and problem areas revealed in the research. The Lecture Tutorials will be disseminated via publication and through a faculty workshop at a national conference. This project impacts several communities, including geocognition researchers, faculty and students. This project is contributing to the STEM education knowledge base by generating a unique, comprehensive data set of plate tectonics conceptions across the expert-novice continuum. Additionally, this work is having significant implications for future geoscience education practice and research, by providing insight into the importance and impact of commonly used illustrations for development of conceptual models.