Collaborative Proposal: Students' Attempts at Understanding the Unobservable: A Multi-Method Approach to Visualization Analysis and Design (Empirical Contextual Research Strand)

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Student comprehension of scientific concepts and principles presents a particular challenge when the phenomena are not directly observable. This issue has emerged as core to effective teaching and successful student learning in chemistry. The goal is to identify whether students' individual differences influence the effectiveness of visualizations for learning scientific concepts as measured with process and product-based metrics of evaluation. The investigators will also develop design principles for the use of visualizations as instructional tools in chemistry and STEM fields more broadly. The central issues are: When and how students rely on visualizations while trying to comprehend unobservable chemistry content; whether reliance on visualizations varies as a function of student characteristics; and whether usage patterns inform instructional interventions. In a series of randomized, controlled experiments involving undergraduates at four institutions, investigators will: (a) determine baseline chemical knowledge, spatial ability, reasoning ability, and interest in learning; (b) use eye tracking to characterize the moment-by-moment scan and fixation processes that students rely on while viewing visualizations; (c) utilize concurrent interview protocols to assess learning strategies and knowledge acquisition; and (d) implement post-visualization tests to examine student memory for the visualization content and application of knowledge.