Transfer of perceptually grounded principles

这个项目关注感知具体材料在教授可概括的科学概念中的作用，特别强调计算机模拟。虽然具体的内容似乎有助于学习特定的信息，但以前的研究表明，它可能会削弱学生将这些信息应用于新情况的能力。拟议的研究探讨了表面之间的关系，具体的细节，通过它呈现的现象，和抽象的更深层次的科学原理的现象。要学习的具体内容涉及一系列STEM领域的复杂系统的原理，如土木工程，生物学，经济学和力学。研究方法包括课堂和实验室实验，结合科学原理的计算机模拟。通过观察与一个模拟的交互如何影响学生对随后呈现的信息的理解，研究人员可以评估基本科学原理被成功抽象的程度。拟议的研究分为两大类。首先，研究者探讨了多个案例的比较在学生从具体例子中获得概括性原则的能力中的作用。其次，他们研究物理和空间上合理的机械系统可以作为理解复杂或不直观的因果系统的模型的程度。在这两条线上，研究人员探索的方式，学习是受影响的因素，如程度和类型的具体细节描述，具体和结构信息的相对重叠的情况下，具体和结构的变化与测试用例。 研究将包括学生在8年级的科学课。

This project concerns the role of perceptually concrete materials in teaching generalizable scientific concepts, with a particular emphasis on computer simulations. While concrete content appears to facilitate the learning of specific pieces of information, previous research has shown that it may impair students' ability to apply that information to new situations. The proposed studies explore the relation between the superficial, concrete details through which a phenomenon is presented, and the abstraction of deeper scientific principles underlying the phenomenon. The specific content to be learned concerns the principles of complex systems in a range of STEM domains such as civil engineering, biology, economics, and mechanics. The research methods involve classroom-based and laboratory experiments incorporating computer simulations of scientific principles. By observing how interaction with one simulation affects students' understanding of subsequently presented information, the investigators can assess the degree to which the underlying scientific principle has been successfully abstracted. The proposed research is divided into two broad lines. First, the investigators explore the role of comparison of multiple cases in students' ability to acquire generalizable principles from concrete examples. Second, they examine the degree to which physically and spatially plausible mechanical systems may serve as models for understanding complex or unintuitive causal systems. In both lines, the investigators explore the ways in which learning is affected by factors such as the degree and type of concrete detail depicted, the relative overlap of concrete and structural information between cases, and the concrete and structural variability with the test cases. Studies will include students in 8th grade science classes.