Transfer of perceptually grounded principles

这个项目关注的是在教授可概括的科学概念时，感性具体材料的作用，特别强调计算机模拟。虽然具体的内容似乎有助于特定信息的学习，但先前的研究表明，它可能会损害学生将这些信息应用于新情况的能力。提出的研究探讨了表面的、具体的细节之间的关系，通过这些细节来呈现一种现象，以及抽象的更深层次的科学原理背后的现象。要学习的具体内容涉及土木工程、生物学、经济学和力学等一系列STEM领域的复杂系统原理。研究方法包括课堂实验和实验室实验，并结合计算机模拟科学原理。通过观察与一个模拟的互动如何影响学生对随后呈现的信息的理解，研究者可以评估潜在的科学原理被成功抽象的程度。拟议的研究分为两大类。首先，研究者探讨了多案例比较在学生从具体例子中获取可概括原则的能力中的作用。其次，他们考察了物理和空间上合理的机械系统可以作为理解复杂或非直觉因果系统的模型的程度。在这两条线中，研究者探索了学习受以下因素影响的方式：具体细节描述的程度和类型，案例之间具体和结构信息的相对重叠，以及测试案例中具体和结构的可变性。研究对象包括八年级理科班的学生。

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.