Effects of diagrams and spatial skills on undergraduate students' illusions of understanding of introductory biology and geoscience texts

大多数人在阅读对科学现象的解释时会产生理解的幻觉。也就是说，人们通常认为他们对所读内容的理解比实际情况要好。这种自我评估技能（被称为监控）对于学生调节自己的学习和调整自己的学习行为，从而发展对科学主题的深刻理解至关重要。有趣的是，最近的一些研究表明，当学生在课文旁边展示图表或图表时，理解的错觉可能特别容易出现，尽管这些可视化通常是为了提高理解能力。因此，在不产生这种理解的错觉的情况下，确定优化图的学习好处的方法是至关重要的。本EHR核心研究（ECR）项目的目标是探索在科学文本中包含可视化（如图表或图形）如何影响理科生的学习、学习和理解监测行为。ECR项目强调在该领域产生基础知识的基础STEM教育研究。投资在至关重要、广泛和持久的关键领域：STEM学习和STEM学习环境，扩大STEM参与，以及STEM劳动力发展。这项关于STEM学习的基础研究将采用实验设计来测试这些可视化可能在何时、如何以及对哪些学生产生理解幻觉；这些幻觉是否因学科或空间技能的不同而不同；不同的教学或演示条件是否能帮助学生克服这些错觉，更有效地监控他们的理解。这些研究将在大学一年级学生在一个多样化的城市公共机构学习生物学和地球科学入门课程的背景下研究这些问题。这项工作的一个重要主题将是阐明学生可能需要的各种明确的训练和技能，然后才能从包括可视化在内的材料中有效地学习和监控。这项研究的结果将建立关于导致对科学文本的理解产生错觉的条件的基础知识，以及如何避免这些错觉。获得的知识反过来将帮助研究人员和教育工作者设计教学材料，使学生具备在科学课程中茁壮成长所需的技能，并在科学课程和职业生涯中坚持下去。

A majority of people experience illusions of understanding when reading explanations of scientific phenomena. That is, people generally think they understood what they read better than they actually did. This self-assessment skill (referred to as monitoring) is critical in order for students to regulate their own learning and tailor their study behaviors so that they develop deep understanding of science topics. Interestingly, a number of recent studies have demonstrated that illusions of understanding may be especially likely when students are presented with diagrams or graphs alongside texts, even though these visualizations are generally intended to improve understanding. It is thus critical to identify ways to optimize the learning benefits of diagrams without creating such illusions of understanding.The goal of this EHR Core Research (ECR) project is to explore how the inclusion of visualizations, such as diagrams or graphs, in scientific texts impacts studying, learning, and comprehension monitoring behaviors of undergraduate science students. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments, broadening participation in STEM, and STEM workforce development. This fundamental research on STEM learning will employ experimental designs to test when, how, and for which students these visualizations may cause illusions of understanding; whether these illusions differ by discipline or as a result of spatial skills; and whether different instructional or presentation conditions can help students to overcome these illusions and more effectively monitor their understanding. The studies will examine these questions in the context of first year college students studying introductory biology and geoscience courses at a diverse, urban public institution. An important theme of this work will be articulating the kinds of explicit training and skills that students may need before they can learn and monitor effectively from materials including visualizations. The results of this study will build foundational knowledge regarding the conditions that cause illusions of understanding of scientific texts, and how these illusions may be avoided. The knowledge gained will in turn help researchers and educators to design instructional materials that will equip students with the skills they need to thrive in science courses and persist in science courses and careers.