Supporting Chemistry Learning with Adaptive Support for Connection Making Between Graphical Representations in a Cognitive Tutoring System

科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的成功取决于使用图形表示的学习能力，这些图形表示使用视觉特征来描述信息。许多教师认为视觉效果有助于学生学习，但如果学生不知道视觉效果如何显示信息，他们可能会感到困惑。本研究的目的是设计和研究一种名为化学导师的教育技术来帮助大学化学学生通过视觉学习的有效性。该项目将确定Chem Tutor技术如何帮助学生以增强他们从视觉中学习复杂化学知识的能力的方式学习视觉。具体来说，该项目将专注于支持两种表征技能：理解特定视觉特征如何说明概念（意义构建）和视觉感知流畅性（类似于语言流畅性）的能力。该项目将研究如何最好地结合联合收割机支持这两种技能在学习有关的表征，技术也将被设计为适应个别学生的学习进度。该项目将在两年制和四年制大学的本科化学学习背景下进行，包括麦迪逊地区技术学院和威斯康星州大学-麦迪逊分校，并预计将为其他STEM学科的教育技术的发展提供信息。（IUSE：EHR）项目旨在帮助化学专业的学生获得重要的表征技能，即在不费脑力的情况下使用图形表征的意义构建和感知流畅性。这将通过设计和研究的化学导师智能辅导系统，将适应个别学生的学习进度来实现。化学导师的发展将依赖于以用户为中心的设计技术，为本科化学学生创造一个有效的教育技术。一系列的实验，然后将进行调查如何意义的制造和感知流畅性技能的相互作用，这些技能的支持应该如何结合起来，以及是否适应性的支持，以提高表征技能是一个有效的途径，以提高化学学习成果。此外，该项目还将调查对两性平等的影响。因此，该项目将有助于教育心理学和化学教育研究的图形表示在学生的学习中的作用;产生的原则，为设计自适应的教育技术，支持表示技能;并有助于本科化学教育免费传播化学导师的最终版本给学生在两年制和四年制大学。

Success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) depends on the ability to learn with graphical representations that use visual features to depict information. Many instructors assume that visuals help students learn, but they can be confusing if students do not know how the visuals show information. The goal of this project is to design and study the effectiveness of an educational technology called Chem Tutor to help college chemistry students learn with visuals. The project will determine how Chem Tutor technology can help students learn about visuals in a way that enhances their ability to learn from visuals about complex chemistry knowledge. Specifically, the project will focus on supporting two representation skills: the ability to make sense of how particular visual features illustrate concepts (sense-making) and perceptual fluency with visuals (akin to fluency in a language). The project will investigate how best to combine supports for these two skills in learning about representations, and the technology will also be designed to adapt to individual student's learning progress. This project will be conducted in the context of undergraduate chemistry learning at two-year and four-year colleges, including Madison Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and is also expected to inform the development of educational technologies for other STEM disciplines.The goal of this NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE: EHR) project is to help chemistry students acquire the important representation skills of sense-making and perceptual fluency in using graphical representations without mental effort. This will be accomplished by designing and studying the Chem Tutor intelligent tutoring system that will adapt to individual student's learning progress. The development of Chem Tutor will rely on user-centered design techniques to create an effective educational technology for undergraduate chemistry students. A series of experiments will then be conducted to investigate how sense-making and perceptual-fluency skills interact, how support for these skills should be combined, and whether adaptive support for enhancing representation skills is an effective pathway to improve learning outcomes in chemistry. Further, the project will investigate effects on gender equality. Thus, the project will contribute to educational psychology and chemistry education research regarding the role of graphical representations in students' learning; yield principles for the design of adaptive educational technologies that support representation skills; and contribute to undergraduate chemistry education by freely disseminating the final version of Chem Tutor to students at two-year and four-year colleges.