Developing Learning Environments that Support Molecular-level Sensemaking

该项目将研究如何支持高中生发展、组织和使用原子/分子行为知识来理解诸如相变、原子发射光谱和溶解等现象。先前的研究表明，许多学生无法构建简单分子结构的表示。许多人没有把这些表征和材料的宏观性质联系起来。此外，学生往往无法解码这些表征中包含的信息。一项试点研究表明，将大学水平的、基于证据的概念进展应用于高中，有可能帮助学生将分子水平的结构与可测量的特性联系起来。该项目将研究一门创新的大学课程“化学、生命、宇宙和一切”（CLUE）是否可以由教师、化学家和研究人员共同修改，以帮助学生掌握这些困难的概念和联系。有四个研究问题：1)如何设计机会来帮助学生在分子水平上理解现象和设计问题的解决方案；2)哪些基于证据的、支架式的核心思想序列支持高中生理解原子/分子行为方面的现象；3)教师对教材做了哪些改动？4)是什么因素促使教师做出这些改变？将使用几种方法来评估学生的学习情况。该项目将使用OrganicPad，这是一个平板电脑程序，可以识别、记录和评分学生自由形式的自然结构图，并进行有效的调查，要求学生识别他们认为可以从电子点图中推断出的信息种类。此外，研究人员将使用学习观察协议收集数据，该协议将描述学生和教师的行为。对于教师来说，该协议将侧重于教学的“什么”：讲课，跟踪/反馈问题，倾听和回答学生的问题。对于学生来说，该协议将侧重于倾听、与其他学生讨论、小组合作、课堂讨论、演讲和测试等活动。探索研究K-12项目（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高pre -12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和实证依据。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project will investigate how high school students can be supported in developing, organizing and using knowledge of atomic/molecular behavior to make sense of phenomena such as phase changes, atomic emmision spectra and dissolution. Prior research has shown that many students are unable to construct representations of simple molecular structures. Many fail to make the important connection between these representations and macroscopic properties of the material. In addition, students are often unable to decode the information contained in such representations. A pilot study indicated that adapting college-level, evidence-based conceptual progressions for use in high school has the potential to aid students in connecting molecular-level structure to measurable properties. This project will study whether an innovative college level curriculum, "Chemistry, Life, the Universe and Everything"(CLUE) can be co-modified by teachers, chemists and researchers to help students master these difficult concepts and connections. There are four research questions: 1) How should opportunities be designed to help students make molecular level sense of phenomena and design solutions to problems?; 2) What evidenced-based,scaffollded core idea sequences support high school students in making sense of phenomena in terms of atomic/molecular behavior; 3) What changes do teachers make to the materials?; and 4) What factors motivate teachers to make these changes? Several methods will be used to assess student learning. The project will use OrganicPad, a tablet-PC program that can recognize, record, and grade student free-form naturalistic structure drawings and a validated survey that asks students to identify the kinds of information they believe can be deduced from electron dot diagrams. In addition, the researchers will collect data using learning observation protocol that will describe what the student and instructor do. For the teacher, the protocol will focus on the "what" of teaching: lecturing, follow-up/feedback on questions, listening to and answering students questions. For the students, the protocol will focus on activities such as listening, discussing with other students, working in groups, class discussions, presentations and tests. The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.