Developing Learning Environments that Support Molecular-level Sensemaking

该项目将研究如何支持高中生开发，组织和使用原子/分子行为的知识，以理解相变，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象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，将大学水平的循证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性质联系起来。该项目将研究一个创新的大学课程，“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。 研究问题有四个：1）如何设计机会，帮助学生从分子水平理解现象，并设计问题的解决方案？2)什么样的证据为基础的，脚手架核心思想序列支持高中学生在原子/分子行为方面的现象的意义; 3）教师做了什么改变的材料？（4）哪些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。该项目将使用OrganicPad，这是一款平板电脑程序，可以识别，记录和评分学生自由形式的自然结构图纸，以及一项经过验证的调查，要求学生识别他们认为可以从电子点阵图中推断出的信息类型。此外，研究人员将使用学习观察协议收集数据，这些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，对问题的跟进/反馈，倾听和回答学生的问题。对于学生来说，该协议将侧重于活动，如倾听，与其他学生讨论，小组工作，课堂讨论，演示和测试。 探索研究K-12计划（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源，模型和工具，显着提高学前班学生和教师的科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12项目中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究以及为拟议项目提供理论和经验依据的先前研究和开发工作的基础上。该奖项反映了NSF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.