Collaborative Research: Promoting Children's Learning About Biological Variability by Leveraging Simple Card Games

合作研究：利用简单的纸牌游戏促进儿童了解生物变异性

• 批准号: 2300604
• 负责人: Martha Alibali
• 金额: $ 68.61万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-07-15 至 2027-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2300604&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Promoting; Children; Learning

Biodiversity is fundamental to understanding the way biologists study nature. There is much more variability within species than people recognize, and it is this variability that fuels development and change of species in contexts of survival and reproduction. It is important that young children understand this foundational idea. This project will test an innovative approach to promoting comparisons relevant to understanding biological variability. This approach involves modifying two popular games, War and Uno, by incorporating cards that depict organisms at different stages of development (e.g., insect egg, larva, pupa, and adult). In playing these games, players engage in comparisons relevant to understanding biodiversity, such as comparing different life stages for a single species, or comparing similar stages for different species. The research investigates caregiver-child interactions and comparisons during game play and examines how game play affects children's learning about biological variability. The research involves lab-based studies with 2nd- and 5th-grade children playing LifeCycles (modified War) and CyClo (modified Uno) and is conducting parallel studies in museums, in order to examine caregiver-child interaction and learning in both controlled and authentic settings. The team will design and pilot a museum exhibit prototype that incorporates the games and the lessons learned through the research. The results will build understanding about how foundational knowledge about diversity in biology can help young students be ready for subsequent biology education. In the elementary grades, children are expected to learn about biodiversity, including within-species variability. Understanding biodiversity involves relational reasoning: discerning relevant relationships within and among biological kinds. These relationships are salient when children compare examples within or between biological categories. However, comparison is cognitively demanding, and educational materials often lack adequate support for comparison. This project tests an innovative approach to promoting relational reasoning by incorporating cards in modified versions of Uno and War that depict organisms at different stages of development (e.g., insect egg, larva, pupa, and adult). This research is conducting lab-based studies with 2nd- and 5th-grade children playing these two card games (n=150) and is testing the effects of systematically varying the number and similarity of the exemplars in the games. The research also is testing the effectiveness of providing caregivers with support for scaffolding children's relational thinking. Parallel studies in museums are examining caregiver-child interaction in game play in authentic settings. Finally, the team will design and pilot test a museum exhibit prototype that incorporates the games and the lessons learned through the research.This project is supported by NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program. 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 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.

生物多样性是理解生物学家研究自然的方式的基础。物种内部的变异性比人们认识到的要多得多，正是这种变异性在生存和繁殖的背景下促进了物种的发展和变化。重要的是让孩子们理解这个基本概念。该项目将测试一种创新方法，以促进与理解生物变异性有关的比较。这种方法涉及修改两个流行的游戏，战争和乌诺，通过纳入卡，描绘生物体在不同的发展阶段（例如，昆虫卵、幼虫、蛹和成虫）。在玩这些游戏时，玩家参与与理解生物多样性相关的比较，例如比较单个物种的不同生命阶段，或比较不同物种的相似阶段。这项研究调查了游戏过程中儿童与儿童的互动和比较，并研究了游戏如何影响儿童对生物变异性的学习。该研究涉及以实验室为基础的研究，二年级和五年级的孩子玩生命周期（修改战争）和CyClo（修改Uno），并在博物馆进行平行研究，以检查在受控和真实环境中的儿童互动和学习。该团队将设计和试点一个博物馆展览原型，其中包括游戏和通过研究吸取的教训。研究结果将有助于了解生物多样性的基础知识如何帮助年轻学生为随后的生物学教育做好准备。在小学阶段，儿童应了解生物多样性，包括物种内的变异性。理解生物多样性涉及关系推理：辨别生物种类内部和之间的相关关系。当孩子们在生物学范畴内或之间比较例子时，这些关系是突出的。然而，比较是认知上的要求，教育材料往往缺乏足够的支持比较。该项目测试了一种创新的方法，通过将卡片纳入Uno和War的修改版本来促进关系推理，这些卡片描绘了处于不同发展阶段的生物体（例如，昆虫卵、幼虫、蛹和成虫）。这项研究是进行实验室为基础的研究与二年级和五年级的孩子玩这两个纸牌游戏（n=150），并测试系统地改变游戏中的样例的数量和相似性的影响。这项研究还测试了为照顾者提供支持以帮助儿童建立关系思维的有效性。在博物馆进行的平行研究正在研究真实环境中游戏中的儿童互动。最后，该团队将设计和试点测试一个博物馆展览原型，其中包括游戏和通过研究获得的经验教训。该项目由NSF的EDU核心研究（ECR）计划支持。ECR计划强调基础STEM教育研究，产生该领域的基础知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响力审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。