Complex Adaptive Systems and Learning---AAT Planning Grant Proposal

9616389雅各布森：这项拟议规划项目有两个整体目标：(A)就涉及复杂适应系统的新兴科学研究领域的认知和学习方面进行初步研究，以及(B)开发一个以理论和研究为基础的技术学习环境的模型，以帮助学生学习复杂适应系统研究中确定的智力观点，以及如何将这些观点应用于广泛的自然现象。对系统、免疫系统的运作、经济的研究--已经确定了有多少不同的现象可以通过许多个体元素的相互作用来表征，这些个体元素在更高的系统水平上自组织，并反过来显示出个体元素没有表现出的紧急和适应性特性。复杂的适应性系统还可以通过多种方式从其环境中获取数据，在数据中发现规律性，并将这些感知的规律性压缩成用于描述和预测其未来的方案。与恒星或星系等复杂的非适应性系统不同，复杂的适应性系统表现出进化过程，因为这些方案在特定的环境条件下受到选择压力的影响，这些环境条件往往会随着时间的推移而改变方案。此外，复杂的自适应系统似乎在可以被描述为介于混沌和秩序之间--有时被称为混沌边缘--的条件下运行得最好。这个项目的一个中心假设是，为了让学习者从复杂适应系统的角度理解相关的科学现象，他们需要获得新的思维方式，即关注复杂整体的自组织、涌现和适应特征的方式，而不是将复杂性简化为简单的、孤立的部分。这个项目的第二个相关假设是，这些新的思维方式可能是反直觉的，或者与普遍持有的信念冲突，因此需要学生经历一个概念变化的过程，然后他们才能理解与复杂适应系统相关的重要概念观点。获得与这些假设有关的基本数据将是重要的，以便为学生开发技术和非技术学习材料和活动提供信息，因为他们学习复杂和复杂的适应系统。该项目包括四个组成部分：(A)回顾与复杂适应系统有关的内容的科学、心理学和学习科学文献，以及与学习困难的、违反直觉的科学知识有关的认知因素；(B)咨询涉及复杂适应系统的领域的内容专家，以及在科学知识表征、误解和概念变化方面有专长的认知心理学家和科学教育工作者；(C)对从事涉及复杂适应系统的问题并使用现有的复杂适应系统模拟软件的学生和教师进行探索性研究；以及(D)开发基于案例的综合超媒体、可视化、以及计算机模拟学习环境，处理复杂的适应系统现象，如鸟类的集群行为和选定的生物进化案例。值得注意的是，这项研究的结果将为了解专家和初学者对各种复杂适应系统现象的理解提供深入的见解。此外，该项目还应为今后开发技术学习环境方面的工作做好准备，以帮助学生深入学习这一新兴科学探究领域中与广泛自然现象相关的核心重要思想。

9616389 Jacobson There are two overall goals of this proposed planning project: (a) conduct preliminary research into cognitive and learning aspects associated with emerging areas of scientific inquiry dealing with complexity adaptive systems, and (b) develop a mock-up of a theory-and research-based technological learning environment to help students learn the intellectual perspectives being identified in complex adaptive systems research and how these can be applied across a wide range of natural phenomena. Research into systems, the operation of the immune system, economic-has identified how many disparate phenomena can be characterized by the interactions of numerous individual elements that self-organize at a higher systems level, and in turn show emergent and adaptive properties not exhibited by the individual elements. There are also ways that a complex adaptive system takes in data from its environments, finds regularities in the data, and compresses these perceived regularities into schemes that are used to describe and predict its future. Unlike complex nonadaptive systems such as stars or galaxies, a complex adaptive system exhibits evolutionary processes in that these schemes are subjected to selection pressures in the context of specific environmental conditions that tend to change the schemes over time. Further, complex adaptive systems seem to function best under conditions that may be described as intermediate between chaos and order-sometime referred to as the edge of chaos. A central hypothesis of this project is that in order for learners to understand relevant scientific phenomena from the perspective of complex adaptive systems, they will need to acquire new ways of thinking, ways that focus on the self-organizing, emergent, and adaptive features of the complex whole rather than the reductive decomposition of complexity into simple, isolated parts. A second and related hypothesis of this project is that these new ways of thinking may be counter-intuitive or conflict wi th commonly held beliefs, and thus require students to undergo a process of conceptual change before they can understand important conceptual perspectives associated with complex adaptive systems. Obtaining base-line data concerning these hypotheses will be important in order to inform the development of technological and nontechnology learning materials and activities for students as they learn about complexity and complex adaptive systems. There are four components of the project: (a) review of the scientific, psychological, and learning science literatures on the content related to complex adaptive systems and the cognitive factors relevant to learning about difficult, counter-intuitive scientific knowledge, (b) consult with content experts in areas involving complex adaptive systems, and with cognitive psychologists and science educators with expertise in scientific knowledge representation, misconceptions, and conceptual change, (c) conduct exploratory studies of students and teachers working on problems involving complex adaptive systems and using existing complex adaptive systems simulation software, and (d) develop a mock-up of an integrated case-based hypermedia, visualization, and computer modeling learning environment dealing with complex adaptive systems phenomena such as the flocking behavior of birds and selected cases of biological evolution. It is heed that the results of this research will provide insights into the nature of the understandings experts and novice college and high school students have about various complex adaptive systems phenomena. In addition, this project should prepare for future work into the development of technological learning environments that can help students deeply learn centrally important ideas in this emerging area of scientific inquiry with relevance to a wide range of natural phenomena.