Collaborative Research: Learning About Complex Systems in Middle School by Constructing Structure-Behavior-Function Models

这项拟议的研究将研究中学生学习什么以及如何学习复杂的系统，中学教师使用的教案，以及儿童在课堂活动中发展的心理模型。主要的学习目标是促进中学生在抽象和聚合的多个层次上对复杂的物理和生物系统的性质有深刻的理解。特别是，拟议的项目将探讨在建立和维护课堂鱼类-水族馆系统方面使用结构-行为-功能(SBF)模型，作为学习复杂系统的背景。主要的技术目标是设计、开发和评估一个名为ACT的交互环境，该环境围绕一个用于中学课堂的交互式SBF建模工具而构建。该项目希望孩子们将ACT环境与实体水族箱和现有的NetLogo水族箱模拟结合使用。不是规定使用ACT环境的具体方法，而是支持多个教案。学习目标的评估标准将是儿童开发的SBF模型的深度和准确性，以及SBF模型在建立和维护课堂水族馆方面的有效性。ACT环境对这些任务的有用性将在新泽西州中部的中学进行评估，这些中学的人口结构非常多样化。

The proposed research will study what and how middle-school children learn about complex systems, the lesson plans used by middle-school teachers, and the mental models children develop as a result of classroom activities. The main learning goal is to promote the acquisition of a deep understanding of the nature of complex physical and biological systems at multiple levels of abstraction and aggregation by middle-school children. In particular, the proposed project will explore the use of structure-behavior-function (SBF) models in the establishment and maintenance of classroom fish-aquarium systems as the context for learning about complex systems. The main technology goal is to design, develop and evaluate an interactive environment called ACT built around an interactive SBF modeling tool for use in middle-school classrooms. The project expects the children to use the ACT environment in conjunction with physical aquaria and existing NetLogo simulations of aquaria. Instead of prescribing a specific method for using the ACT environment, there will be support for multiple lesson plans. The evaluation criteria for the learning goal will be the depth and accuracy of the SBF models developed by the children, and the effectiveness of the SBF models in the establishment and maintenance of classroom aquaria. The usefulness of the ACT environment for these tasks will be assessed in middle schools in central New Jersey, which have very diverse demographics.