EAGER Proposal for Research in Measurement and Modeling: Dynamic STEM Assessment through Epistemic Network Analysis

研究人员提议开发一种新的STEM评估方法--认识网络分析（ENA）--不仅关注学生是否掌握特定的科学事实、数学技能或工程概念，还关注学生是否以及如何将技能、知识联系起来。身份、价值观和STEM实践的认识论变成一种连贯的思维方式来思考复杂的STEM问题。 该方法使用类似于社交网络分析的工具将评估数据与建模联系起来。研究人员将ENA描述为潜在的变革，因为它处于早期阶段，并且涉及一种完全不同的跨学科方法来解决STEM评估问题。研究人员将使用从两个认知游戏中收集的数据，数字动物园（工程）和城市科学（城市规划），这两个游戏都由之前的NSF奖资助。对于每一场比赛，调查人员都有来自威斯康星州麦迪逊地区8年级和9年级12名球员的数据。这些数据将作为开发评估原型和开发使社交网络组成部分成为可能所必需的统计方法的概念证明。本研究的两个成果可以预期：（1）概念原型方法的验证，用于评估学生为给定问题带来的知识网络，以及（2）方法和测量发展，使这种评估系统成为可能，并可能在其他情况下有用。

The investigators propose to develop a new method of STEM assessment--epistemic network analysis (ENA)--that focuses not only on whether students master specific scientific facts, math skills, or engineering concepts, but also on whether and how students link the skills, knowledge, identity, values, and epistemology of a STEM practice into a coherent way of thinking about complex STEM problems. The approach links assessment data to modeling using tools similar to social network analysis.The investigators describe ENA as potentially transformational because it is in its early stages, and involves a radically different and interdisciplinary approach to the problems of STEM assessment. The researchers will use data collected from two epistemic games, Digital Zoo (engineering) and Urban Science (urban planning), both funded by a previous NSF award. For each game, the investigators have data from 12 players in Grades 8 and 9 from the Madison, Wisconsin area. These data will serve as proof of concept for the development of the assessment prototype and for the development of the statistical methods that are necessary to make a social networking component possible. Two outcomes of this research can be expected: (1) a proof of concept prototype method for assessing a network of knowledge that students bring to a given problem, and (2) the methods and measurement development that makes such assessment systems possible and potentially useful in other contexts.