Collaborative Research: Scaffolding Explanations and Epistemic Development for Systems

这个项目的目标是帮助学生学习使用不同类型的证据来思考和创建复杂系统的模型。对学生来说，思考系统对理解科学和工程中的复杂主题越来越重要。建立基于证据的模型对于帮助学生进行批判性思考很重要，尤其是对复杂系统的想法。为了支持学生的这些努力，该项目开发了一个易于使用的软件建模工具，该工具支持学生创建模型，同时显示证据来源(数据、模拟等)。来支持他们的模型构建选择。该项目的产品包括软件、课程和评估，提高了年轻学习者参与符合下一代科学标准的雄心勃勃的科学教育体验的能力。该项目的成果包括专业开发材料、脚手架工具和评估，这些材料将通过项目网站免费提供。这个项目是由EHR核心研究(ECR)计划资助的。这个项目改变了使用模拟来帮助学生在小学科学课堂中发展科学实践、认识论和内容知识的方式。它探讨了五年级学生在从事科学探究时如何对待模拟与其他证据来源的相似和不同。通过仔细选择不同的、有时是相互矛盾的证据形式，该项目要求学生反思他们的信念，即科学概念的模拟是如何做到的，而不是反映正在研究的现象。在过去工作的基础上，该项目正在开发一个脚手架框架，向学生传授水生态系统背景下的复杂系统概念。该软件和相关课程旨在帮助学生深入了解特定的生物学内容，它所代表的重要的交叉系统概念，以及在基于多种不同形式的证据构建科学模型时涉及的关键科学实践。因此，该项目将侧重于下一代科学标准中的两个关键交叉概念--系统思维和科学实践。该项目通过三种相辅相成的方法调查支架和干预措施的有效性：在样本量较小的受控环境中进行辅导研究，在五年级教室进行设计实验，以及准实验研究。课堂设计实验和实验研究在印第安纳州和新泽西州的不同教育环境中进行。测量的结果包括学生的成长和视频分析中的话语和互动。学生成长的衡量标准包括访谈和书面的学生手稿。话语和互动的测量被编码为来自视频分析的变量。这些发现支持了设计师、研究人员和教育工作者，他们不仅在科学课程中使用模拟，而且帮助他们在强大的科学实践和思维习惯中定位。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The goal of this project is to help students learn to use different kinds of evidence in thinking about and creating models of complex systems. Thinking about systems is increasingly important for students to understand complex topics in science and engineering. Building models based on evidence is important for helping students think critically in general, and about complex systems ideas in particular. To support students in these efforts, the project develops an easy-to-use software modeling tool that supports students in creating models while concurrently indicating the sources of evidence (data, simulations, etc.) that support their model-building choices. The products of this project, which include software, curriculum, and assessments, increase the capacity to engage young learners in ambitious science educational experiences that are consistent with the Next Generation Science Standards. Outcomes of the project include professional development materials, scaffolding tools, and assessments which will be made freely available via the project website. This project is funded by the EHR Core Research (ECR) program.This project transforms the way simulations are used to help students develop scientific practices, epistemologies, and content knowledge within elementary school science classrooms. It explores how 5th grade students treat simulations as similar to and distinct from other sources of evidence when engaged in scientific inquiry. By carefully selecting disparate and sometimes contradictory forms of evidence, the project challenges students to reflect upon their beliefs about how simulations of scientific concepts both do, and do not reflect the phenomena under study. Building on past work, the project is developing a scaffolded framework for teaching students about complex systems concepts in the context of aquatic ecosystems. This software and associated curriculum aims to help students engage deeply with the specific biology content, the important cross-cutting systems concepts that it represents, and the crucial scientific practices that are involved in constructing scientific models based on multiple disparate forms of evidence. This project will therefore focus on two of the key cross-cutting concepts from the Next Generation Science Standards--systems thinking and scientific practices. The project investigates the efficacy of posited scaffolds and interventions through three complementary approaches: tutoring studies in more controlled settings with smaller sample sizes, design experiments in five fifth-grade classrooms, and a quasi-experimental study. The classroom design experiments and experimental studies are carried out in diverse educational settings in Indiana and New Jersey. Outcomes measured include both student growth and discourse and interactions from video analysis. Measures of student growth include interviews and written student artifacts. Measures of discourse and interactions are coded as variables derived from video analysis. The findings support designers, researchers, and educators who not only make use of simulations in science curricula, but help situate them within robust scientific practices and habits of mind.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.