CAREER: Bridging Formal and Everyday Learning through Wearable Technologies: Towards a Connected Learning Paradigm

科学学习中的一个重要问题是学生并不总是看到他们所学概念的相关性。这种感知相关性的缺乏可能会导致学生对科学的参与度降低。该项目将研究如何通过使用可穿戴和可视化技术，将四年级至六年级学生的课外日常体验与正式的课堂科学教学联系起来。学生将使用可穿戴技术捕捉他们与科学相关的日常体验，并通过基于网络的界面对这些体验进行反思。仪表板应用程序将支持教师相应地调整他们的课堂科学课程计划。该项目将有助于我们理解如何设计可穿戴技术来连接跨环境的学习，并将为科学教学框架提供信息，该框架将更好地以学生的日常科学概念经验为基础。来自两所高度多样化的K-12学校的学生将参与该项目。该项目的成果将导致设计新的连接科学学习结构，以响应不同学生的经历和背景。在调查日常经验和正式学校背景下的互联学习时，该项目包括一个为期五年的四阶段工作计划。第一阶段将探索如何用可穿戴技术支持四到六年级的学生，通过科学概念的镜头来反思他们的日常经历。第二阶段将与在职教师进行反复的参与式设计会议，调查如何支持他们通过交互式仪表板将学生的日常科学思考融入学校教学。第三阶段将开发一个范例系统，将设计的可穿戴设备与教师仪表板集成在一起。两项评估研究将与两所合作学校进行：第一项研究将针对单一的科学概念，第二项研究将是长期的，允许教师在一个学期内自由使用该系统进行任意数量的科学概念。第四阶段将确定连接学习技术的指导方针，并确定这些指导方针可以推广到其他教育水平（例如，STEM大学二年级学生）的程度。将在各个阶段收集定性和定量数据，以评估互联学习系统对学生对科学的感知相关性、参与科学的动机、科学思维或心态以及教师课堂教学的影响。还将举办讲习班，向教师介绍连接学习的范例和相关技术。总的来说，通过将学生与科学相关的日常经验与正式教学联系起来，该项目将导致更个性化的学生学习，并最终形成一种更能接受不同学生群体的教育方法。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

A significant problem in science learning is that students do not always see the relevance of the concepts they are learning. This lack of perceived relevance may then lead to less student engagement in science. This project will investigate how to connect 4th to 6th grade students’ out-of-classroom, everyday experiences with formal in-classroom science instruction through the use of wearable and visualization technologies. Students will use wearable technologies to capture their everyday experiences related to science and reflect on these experiences through a web-based interface. A dashboard application will support teachers in tailoring their classroom science lesson plans accordingly. The project will contribute to our understanding of how to design wearable technologies for connecting learning across contexts and will inform a framework of teaching science that is better grounded in students’ everyday experiences with science concepts. Students from two highly diverse K-12 schools will participate in the project. Outcomes of the project will lead to the design of new structures for connected science learning that are responsive to diverse student experiences and backgrounds.In investigating connected learning across both everyday experience and formal school contexts, the project consists of a 4-phase work plan over five years. Phase 1 will explore how to support 4th to 6th grade students with wearable technologies to reflect on their everyday experiences through the lens of science concepts. Phase 2 will conduct iterative participatory design sessions with pre- and in-service teachers to investigate how to support them in incorporating students’ everyday science reflections into school instruction through interactive dashboards. Phase 3 will develop an exemplar system that integrates the designed wearable with the teacher dashboard. Two evaluation studies will be conducted with two partner schools: the first study will address a single science concept, and the second study will be longer-term, allowing teachers to have free-use of the system for any number of science concepts over a semester. Phase 4 will identify guidelines for connected learning technologies and determine the extent to which these guidelines may generalize to other education levels (e.g., STEM college sophomores). Both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected across the phases to assess the impact of the connected learning system on students’ perceived relevance of science, motivation to engage in science, scientific thinking or mindset, and teachers’ classroom instruction. Workshops will also be conducted to introduce teachers to the paradigm of connected learning, and the associated technologies. Overall, by connecting students’ science-related everyday experiences with formal instruction, the project will lead to more personally relevant student learning, and ultimately to an educational approach that is more receptive to a diverse student population.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.