Abstract.
The RSSV (Representing Scientific Strategies visually) group
will identify inquiry strategies common to scientific practice, and
create multiple representations suitable for varied instructional approaches.
Partners in the RSSV include: UCLA, Northwestern (BGuILE), UC Berkeley
(WISE), Weizman Institute.
Group Contact: Iris Tabak.
Bat Sheva Eylon (Weizman Institute, Israel)
Marcia C. Linn (UC Berkeley)
Iris Tabak (Northwestern University/UCLA).
- Review strategies typical to existing projects (e.g., ThinkerTools,
Progress Portfolio, CLP, WISE, BGuILE, ModelIt, KIDS, One Sky Many Voices).
Objectives
- Abstract a cohesive set of strategies.
- Review representations (of strategies) used in the various projects.
- Abstract a set of representations for strategies.
- Implement a set of represenations shared by a number of environments.
- Design research studies to investigate the role of representations in
supporting students' strategy use.
Significance
National standards consistently call for students' understanding of scientific
strategies and procedures. Traditional instruction often leads to stereotyped
amd superficial understanding (e.g., Schoenfeld, Resnick, Linn, Tabak).
Designers have the opportunity to represent scientific strategies in ways
that encourage generalization, abstraction and reuse. Visualization tools
seem promising for increasing the salience and relevance of strategies to
scientific projects. Many learning environments support project work, our
proposed partnership will identify a set of representations that could be
implemented across these different projects.
This work is particularly important to the themes of visualization and modeling,
assessment. Eventually we would want to couple this work with research
in the building learning communities theme.
- Experience identifying strategies in multiple applications.
- Experience in designing representations for strategies.
- Access to innovative learning environments for research.
- Partnerships with teachers and schools and museums.
- Strategies and representations develop by the National Technology
Curriculum in Israel.
- COOL system for coordinating collaboration between the partners.
Expected Outcomes
- Create a set of prototype representations.
- Represent strategies at varied levels of analysis including icons, animations,
text.
- Implement the representations in at least two learning environments, such as
WISE and BGuILE.
- Establish connections between the Israeli strategy research and the
prototype representations.
- Design research investigations to test the impact of the prototype
representations.
Deliverables
- Review strategies (all, 8 weeks)
- Abstract a cohesive set of strategies (Linn, Tabak, 20)
- Review representations (all, 16)
- Abstract a set of representations for strategies (Linn, Tabak, 25)
- Implement a set of represenations (Linn, Tabak, 40)
- Design research studies (Linn, Tabak, 45)
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