Heather Toomey Zimmerman

Discovering and Supporting Successful Learning Pathways of Youth In and Out of School: Accounting for the Development of Everyday Expertise Across Settings

A fifth-grade girl, born in Haiti and adopted into a Seattle family, talked at home about how she wanted to be a chemist or a paleontologist when she grew up. For 6 months, she spent portions of her Saturdays mixing perfumes, as a chemist might, with her mother. But her public schoolteacher, who is a seasoned professional with sophisticated teaching expertise, thought the girl was lazy and was surprised to see her become highly excited and engaged about a science curriculum unit at the end of the year. A fourth-grade boy in the same school got moved to the back of the classroom because he was frequently “off task” and “resistant” to the school curriculum. He spent significant periods of his time in the back of the room mentally deconstructing the physical environment around him, “thinking in structures” as he put it. Unbeknownst to his teachers, the boy had been deepening his participation in a hobby—an elective vocation—since attending a summer design program at a local university in the third grade. Outside of school he engaged in sophisticated design, construction, and building projects with all manner of physical and technological objects. It would be 3 more years before he came to understand that there is such a field as engineering and that it might be a good match for his interests. By that point it would be much more difficult to make his way along the typical academic path. To simply say that these youth may be “at risk” for making their way along academic pathways ignores the depth of their academic-related interests and developing expertise. It skirts the evaluation and positioning of them that occurred in different contexts based on a partial understanding of who they were at the time and who they wanted to become, and it severely discounts the complexities associated with them productively pursuing and becoming who they might wish to become. We argue that we need to discover and then support the successful learning pathways of youth across social settings over developmental time so that we can promote the development of interests and expertise that may lead to both academic and personal success.

Tree Investigators: Supporting families' scientific talk in an arboretum with mobile computers

This research examines the Tree Investigators project to support science learning with mobile devices during family public programmes in an arboretum. Using a case study methodology, researchers analysed video records of 10 families (25 people) using mobile technologies with naturalists at an arboretum to understand how mobile devices supported science talk related to tree biodiversity. The conceptual framework brings together research on technological supports for science learning and research on strategies that encourage families to engage in conversations that support observation and explanation practices. Findings suggested that families engaged in high levels of perceptual talk (describing and identifying) while using mobile computers. Commonly, families articulated scientific observations when supported by prompts, visuals, and scaffolds delivered by the mobile computers. Families struggled to make explanations about the biological importance of what they saw in relation to ecological principles; however, families made connections to their everyday life within explanations they developed at the arboretum. Our research showed the importance of mobile supports that provided on-demand, localised sense-making resources for explanation building while limiting observational complexity.

Intergenerational learning at a nature center: families using prior experiences and participation frameworks to understand raptors

Using a sociocultural framework to approach intergenerational learning, this inquiry examines learning processes used by families during visits to one nature center. Data were collected from videotaped observations of families participating in an environmental education program and a follow-up task to draw the habitat of raptors. Based on a thematic analysis, researchers developed two themes about the learning processes at play in the nature center, related to the use of prior knowledge. First, families’ prior knowledge used at the nature center came from informal education activities: (a) observation in the outdoors and spaces designed to represent an aspect of nature, (b) media (including books and Internet), and (c) experiences at informal education institutions. Second, when sharing prior knowledge, participation frameworks were created through the conversation that leveled the hierarchy between parent and child allowing for negotiation and collaborative idea formation. In the nature center, families valued social harmony by positioning their children as capable contributors of environmental knowledge. Suggestions to researchers taking a sociocultural approach are given, including the potential of ‘participation frameworks’ as an analytical tool to study learning interactions and as a potential tool for environmental educators to encourage families to create roles and structures for successful learning outcomes in nature centers.

High incidence of spontaneous cataracts in aging laboratory rabbits of an inbred strain

OBJECTIVE To investigate the occurrence of spontaneous cataracts in a breeding colony of the inbred EIII/JC strain of New Zealand White rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculi) and the congenic strain of EIII/JC-HLA-A2.1transgenic rabbits. PROCEDURE A retrospective study was conducted by collecting and analyzing data from clinical records for individual rabbits filed between January 2011 and October 2013. RESULTS Thirteen cases (eight females and five males) of cataract were identified in a group of 51 EIII/JC inbred rabbits with a morbidity of 25.5%. The median age of the rabbits identified with unilateral or bilateral cataracts was 43 months in contrast to the median age of 23 months of the entire group of 51 rabbits. Additionally, seven cases (five females and two males) of cataracts were identified in a group of 21 EIII/JC-HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbits. The EIII/JC-HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbits showed similar morbidity (33.3%) and median age (41 months) for the development of cataracts as the EIII/JC rabbits. In both groups, none of the rabbits younger than 37 months developed cataracts while 13 (93%) of 14 EIII/JC rabbits aged 37-49 months and seven (63.6%) of 11 EIII/JC-HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbits aged 37-43 months developed cataracts. In contrast, none of 78 outbred rabbits with a median age of 26 months (10-67 months) developed cataracts. CONCLUSION Results of this study indicate that the occurrence and high incidence of spontaneous cataracts in this inbred strain (EIII/JC) of rabbits were strictly age related and consistently transmitted through inbreeding.

Using augmented reality to support observations about trees during summer camp

This research examines how augmented reality (AR) learning experiences supported childrens engagement in science. We conducted a video-based study of seven sessions over two weeks at a summer camp program. We investigated how scientific talk related to observational practices could be supported by a mobile app incorporating AR. Researchers coded videos of youth (n=35) during an outdoor program on the tree life cycle to understand science talk related to observations of trees. Findings suggested that the use of AR to support tree identification led to learner-initiated talk and observations as demonstrated by high levels of perceptual (describing) talk. Learners relied on the AR technology and peers in order to engage in this observational work.

Distributed Expertise in a Science Center

Abstract This research project examines the way that children and parents talk about science outside of school and, specifically, how they show distributed expertise about biological topics during visits to a science center. We adopt a theoretical framework that looks at learning on three interweaving planes: individual, social, and cultural (tools, language, worldviews, and artifacts). We analyze conversations to study how these three planes show learning processes as families work together to create explanations of biological phenomena. Findings include: (a) children and parents made epistemic moves that led to different social and intellectual roles in the conversations (skeptic, expert, memory-prompter), sometimes based on prior involvement in science activities; and (b) during extended scientific explanations about life science content, expertise in science was distributed across the family members and the museum environment so that the parents and children were both contributing to the conversation.

Design of Mobile Learning for Outdoor Environments

Given their portability, mobile devices allow users to access information, record field observations, or search databases on-site to identify plant and animal species present in natural, outdoor settings. This paper presents five empirically based design guidelines for mobile learning outdoors that our research team used to design a mobile app to help families learn about tree life cycles. We link theory to practice by illustrating how the five guidelines were applied in the context of an outdoor mobile learning project called Tree Investigators.

Using Augmented Reality to Support Children’s Situational Interest and Science Learning During Context-Sensitive Informal Mobile Learning

This research examines how augmented reality (AR) tools can be integrating into informal learning experiences in ways that support children’s engagement in science in their communities. We conducted a series of video-based studies over 4 years in an arboretum and a nature center with families and children. In this study (the four iteration of the Tree Investigators design-based research project), 1-hour sessions were conducted at a summer camp for 6 weeks at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center. The sessions supported children to learn about the life cycle of trees with iPad computer tablets. Data collected included pre- and post-assessments and video records of children engaged in the science practice of observation. Analysis included the Wilcoxon signed-rank test of 42 paired assessments, the microethnographic analysis of transcripts of dyads and triads engaged with AR tools, and the creation of one case study of a pair of boys, who were representative of others in the dataset. Across the dataset, we found three sociotechnical interactions that contributed to triggering situational interests during the summer camp learning experience: (a) discoveries in the environment related to nature, (b) prior experiences that led to anticipation or expectation about what would happen, and (c) hands-on experiences with natural phenomenon. Implications of the study include that AR tools can trigger and maintain children’s situational interest and science learning outcomes during context-sensitive informal mobile learning.

Science curiosity in learning environments: developing an attitudinal scale for research in schools, homes, museums, and the community

ABSTRACT Although curiosity is considered an integral aspect of science learning, researchers have debated how to define, measure, and support its development in individuals. Prior measures of curiosity include questionnaire type scales (primarily for adults) and behavioral measures. To address the need to measure scientific curiosity, the Science Curiosity in Learning Environments (SCILE) scale was created and validated as a 12-item scale to measure scientific curiosity in youth. The scale was developed through (a) adapting the language of the Curiosity and Exploration Inventory-II [Kashdan, T. B., Gallagher, M. W., Silvia, P. J., Winterstein, B. P., Breen, W. E., Terhar, D., & Steger, M. F. (2009). The curiosity and exploration inventory-II: Development, factor structure, and psychometrics. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(6), 987–998] for youth and (b) crafting new items based on scientific practices drawn from U.S. science standards documents. We administered a preliminary set of 30 items to 663 youth ages 8–18 in the U.S.A. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a three-factor model: stretching, embracing, and science practices. The findings indicate that the SCILE scale is a valid measure of youth’s scientific curiosity for boys and girls as well as elementary, middle school, and high school learners.

Epistemic agency in an environmental sciences watershed investigation fostered by digital photography

ABSTRACT This collective case study investigates the role of digital photography to support high school students’ engagement in science inquiry practices during a three-week environmental sciences unit. The study’s theoretical framework brings together research from digital photography, participation in environmental science practices, and epistemic agency. Data analysed include field notes and video transcripts from two groups of learners (n = 19) that focus on how high school students used digital photography during their participation in two distinct environmental monitoring practices: stream mapping and macroinvertebrate identification. Our study resulted in two findings related to the role of digital photography where students developed knowledge as they engaged in environmental monitoring inquiry practices. First, we found that digital photography was integral to the youths’ epistemic agency (defined as their confidence that they could build knowledge related to science in their community) as they engaged in data collection, documenting environmental monitoring procedures, and sharing data in the classroom. Based this finding, an implication of our work is a refined view of the role of digital photography in environmental sciences education where the use of photography enhances epistemic agency in inquiry-based activities. Second, we found that the youths innovated a use of digital photography to foster a recognition that they were capable and competent in scientific procedures during a streamside study. Based on this finding, we offer a theoretical implication that expands the construct of epistemic agency; we posit that epistemic agency includes a subcomponent where the students purposefully formulate an external recognition as producers of scientific knowledge.