James D. Slotta

Helping Students Understand Challenging Topics in Science Through Ontology Training

Chi (2005) proposed that students experience difficulty in learning about physics concepts such as light, heat, or electric current because they attribute to these concepts an inappropriate ontological status of material substances rather than the more veridical status of emergent processes. Conceptual change could thus be facilitated by training students in the appropriate ontology prior to physics instruction. We tested this prediction by developing a computer-based module whereby participants learned about emergent processes. Control participants completed a computer-based task that was uninformative with respect to ontology. Both groups then studied a physics text concerned with electricity, including explanations and a posttest. Verbal explanations and qualitative problem solutions revealed that experimental students gained a deeper understanding of electric current.

Optimal Movement Selection

Most physical tasks can be performed with an infinite number of movement patterns. How then are particular patterns selected? We propose that the contributions of individual limb segments depend on their own independently assessed fits to task demands. An advantage of this system is that coordination among limb segments can be achieved without explicit control of limb-segment interactions. In addition, the system allows segments that are still functioning to compensate for segments that are disabled. To test the model, we first asked subjects to oscillate the fingertip over varying distances at varying rates, using only the finger, hand, or forearm. Based on their performance, we identified the optimal amplitude and frequency of movement for each limb segment. Then we allowed the subjects to use the finger, hand, and forearm however they wished. We demonstrate that the relative contribution of each limb segment to fingertip displacement is predicted by the similarity of the optimal amplitude and frequency of that segment to the required amplitude and frequency of fingertip displacement. Because our model is similar to models proposed for learning and perception, common computational approaches appear viable for motor control and other more widely studied activities underlying information processing and behavior.

Organizing Principles for Science Education Partnerships: Case Studies of Students' Learning About 'Rats in Space' and 'Deformed Frogs'

We describe how science education partnerships composed of educational researchers, technologists, classroom teachers, natural scientists, and pedagogy experts can create effective instructional innovations using Internet technologies. We show that our Scaffolded Knowledge Integration framework gives partnerships a head start on effective designs. We illustrate this process with the Deformed Frogs partnership and the Rats in Space partnership. We conclude with suggestions for future partnerships.

Scaffolding Knowledge Communities in the Classroom: New Opportunities in the Web 2.0 Era

Researchers in the learning sciences have long recognized the potential of online spaces to support learning activities; however, the pervasiveness of social media construction typically associated with “Web 2.0” represents a new context for researching learning and instruction. This chapter reports two studies that used a wiki to deliver a new curriculum model that blends scripted inquiry activities with collaborative knowledge construction in secondary school biology. The researchers collaborated with three experienced science teachers to create engaging curricula where four classes of grade-ten biology collaboratively developed a community wiki about human physiology and biodiversity. Students then used the wiki as a primary resource for subsequent inquiry activities. We analyzed student achievement and engagement with the curriculum to evaluate the success of the model. The findings suggest that a carefully designed scripted activity can complement and enhance the value of a knowledge community approach within secondary school settings.

New roles for students, instructors, and computers in a lab-based introductory programming course

This paper describes our efforts to develop a new lab-based course format for computer science instruction. Building on learning science research, we created a flexible new technology platform to support students and their instructor as they participated in this new form of instruction. Students work collaboratively on Web-based activities while the instructor interacts with students in a tutorial role. The paper describes our system in detail, outlines the organization of the course that used it, and reviews and evaluates the pilot results. We then discuss the implications for computer science instruction and research in higher education.

Orchestrating of complex inquiry: three roles for learning analytics in a smart classroom infrastructure

This paper presents our research of a pedagogical model known as Knowledge Community and Inquiry (KCI), focusing on our design of a technological infrastructure for the orchestration of the complex CSCL scripts that characterize KCI curricula. We first introduce the KCI model including some basic design principles, and describe its dependency on real time learning analytics. Next, we describe our technology, known as SAIL Smart Space (S3), which provides scaffolding and analytic support of sequenced interactions amongst people, materials, tools and environments. We outline the critical role of the teacher in our designs and describe how S3 supports their active role in orchestration. Finally we outline two implementations of KCI/S3 and the role of learning analytics, in supporting dynamic collective visualizations, real time orchestrational logic, and ambient displays.

Immersive Simulations for Smart Classrooms: Exploring Evolutionary Concepts in Secondary Science.

This article presents the design of an immersive simulation and inquiry activity for technology-enhanced classrooms. Using a co-design method, researchers worked with a high school biology teacher to create a rainforest simulation, distributed across several large displays in the room to immerse students in the environment. The authors created and evaluated two iterations of a design where students gathered evidence of evolution using networked tablet computers that scaffolded their interactions with peers and with the room itself. Outcomes suggest that the immersive simulation engaged students, helped them to establish and build upon ideas about evolution and promoted learning of challenging biological concepts. Student explanations from the second implementation demonstrated increased variation in ideas about evolutionary topics compared to those in the first iteration. Relevant design features from the two iterations are discussed.

In Defense of Chi's Ontological Incompatibility Hypothesis

This article responds to an article by A. Gupta, D. Hammer, and E. F. Redish (2010) that asserts that M. T. H. Chis (1992, 2005) hypothesis of an “ontological commitment” in conceptual development is fundamentally flawed. In this article, I argue that Chis theoretical perspective is still very much intact and that the critique offered by Gupta et al. is itself based on a flawed interpretation of Chis theory. The purpose of this article is to address that misconception of Chis work and to clarify her overall theoretical perspective. I begin by reviewing Chis theory of ontological commitments, making an important comment about her position on the nature of expert conceptualizations. I review the methodological approaches used by J. D. Slotta and M. T. H. Chi (2006) to measure ontological commitments and comment on the instructional implications of Chis theory. I then address the misconception held by Gupta et al. about Chis work and call for more empirical research to tease apart the differences between Chis view of “parallel ontologies” and Gupta et al.s view of “flexible ontologies.”

Knowledge Communities in the Classroom

This article addresses the notion of classrooms as knowledge communities, reviewing the key features of two prominent research programs: Fostering community of learners (FCL) and knowledge building (KB). We discuss the commonalities of these programs across three dimensions: distribution of cognitive responsibility; shared community knowledge base; and pedagogical and technological scaffolds. We then review the challenges that are faced by any researcher or teacher who is interested in implementing a knowledge-community approach. We close with a suggestion for hybrid models that integrate the core ideas of knowledge communities with those of scaffolded inquiry.

Supporting Collaborative Knowledge Construction with Web 2.0 Technologies

This chapter describes the recent evolution of the Internet into a set of socially oriented applications collectively referred to as Web 2.0, and discusses the application of these new functions for educational purposes. We suggest that to take full advantage of social, semantic, and aggregative properties of Web 2.0, the technologies must be integrated deeply into our instructional designs, which is very challenging to do. Theoretical models of pedagogical design will be required. We propose that the theoretical tradition of learning in knowledge communities may be a good source for such models and describe our own recent model, called Knowledge Community and Inquiry. Next, we present two exemplars of instructional design that adhere to the knowledge community approach, including a graduate seminar course that integrates wiki technologies and a high school biology course that integrates a content management system. We close with a discussion of the implications of such designs for learning and instruction in the twenty-first century and address next steps for educators.