Kevin W. McElhaney

Evidence for effective uses of dynamic visualisations in science curriculum materials

Dynamic visualisations capture aspects of scientific phenomena that are difficult to communicate in static materials and benefit from well-designed scaffolds to succeed in classrooms. We review research to clarify the impacts of dynamic visualisations and to identify instructional scaffolds that mediate their success. We use meta-analysis to synthesise 47 independent comparisons between dynamic and static materials and 76 comparisons that test the effect of specific instructional scaffolds. These studies show that dynamic visualisations are better than static visuals at promoting conceptual inferences about science, consistent with the success of inquiry instruction in science. To realise this potential of dynamic visualisations, instruction needs to help students use the dynamic visualisation to make sense of their own ideas. Scaffolds that are most successful include prompts for reflection, prompts to distinguish among parts of the visualisation, visual cues that identify salient features, multiple visualisations presented sequentially, and interactive features that govern the pacing of activities. We extract guidelines from this research to help researchers plan future studies of visualisations, designers create and refine instructional materials using visualisations, and practitioners customise instruction that features visualisations.

Computer-Guided Inquiry to Improve Science Learning

Automated guidance on essays and drawings can improve learning in precollege and college courses. Engaging students in inquiry practices is known to motivate them to persist in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and to create lifelong learners (1, 2). In inquiry, students initiate investigations, gather data, critique evidence, and make sophisticated drawings or write coherent essays to explain complex phenomena. Yet, most instruction relies on lectures that transmit information and multiple-choice tests that determine which details students recall. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) mostly offer more of the same. But new cyber-learning tools may change all this, by taking advantage of new algorithms to automatically score student essays and drawings and offer personalized guidance.

Science Education: From Separation to Integration

Advances in technology, science, and learning sciences research over the past 100 years have reshaped science education. This chapter focuses on how investigators from varied fields of inquiry who initially worked separately began to interact, eventually formed partnerships, and recently integrated their perspectives to strengthen science education. Advances depended on the broadening of the participants in science education research, starting with psychologists, science discipline experts, and science educators; adding science teachers, psychometricians, computer scientists, and sociologists; and eventually including leaders in cultural studies, linguistics, and neuroscience. This process depended on renegotiating power structures, deliberate funding decisions by the National Science Foundation and others, and sustained, creative teamwork. It reflects a growing commitment to ensure that all learners are respected and that all students learn to address the complex scientific dilemmas they face in their lives. This chapter traces the evolution of research on science education in the United States with a focus on 5- to 17-year-olds. It highlights trends in the view of the learner, the design of instruction, the role of professional development, and the impact of technology. The chapter closes with recommendations designed to realize the full potential of these advances.