Susan A. Yoon

An Evolutionary Approach to Harnessing Complex Systems Thinking in the Science and Technology Classroom

Educational efforts to incorporate ethical decision‐making in science classrooms about current science and technology issues have met with great challenges. Some research suggests that the inherent complexity in both the subject matter content and the structure and dynamics of classrooms contribute to this challenge. This study seeks to investigate the viability of an educational heuristic based on a complex s ystems evolutionary approach to both harness complexity inherent in the learning system of the classroom and to improve student knowledge of a complex scientific issue. The evolutionary mechanisms of variation, interaction, and selection were used to construct a 10‐day curriculum and instruction unit on the topic of genetic engineering. Eleven Grade 9 students participated in the study. The data analysis was completed using three data sources: daily database discussions and ratings and rationales provided over four time‐points, probing student opinions and understanding of genetic engineering research. A repeated‐measures analysis of variance conducted on 43 student rationales indicated a continuing trend of increasing understanding of complex systems concepts over time. There is also evidence to show that students as a whole group operated as a complex system in their patterns of decision‐making. A number of themes identified in student database discussions reveal processes students themselves believed influenced change at the social and conceptual level, including the evolutionary mechanisms upon which the program was designed.

Comparative analysis of Palm and wearable computers for Participatory Simulations

Recent educational computer-based technologies have offered promising lines of research that promote social constructivist learning goals, develop skills required to operate in a knowledge-based economy (Roschelle et al. 2000), and enable more authentic science-like problem-solving. In our research programme, we have been interested in combining these aims for curricular reform in school science by developing innovative and progressive handheld and wearable computational learning tools. This paper reports on one such line of research in which the learning outcomes of two distinct technological platforms (wearable computers and Palm hand-helds) are compared using the same pedagogical strategy of Participatory Simulations. Participatory Simulations use small wearable or hand-held computers to engage participants in simulations that enable inquiry and experimentation (Colella 2000) allowing students to act out the simulation themselves. The study showed that the newer and more easily distributable version of Participatory Simulations on Palms was equally as capable as the original Tag-based simulations in engaging students collaboratively in a complex problem-solving task. We feel that this robust and inexpensive technology holds great promise for promoting collaborative learning as teachers struggle to find authentic ways to integrate technology into the classroom in addition to engaging and motivating students to learn science.

Using Augmented Reality and Knowledge-Building Scaffolds to Improve Learning in a Science Museum

Although learning science in informal non-school environments has shown great promise in terms of increasing interest and engagement, few studies have systematically investigated and produced evidence of improved conceptual knowledge and cognitive skills. Furthermore, little is known about how digital technologies that are increasingly being used in these informal environments can enhance learning. Through a quasi-experimental design, this study compared four conditions for learning science in a science museum using augmented reality and knowledge-building scaffolds known to be successful in formal classrooms. Results indicated that students demonstrated greater cognitive gains when scaffolds were used. Through the use of digital augmentations, the study also provided information about how such technologies impact learning in informal environments.

Using Social Network Graphs as Visualization Tools to Influence Peer Selection Decision-Making Strategies to Access Information About Complex Socioscientific Issues

This study extends previous research that explores how visualization affordances that computational tools provide and social network analyses that account for individual- and group-level dynamic processes can work in conjunction to improve learning outcomes. The studys main hypothesis is that when social network graphs are used in instruction, students receive otherwise hidden information that influences more strategic decision making about whom to interact with in order to gain more knowledge. This in turn can influence a shift in how students interpret the nature of socioscientific issues toward a more complex understanding. Results of the intervention show that among this population of 76 Grade 7 students, rules by which students selected whom to talk to in paired discussions about a complex socioscientific issue shifted from nonreflective or socially driven mechanisms (e.g., waiting for any random person) to reflective or information-driven mechanisms (e.g., specifically choosing someone who had a lot of knowledge). Results are compared to research in academic domains other than education that supports their robustness as decision-making strategies.

Learning impacts of a digital augmentation in a science museum.

ABSTRACT This study investigated the effects of using digital augmentation to enhance an exhibit device to influence conceptual understanding about a science topic in a science museum setting. In particular, the study considered how students in Grades 6–8 engaged with the device that was available in both augmented and nonaugmented (control) conditions. Results show increased cognitive (critical thinking) skills when the digital augmentation was present that we hypothesize led to increased conceptual gains. We illustrate how this research contributes to three important areas of need identified in informal science literature: the need for evidence of conceptual and cognitive gains; the need for understanding how digital platforms improve the learning experience; and the need to demonstrate how designed interactive devices may impact higher order skills such as critical thinking and theorizing.

Using an adaptive expertise lens to understand the quality of teachers’ classroom implementation of computer-supported complex systems curricula in high school science

Background: This exploratory study is part of a larger-scale research project aimed at building theoretical and practical knowledge of complex systems in students and teachers with the goal of improving high school biology learning through professional development and a classroom intervention. Purpose: We propose a model of adaptive expertise to better understand teachers’ classroom practices as they attempt to navigate myriad variables in the implementation of biology units that include working with computer simulations, and learning about and teaching through complex systems ideas. Sample: Research participants were three high school biology teachers, two females and one male, ranging in teaching experience from six to 16 years. Their teaching contexts also ranged in student achievement from 14–47% advanced science proficiency. Design and methods: We used a holistic multiple case study methodology and collected data during the 2011–2012 school year. Data sources include classroom observations, teacher and student surveys, and interviews. Data analyses and trustworthiness measures were conducted through qualitative mining of data sources and triangulation of findings. Results: We illustrate the characteristics of adaptive expertise of more or less successful teaching and learning when implementing complex systems curricula. We also demonstrate differences between case study teachers in terms of particular variables associated with adaptive expertise. Conclusions: This research contributes to scholarship on practices and professional development needed to better support teachers to teach through a complex systems pedagogical and curricular approach.

Designing Computer-Supported Complex Systems Curricula for the Next Generation Science Standards in High School Science Classrooms

We present a curriculum and instruction framework for computer-supported teaching and learning about complex systems in high school science classrooms. This work responds to a need in K-12 science education research and practice for the articulation of design features for classroom instruction that can address the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) recently launched in the USA. We outline the features of the framework, including curricular relevance, cognitively rich pedagogies, computational tools for teaching and learning, and the development of content expertise, and provide examples of how the framework is translated into practice. We follow this up with evidence from a preliminary study conducted with 10 teachers and 361 students, aimed at understanding the extent to which students learned from the activities. Results demonstrated gains in students’ complex systems understanding and biology content knowledge. In interviews, students identified influences of various aspects of the curriculum and instruction framework on their learning.

Augmented Reality and Learning in Science Museums

Recently, informal science environments have been highlighted for their potential to improve science understanding and participation in daily science activities and scientific careers (Banks et al., Learning and Out of School in Diverse Environments: Life-Long, Life-Wide, Life-Deep, 2007; National Research Council, Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places, and Pursuits, 2009; National Research Council, Successful K–12 STEM education: Identifying effective approaches in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, 2011). Questions that have arisen from this focus include the extent to which visitors can learn the science, what supports are needed, and how technology can aid in the learning (National Research Council, Learning Science in Informal Environments: People, Places, and Pursuits, 2009). In this chapter, we review a series of studies that investigate how augmented reality and knowledge-building scaffolds support children’s learning in three different exhibits: “Be the Path,” “Magnetic Maps,” and “Bernoulli Ball.” We discuss design features and evidence that show how our intervention promotes collaboration and improves children’s conceptual understanding. We conclude with a description of an overarching model for exhibit design that aims at improving learning experiences of visitors in the science museum.

Exploring the process of convergent adaptation in technology-based science curriculum construction

As a core complex systems process, understanding the dynamics of individual or group adaptation can provide valuable information for constructing professional development strategies that can increase chances of instructional success. This paper reports on an exploratory study that identifies indicators of convergent vs. non-convergent adaptation between two cases of teachers working together on a technology-based curriculum construction activity and explores the relationship between group characteristics and adaptation processes. We have used the complex systems concept of adaptation as a lens for understanding how and why some teachers are better able to adapt to the educational program requirements. The results show that processes of convergence and nonconvergence influenced adaptive outcomes, and that the more similar the teaching characteristic index (TCI) number was between group members, the more likely it was that group dynamics would result in convergent adaptive outcomes.

What Do Learning Scientists Do? A Survey of the ISLS Membership

This study responds to a question that people working in the field of learning sciences get asked regularly: What do learning scientists do? Earlier attempts to answer this question came from a need to define a new field of educational research. Now that the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS) has grown into a robust and productive society, it is time to gain a more nuanced understanding of learning sciences research and practices—including where it takes place, for whom, and in what form—as defined by members of the learning sciences community. Here we report on the responses of 253 ISLS members to a survey conducted in 2014. We discuss implications of the findings in terms of the type of impact learning scientists have. We also discuss how these results might be used to advise prospective students and to create a vision for our future.