LearningforUse in Earth Science: Fostering Knowledge Students Can Use

Title: LearningforUse in Earth Science: Fostering Knowledge Students Can Use


1
Learning-for-Use in Earth Science Fostering
Knowledge Students Can Use

• Daniel C. Edelson
• Geographic Data in Education (GEODE) Initiative
• School of Education Social Policy
  andDepartment of Electrical Engineering
  Computer Science
• Northwestern University

2
The Big Disconnects in Education

• Current methods do not match our goals
• Current education emphasizes
• Memorization of facts
• Passive reception of information (listening,
  reading)
• Practicing simple skills out of context
• We want citizens that can
• Perform complex tasks
• Gather and synthesize information
• Communicate with others

3
The Big Disconnects in Education (2)

• Current methods do not match what people do in
  the real world
• For example, science is...
• Asking questions.
• Constructing explanations.
• Collecting evidence.
• Engaging in a dialogue (arguing, listening,
  asking).
• Applying knowledge to meaningful problems.

4
The Big Disconnects in Education (3)

• Current methods do not match what we know about
  learning
• Students must be engaged.
• Content (facts) and Process (skills) learning
  must be integrated.
• Students are not blank slates. Prior knowledge
  and outside influences must be accounted for.
• Things learned divorced from meaningful context
  does not transfer to contexts where they are
  useful.

5
So, why do we want students to work with data?

• Provide an authentic experience of science
• Build skills (representative, quantitative,
  analytical)
• Allow them to explore content phenomena in ways
  that
• Supplement other experiences of those phenomena
• Allow them to explore phenomena on scales too
  large or too small to be experienced directly

6
The challenges of enabling students to work with
data

• Availability (the easy one)
• Accessibility for students and teachers
• of tools
• of data
• Design of effective learning activities
• Theres a learning sciences research and
  development program here
• Tool design
• Data library design
• Learning activity design

200
7
An approach to design of learning activities
Learning-for-Use

• The Goal
• help students to develop useful
  knowledgeknowledge that will be retrieved and
  applied when relevant in the future
• Model of Learning
• describes how useful knowledge can be developed.
• based on research from cognitive science
• Design Framework
• provides guidelines for teachers and designers
• fosters useful understanding

8
Starting Point Principles from cognitive science
research
9
Four fundamental principles of learning

• Learning takes place through the construction and
  modification of knowledge structures.
• Knowledge construction is a goal-directed process
  that is guided by a combination of conscious and
  unconscious understanding goals.
• The circumstances in which knowledge is
  constructed and subsequently used determine its
  accessibility for future use.
• Knowledge must be constructed in a form that
  supports use before it can be applied.

10
Three stages in Learning-for-Use

• Motivate specific learning objectives
• based on perceived need for and usefulness of
  knowledge or skills
• Construct knowledge
• from experience and instruction
• Organize knowledge for use
• for accessibility (retrieval) and usability
  (application)

11
Motivate
12
Construct Understanding
13
Organize for Use
14
What does LfU look like for each learning
objective?
Create Demand
Elicit Curiosity
or
Motivate
Reflect
Balance of direct experience, indirect
experience, modeling, instruction, and
explanation
Construct
Reflect
Organize
Practice
Apply
Reflect
15
LfU for related learning objectives
Aggregate objective
Learning Objective 1

Learning Objective N
Unit level
Activity level
16
LfU for related learning objectives
Learning Objective 1
Learning Objective 1(a)
Motivate
Learning Objective 1(b)

Construct

Organize
17
Where does working with data fit in?

• Motivate
• Elicit curiosity observe surprising patterns in
  data (discrepant event)
• Construct
• Experience Learn about phenomenon by seeing
  patterns in data
• Organize
• Apply Use what has been learned to explain or
  predict patterns in data

18
Scenario-based inquiry learning

• A specific form of Learning-for-Use
• A scenario (or project) provides the context
  that
• Creates demand
• Provides opportunity to apply new knowledge
• A substantial portion of knowledge construction
  occurs through inquiry.

19
An example Planetary Forecaster

• 6-8 week middle school unit
• Content objectives relationship between physical
  geography and temperature
• Latitude (curvature)
• Time of year (tilt)
• Land/Water (specific heat)
• Elevation (pressure/density)
• Process objectives
• data visualization and analysis
• hypothesis formation and revision
• argument from evidence

20
Create Demand A Letter from the International
Space Agency

• Scientists have discovered a new planet that is
  very similar to Earth.
• We want to plan a mission to colonize it
• Which portions of it would be habitable?
• Students study relationship between physical
  geography and climate on Earth to forecast
  climate for Planet Y.

21
Structure of the project

• Develop list of initial hypotheses from activity
  that elicits students prior conceptions.
• Of those, investigate three factors
• Latitude
• Land/Water
• Elevation
• Repeating sequence of
• Find pattern in Earth data
• Investigate pattern in hands-on lab
• Quantify pattern in Earth data
• Apply it to planetary forecast

22
Curvature

• Study Earth
• Average surface temperature
• Incoming solar energy
• Lab
• Penlight area on paper as angle changes

23
Tilt

• Study Earth
• Seasonal temperatures
• Seasonal insolation
• Lab
• Penlights on tilted globes

24
Land/Water

• Investigate Earth
• Land averages
• Water averages
• at same latitudes
• Lab
• Soil vs. H2O heating under shop lamp and cooling

25
Elevation

• Investigating Earth
• Elevation and Temperature
• Lab
• Rapid expansion (e.g., aerosol can)

26
Final Planetary Forecast
July
800
27
Planetary Forecaster and Learning-for-Use

• Motivate
• Create demand based on planetary forecast
  scenario
• Construct
• Direct experience through inquiry activities
• Explanation through instruction
• Organize
• Reflection through frequent discussions
• Application in the context of planetary forecast
• Use of data To support inquiry activities and to
  support application task.

28
Tools to Enable Students to Work with Data

• Data and data analysis tools are available
• Data analysis tools are not accessible to novices
• Scientists bring substantial background knowledge
  to their use of tools
• Therefore, we adapt scientists tools to be
  appropriate for teacher and learners
• Retain analytical power
• Provide interfaces that make functionality
  accessible
• Scaffold through conceptual challenges
• Increased usability
• Support for teachers and curriculum designers
• Compatible with educational computing
  infrastructure
• My World GIS is most recent example

29
Take away

• Learning Sciences research indicates need for
  complete learning process.
• The current system tends to focus on knowledge
  construction to the detriment of other two steps.
• Earth and Environmental Science problems can
  provide meaningful context for learning-for-use
  through scenario-based inquiry learning.
• Activities that use data can contribute to all
  three stages of learning.

30
More info

• The GEODE (Geographic Data in Education)
  Initiative http//www.geode.northwestern.edu
• Affiliated with
• The Center for Curriculum Materials in Science
  (CCMS) http//www.sciencematerialscenter.org
• This work supported in part by the National
  Science Foundation under grants no. RED-9453715 ,
  ESI-9720687, DGE-9714534, ESI-0352478,
  ESI-0137807, ESI-0227557.