Transfer of Scientific Abilities

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Transfer of Scientific Abilities

• Eugenia Etkina, Alan Van Heuvelen, Anna Karelina,
  Maria Ruibal-Villasenor, David Rosengrant, Cindy
  Hmelo-Silver, and Rebecca Jordan
• Rutgers University
• http//www.islephysics.net
• http//paer.rutgers.edu/scientificabilities
• Project funded by the NSF grant DRL 0241078

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Goals of our courses

• Workplace
• National Reports, accreditation of schools of
  engineering (college)
• Recent NRC report (K-12)
• Goals for Courses Student learning in physics
  should be focused on developing science process
  abilities while acquiring and applying physics
  knowledge.

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Curriculum Investigative Science Learning
Environment
My observations (data)
Patterns
more
Multiple explanations, mechanisms or
relationships between physical quantities
Revise explanation

Assumptions
Testing experimentsDoes outcome match
prediction based on explanation/relationship?
Predictions
no
Applications
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Scientific abilities

• The ability to represent physical processes in
  multiple ways
• The ability to design an experimental
  investigation
• The ability to collect and analyze data
• The ability to devise and test a qualitative
  explanation (mechanism) or a quantitative
  relationship
• The ability to modify an explanation (mechanism)
  or a quantitative relationship in light of new
  data
• The ability to evaluate experimental predictions
  and outcomes, conceptual claims, problems
  solutions and models
• The ability to communicate.

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Transfer
Models of transfer Direct Application (Gick and
Holyoak) Preparation for Future Learning
(Bransford and Schwartz) Actor-oriented transfer
(Lobato) Transfer of situated learning (Greeno)

• What promotes transfer
• Student-centered learning
• Acquisition of deep and meaningful knowledge
• Pattern recognition among cases
• Induction of general schema
• Meta-cognitive reflection
• Contrasting cases
• Social context

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Transfer project
Experimental and control group Both are in the
ISLE course Large group meetings and recitation
Week 1-10
Comparison
Designing a physics experiment in an unknown area
of physics
Week 12
Designing a biology experiment
Week 13
Solving scientific-abilities related exam problems
Week 5, 11, 15
Solving regular exam problems
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Lab experiments
You need to determine the elastic potential
energy stored in the Hot wheels launcher in each
position.
DESIGN
NON-DESIGN

• Start by making a rough plan. Make sure that you
  use two methods.
• Write an outline of your procedure with a labeled
  sketch.
• Identify the quantities you will measure and how
  you will measure them.
• Devise the mathematical procedure. Decide what
  your assumptions are and how they might affect
  the outcome.
• Perform the experiment and record the data
• Estimate the range within which you know the
  value of each energy.

Procedure Measure the mass of the car. Launch
the car vertically starting at one of the
launching positions. Measure the maximum height
the car reaches to find the elastic energy in the
launcher.. ..Repeat height measurement four
times. Take the average of the four vertical
distance measurements and calculate the standard
deviation. Analysis Construct a work-energy bar
chart for the process starting with the car
resting on the stretched launcher and ending when
the car is at its maximum elevation. Apply the
generalized work-energy equation
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Time Spent on the lab activities Weeks 1 through
10
Time (min.)
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Exam data
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Findings for this part of the project

• Experimental group spent more time in the labs
  engaging in sense-making activities
• Experimental group did significantly better on
  physics questions related to the labs
• Experimental group did the same or better on
  regular exam problems
• At the end of the course the experimental group
  did significantly better on all exam problems
  (multiple choice or open response) the effect
  size of 0.3.
• The exams did not assess transfer of scientific
  abilities.
• The next two talks describe this part of the
  study - do not leave!