Exploring Shifts in Middle School Learners’ Modeling Activity While Generating Drawings, Animations, and Computational Simulations of Molecular Diffusion

Abstract

Modeling and using technology are two practices of particular interest to K-12 science educators. These practices are inextricably linked among professionals, who engage in modeling activity with and across a variety of representational technologies. In this paper, we explore the practices of five sixth-grade girls as they generated models of smell diffusion using drawing, stopmotion animation, and computational simulation during a multi-day workshop. We analyze video, student discourse, and artifacts to address the questions: In what ways did learners' modeling practices, reasoning about mechanism, and ideas about smell shift as they worked across this variety of representational technologies? And, what supports enabled them to persist and progress in the modeling activity? We found that the girls engaged in two distinct modeling cycles that reflected persistence and deepening engagement in the task. In the first, messing about, they focused on describing and representing many ideas related to the spread of smell at once. In the second, digging in, they focused on their testing and revision of particular mechanisms that underlie smell diffusion. Upon deeper analysis, we found these cycles were linked to the girls' invention of "oogtom," a representational object that encapsulated many ideas from the first cycle and allowed the girls to re-start modeling with the mechanistic focus required to construct simulations. We analyze the role of activity design, facilitation, and technological infrastructure in this pattern of engagement over the course of the workshop, and discuss implications for future research, curriculum design, and classroom practice.

Targeting disciplinary practices in an online learning environment

“…Proponents of this view argue that learners have extensive resources for scientific reasoning (diSessa, ; Hammer, Elby, Scherr, & Redish, ). Indeed, a growing body of evidence shows that students are capable of argumentation, investigation, modeling, and so forth, in everyday forms that can be the beginnings of science (e.g., Engle & Conant, ; Manz, ; Warren et al., ; Wilkerson, Gravel, & Macrander, ). Rather than focus on instructing students in the parts of scientific inquiry, these authors focus on designing contexts that engender students’ drawing on and refining nascent, productive resources (Berland et al., ; Hammer et al., ).…”

Emerging technologies as pedagogical tools for teaching and learning science: A literature review

“…Another theme in the science education literature was pedagogical use of computational modeling—multimedia tools that provided learners with interactive visual representations of dynamic theoretical entities and complex scientific processes difficult to represent in a science textbook (Ardac & Akaygun, ). Computational modeling allows students to visualize science content while developing domain specific, authentic reasoning skills, thereby supporting deep conceptual understanding (Wilkerson‐Jerde, Gravel, & Macrander, ). Several studies investigated computational modeling in K‐12 classroom settings (Table ).…”

Engaging students in computational modeling: The role of an external audience in shaping conceptual learning, model quality, and classroom discourse

“…Advocates of constructionism suggest that creating public shareable entities for an authentic audience is an important facilitator of math and science learning (Kafai et al, ; Papert & Harel, ; Wilkerson‐Jerde, Gravel, & Macrander, ). Building public entities, like computational models, imbues learning activities with “learning richness” (Papert & Harel, , p. 6) that motivates students to want to learn and enhances the effectiveness of instruction from the teacher.…”

“…Recent studies highlight the affordances of teaching computational thinking and scientific content synergistically. Computational thinking and modeling allow students to visualize science content while developing mathematical and domain‐specific reasoning skills, supporting deep conceptual understandings of science content (Sengupta & Farris, ; Sengupta et al, ; Wilkerson‐Jerde et al, ).…”