The Impact of Student-Constructed Animation on Middle School Students’ Learning about Plate Tectonics

Abstract

There is a need for research-informed instructional approaches that promote school students' deep conceptual understanding of abstract geological concepts. Given that a type of learner-constructed stop-motion animation, 'slowmation', has been shown to offer affordances for learning in science preservice teacher education, we extended its application to middle school and investigated the impact of the construction process on students' learning about plate tectonics. Drawing upon theoretical notions of knowledge reconstruction, this mixed methods case study explored two research questions that concerned the extent to which the slowmation construction process influenced students' conceptual understanding about plate tectonics, and how students' learning was facilitated by the slowmation construction process. The participants were Year 9 students (n=52) who constructed slowmations in small groups to explain the geological processes that occur at tectonic plate boundaries. Data were generated using a twotiered multiple-choice test instrument, the GeoQuiz, which we designed and validated, and audiorecordings of students working together as they researched, planned, and constructed their slowmations. A significant improvement was found in students' GeoQuiz scores, from pretest to posttest, which indicates their conceptual understanding improved over the course of the construction process. Analysis of the qualitative data found that students' ideas increased in sophistication through 'teachable moments', wherein students learnt through dialogic teacherstudent and student-student exchanges. We assert that such exchanges ought to be viewed as an integral part of the slowmation construction process itself. While the study's findings support existing research that suggests representation-based activities are effective for student learning of geological phenomena, they also raise important questions about how to best engage middle school students in the construction of a slowmation.

Using PhET™ interactive simulation plate tectonics for initial teacher education

“…As in other works about the advantages of using simulators to promote different skills in students and interest in science (Droui, 2014;Hensberry et al, 2013;Lancaster et al, 2013;McKagan et al, 2008;Nafidi et al, 2018;Wieman et al, 2010), the present study highlights the benefits of the PhET™ Plate Tectonics interactive simulation in developing the conceptual knowledge of pre-service teachers (PSTs) about plate tectonics, embedded in a structured educational resource with tasks about the characteristics of crust, plate movements and an enquiry about plate tectonics. PSTs successfully achieved the learning outcomes that guided the elaboration of this educational resource.…”

“…The feedback given by PSTs after completing the tasks was quite positive, highlighting their engagement with the simulator and its associated tasks. This fact demonstrates the importance of using simulators to motivate students to learn geology, as defended by some researchers (Nafidi et al, 2018;Quintana et al, 2004 andPinto et al, 2014). CreativeLab_Sci&Math | Plate Tectonics has proved to be a useful resource for distance learning, since it can be used autonomously by students in an online context.…”

“…The use of digital simulations is very important in Earth sciences since it allows the study of certain processes that cannot be reproduced in the laboratory and, therefore, the exploration of the relations between the theoretical framework and the simulations of the observed geological processes. Simultaneously, it improves the motivation and interest of students in classes (Nafidi et al, 2018;Quintana et al, 2004;Pinto et al, 2014). Digital simulations can be used as educational resources to promote observation, communication, analysis, hypothesis formulation and the critical thinking skills of students (Nafidi et al, 2018).…”

“…Simultaneously, it improves the motivation and interest of students in classes (Nafidi et al, 2018;Quintana et al, 2004;Pinto et al, 2014). Digital simulations can be used as educational resources to promote observation, communication, analysis, hypothesis formulation and the critical thinking skills of students (Nafidi et al, 2018). Problem-solving and scientific discovery learning in digital simulations allow students to build new and meaningful knowledge about what they are learning ( de Jong and Joolingen, 1998) and reflect about their learning in a metacognition process (Droui, 2014;Nafidi et al, 2018).…”

Making science come alive : Student-generated stop-motion animations in science education

“…A growing number of studies indicate that generation of SMAs can help students to develop their conceptual understanding of various science topics, for example, chemistry (Akaygun, 2016;Yaseen, 2018), cell biology (Deaton, Deaton, Ivankovic, & Norris, 2013;Kamp & Deaton, 2013), astronomy (Nielsen & Hoban, 2015), earth science (Mills, Tomas, & Lewthwaite, 2019), engineering science (Church et al, 2007) and even the nature of science (Kottova, 2015). One research group has focused on its utility for enhancing primary science teacher students' understanding (Hoban, Loughran, & Nielsen, 2011), and another has investigated its potential in educational stages as early as preschool (Fleer & Hoban, 2012).…”