Knowledge in the making: technology-based representational scaffolding during scientific inquiry
Speaker
Eva Erdosne Toth
Senior Research Associate, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University
When
-
Where
Wean Hall 5409
Description
The ubiquitous use of technological tools makes external representation of thinking—such as tables, graphs, text, visualizations and diagrams—a pivotal aspect of life in and out of the classroom. Coinciding with this trend, the effect of external representations is of interest for studies of learning as well as for instructional technology development efforts. My research interest in technological innovation is thus twofold. It explores the effects of external representations during problem solving as well as the methodology of building technology-rich, research-based classroom learning environments. My talk focuses on the effects of representations in two areas of science learning that have been difficult to tackle with traditional instructional methodologies: the coordination of data with theories and the design of scientific experiments.
The main emphasis of this talk is on the value of external representations during the coordination of hypotheses and empirical data. Students used the BELVEDERE Instructional Framework, which was designed to help them solve problems and collaboratively argue about scientific challenges during inquiry. The framework considers three important aspects of effective learning interactions: (1) the nature of activity students are engaged in (collaborative problem solving in this case), (2) the form of representation over which the activity is shared (evidence mapping with a software tool) and (3) the nature of assessment (reflective assessment rubrics). The results of classroom studies indicate that technology-based evidence mapping orients students to record more inferences about the relationships between empirical data and theories than traditional prose writing. Evidence maps created with BELVEDERE indicated more instances of students overcoming common errors of reasoning such as confirmation bias. Furthermore, explicit reflection on the criteria of expected performance (with the use of assessment rubrics) resulted in students expressing more inferences and more inconsistencies between data and theories compared to groups without reflection.
Time permitting, I will discuss preliminary results of classroom observations which point to the role of external representations during the design of scientific experiments. Two methods of external representation use were observed in classroom environments: interpretive and expressive. Based on these I will draw attention to the importance of considering the social as well as cognitive factors of using external representations during the generation and communication of scientific knowledge. I will suggest a reflective pedagogy to aid students’ reasoning through external representations during inquiry in complex domains. Technological tools—through the various forms of external representation they can offer—are at the center of such reflective pedagogy.
Speaker's Bio
Eva E. Toth is a former high school science teacher with a doctoral degree in Instructional Technology from the University of Illinois. Her background includes work with interdisciplinary teams of computer scientists, computational modelers, scientists and classroom teachers to establish technology-rich learning environments at the National Center for Supercomputing Application in Illinois and at the EPA supported Supercomputing Center in Bay City, Michigan. As a Research Associate at the University of Pittsburgh, Learning Research and Development Center she contributed to the design of the BELVEDERE software tool for intelligent tutoring of inquiry skills and developed the accompanying instructional framework for classroom learning. Currently she is a Senior Research Associate at the Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, where she works on establishing research-based instructional methods for learning scientific inquiry skills. Her research on learning includes studies on the application of electronic networks, scientific data visualizations, cognitive tutoring and the issues of formulating technology-rich classroom learning environments. Her current research studies how external representations of thinking can be used to build interactive learning environments for learners in elementary school to adulthood.