Science Education and Technology

The Role of Simulation-Enabled Design Learning Experiences on Middle School Students’ Self-generated Inherence Heuristics Abstract In science and engineering education, the use of heuristics has been introduced as a way of understanding the world, and as a way to approach problem-solving and design. However, important consequences for the use of heuristics are that they do not always guarantee a correct solution. Learning by Design has been identified as a pedagogical strategy that can guide individuals to properly connect science learning via design challenges. Specifically, we focus on the effect of simulation-enabled Learning by Design learning experiences on student-generated heuristics that can lead to solutions to problems. A total of 318 middle school students were exposed to a lesson that integrated design practices in the context of energy consumption and energy conservation considerations when designing buildings using an educational CAD tool. The students were pre- and posttested before and after the 2-week long intervention. The data analysis procedures combined qualitative with quantitative methods along with machine learning approaches. Our analysis revealed two distinct groups of students based on their learning achievement: the naive developing heuristic group and semi-knowledgeable fixated heuristic group. Differences between the groups are discussed in terms of performance, as well as implications for the use of computer simulations to improve student learning.

Using the S-STEM Survey to Evaluate a Middle School Robotics Learning Environment: Validity Evidence in a Different Context Abstract Numerous studies have been undertaken to design, develop, and provide validity evidence for using instruments to measure students’ attitudes toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). This study presents validity evidence of scores produced from the S-STEM measurement tool and used to evaluate changes in attitudes during an educational intervention in a middle school robotics learning environment. All data were collected from middle school students who were involved in a school district-wide effort for integrating educational robotics into the classroom. Findings from this study provided not only internal structure validity evidence, but also criterion-related validity evidence of the proposed S-STEM tool use. In addition, measurement invariance results revealed that items in the S-STEM had equivalence in statistical properties of measurement across groups (e.g., grade level). The study provides further evidence that S-STEM survey is a powerful and useful tool to evaluate student attitude changes during STEM educational programs; offers suggestions for its future implementation; and presents other inspiring ideas for future STEM instrument development.

Using Technology-Enhanced Inquiry-Based Instruction to Foster the Development of Elementary Students’ Views on the Nature of Science Abstract The Next Generation Science Standards support understanding of the nature of science as it is practiced and experienced in the real world through interconnected concepts to be imbedded within scientific practices and crosscutting concepts. This study explored how fourth and fifth grade elementary students’ views of nature of science change when they engage in a technology-enhanced, scientific inquiry-oriented curriculum that takes place across formal and informal settings. Results suggest that student engagement in technology-enhanced inquiry activities that occur in informal and formal settings when supported through explicit instruction focused on metacognitive and social knowledge construction can improve elementary students’ understanding of nature of science.

A Student-Choice Model to Address Diverse Needs and Promote Active Learning Abstract A student-choice model course redesign was used to counteract a large increase in student enrollment, improve the quality of instruction, and preserve student success. This model is an instructional technique that allows students to choose how to engage in a course. Using this model in a first-semester college-level general chemistry course, online options were created to augment the traditional face-to-face course. The traditional lecture time was reduced from 3 to 2 h per week while the traditional recitation time was increased from 1 to 2 h per week. The recitation component was also transitioned from a supplemental lecture session into a problem-solving active-learning component. A mandatory rotation between face-to-face and online options at the start of the semester was necessary to assist students in making an informed choice about what options best fit their needs. Pre- and post-redesign student performance data (2008–2016) and post-redesign student enrollment data (2012–2016) were evaluated. Course performance was maintained and often improved in post-redesign years, and was generally equivalent in the different course combinations.

Children’s and Adolescents’ Specific Interest in Science and Technology, Participation in Out-of-School Activities and Inclination to Become Scientists Abstract Recently, the literature has repeatedly reported an interesting decrease in science and technology (S&T) among youngsters, and a drop of students choosing professions related to these knowledge areas. This study pursued to assess the interest of primary and secondary pupils in specific fields of S&T and to relate this interest to their predisposition to engage in S&T-related out-of-school activities and their inclination to become scientists in the future. A questionnaire on S&T interests and attitudes was administered to a sample of 1336 pupils. Results show that, overall, the inclination to become scientists was low. However, we found a relationship between pupils’ interest in areas of S&T and their predisposition to participate in out-of-school S&T activities, and also between their interest and their inclination to become scientists. Moreover, significant age- and sex-related differences concerning all these aspects were identified. We discuss the importance of acknowledging children’s and adolescents’ specific interest to promote their participation in S&T-related school activities and out-of-school activities. We also urge that information about scientific and technological careers be disseminated in schools in order to increase students’ interest in these areas.

Collection-Based Education by Distance and Face to Face: Learning Outcomes and Academic Dishonesty Abstract Assembling and curating specimen collections is a valuable educational exercise that integrates subject-specific skills such as field collection, curation, identification, organization, and interpretation of relationships. Collection projects have been used primarily in face-to-face classes, but they can be readily adapted for distance education. The primary challenges to using collection projects in distance education center on two concerns: (1) whether distance students learn as much as their face-to-face peers and (2) whether academic dishonesty occurs more often in distance education than face to face. This study addressed both concerns by assessing learning outcomes in two entomology courses with both face-to-face and distance sections and evaluating the frequency of specimen-based plagiarism (submitting specimens collected by someone else). An ungraded survey testing students’ insect identification knowledge found equivalent learning outcomes in face-to-face and distance classes. Insect collections were monitored for plagiarized (resubmitted or purchased) specimens in a 5-year “mark-release-recapture” investigation. Academic dishonesty was detected in fewer than 2% of collections; cheating was more than 12 times more likely in distance than in face-to-face classes. This study’s findings raise the possibility that distance learning assessments can be artificially inflated by cheating, suggesting that evaluations of distance learning should be considered in light of academic dishonesty. These results highlight the benefits and challenges of collections as teaching tools in distance education and underscore the need for instructors to be vigilant about academic integrity.

Exploring the Relationship Between Attentional Capture and Prior Knowledge in a Science-Based Multi-user Virtual Environment: an Individual Growth Model Analysis Abstract In this study, we investigate trends in the relationship between what students know and the types of data that capture their attention over time in a science-based multi-user virtual environment. Longitudinal analyses of the patterns of data collected by 143 middle school students (nested within 5 teachers) showed that student prior knowledge was marginally (p < .10) related to variation in the attentional value (visibility and location) of data they collected over time, explaining about 2% of said variation. By contrast, accounting for the clustering of students by teacher was statistically significantly (p < .05) related to variation in trends in attentional values and explained 36% of said variation.

Virtual Reality Simulation: Effects on Academic Performance Within Two Domains of Writing in Science Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the role textbooks can play on writing complexity and lexical density as a proxy for critical thinking and ultimately learning, in relation to argumentative and summative writing when integrated with a virtual reality experience. In this study, differences in writing complexity and lexical density scores were measured across four different pedagogical modalities: VR alone, VR followed by textbook readings, textbook readings followed by VR, and textbook readings alone. Adult students, recruited from non-science-based higher education programs, responded to two prompts related to content found in the VR environments and discussed in the textbooks. The authors hypothesized that exposure to a virtual marine environment prior to responding to the writing prompts would enhance both argumentative and summative writing products, when compared to participants who only had access to the textbook experiences. Participants who were exposed to the VR environment then a textbook demonstrated significantly greater writing complexity and lexical density scores than those who had access to VR alone, or access to the text alone.

Methodology and Epistemology of Computer Simulations and Implications for Science Education Abstract While computer simulations are a key element in understanding and doing science today, their nature and implications for science education have not been adequately explored in the relevant literature. In this article, (1) we provide an analysis of the methodology and epistemology of computer simulations, aiming to contribute to a sound and comprehensive account of the nature of computer simulations in science education, and (2) examine certain implications for science education, particularly in terms of contemporary educational goals relating to scientific literacy. We describe methodological elements relating to processes, techniques, and skills required for the construction and evaluation of scientific simulations, and we discuss epistemological views of their reliability and epistemic status based on the relevant philosophical views. We then examine implications of these elements for the use of simulations and especially for supporting scientific practices in the classroom and the corresponding educational goals. Concretely, we compare educational simulations with those used in scientific research and with laboratory experiments, we discuss the question of the reliability of simulations used in teaching or in public information, and we give examples of their use for supporting NOS understanding and reasoning abilities. Finally, in the context of the philosophical discourse about scientific realism, we examine implications of the epistemology of models that concern the conception of the relation between scientific claims and the real world, which constitutes a fundamental epistemological basis for teaching the nature of science.

Investigating Students’ Conceptions of Technology-Assisted Science Learning: a Drawing Analysis Abstract This study investigated high school students’ conceptions of technology-assisted science learning via drawing analysis, and explored how students with different degrees of computer experience and science learning self-efficacy may show different conceptions via their drawings. The participants included 335 senior high school students in Taiwan (179 male and 156 female). All of them were asked by guiding questions to make two drawings to represent their conceptions of technology-assisted science learning in actual and ideal contexts, respectively. Their background information including computer experience and science learning self-efficacy were obtained using self-reported questionnaires. Through drawing analysis, seven categories of conceptions of technology-assisted science learning were identified, including types of technology, location of learning, types of learning activities, content of learning, participants of learning activities, affordance of learning technology, and effects of learning technology. The results further revealed that the students’ conceptions of actual and ideal technology-assisted science learning significantly differed in some sub-categories of all categories except the category of participants of learning activities. Moreover, students’ computer experience and science learning self-efficacy may link to different conceptions of technology-assisted science learning. Future research and directions are also discussed.