Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://repository.isls.org//handle/1/10282
Title: How Can Computational Modeling Help Students Shift Their Ideas Towards Scientifically Accurate Explanations?
Authors: Fuhrmann, Tamar
Wagh, Aditi
Rosenbaum, Leah F.
Eloy, Adelmo
Wilkerson, Michelle
Blikstein, Paulo
Keywords: Learning Sciences
Issue Date: 2023
Publisher: International Society of the Learning Sciences
Citation: Fuhrmann, T., Wagh, A., Rosenbaum, L. F., Eloy, A., Wilkerson, M., & Blikstein, P. (2023). How can computational modeling help students shift their ideas towards scientifically accurate explanations?. In Blikstein, P., Van Aalst, J., Kizito, R., & Brennan, K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2023 (pp. 441-448). International Society of the Learning Sciences.
Abstract: This paper explores how MoDa, an integrated computational modeling and data environment, enabled students to express their ideas about diffusion and shift them toward canonical ideas. Drawing on data from an 8-day unit with two 6th-grade science classes, we analyze students' utterances in presentations, drawings, and written responses to document their diverse ideas about diffusion We present three case studies to illustrate how engaging with computational modeling in MoDa and the unit around it enabled students to shift from non-canonical ideas towards more canonical explanations of diffusion. In particular, we identify three factors that helped in shifting students’ ideas: the availability of code blocks to represent a diverse range of ideas including non-canonical ones, consistent access to video data of the phenomenon, and model presentations to the whole class. The paper illustrates how a computational modeling tool and curriculum can make students' diverse ideas visible and shift them toward canonical explanations.
Description: Long Paper
URI: https://doi.org/10.22318/icls2023.208036
https://repository.isls.org//handle/1/10282
Appears in Collections:ISLS Annual Meeting 2023

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