Transcript Making Thinking Visible (MTV): Promoting Students

Harnessing technology to support on-line model
building and peer collaboration
Janice Gobert, Ph.D.
The Concord Consortium
10 Concord Crossing, Suite 300
Concord MA 01742
mtv.concord.org
[email protected]
Making Thinking Visible is funded by the National Science Foundation under grant
No. REC-9980600 awarded to Janice Gobert (Principal Investigator). Any opinions, findings, and
conclusions expressed are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
National Science Foundation.
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Making Thinking Visible
~Summary
 3000 middle and high school students from California and Massachusetts
collaborated on-line using WISE (Linn, 199) about plate tectonic activity in their
respective location.
 The curriculum engaged students in many inquiry-oriented, model-based activities.
Students were scaffolded by WISE using a scaffolding framework (more later).
 Data analysis focussed on measuring content gains and characterizing the nature of
students’ models and model revisions.
 Results suggest that this curriculum was successful in fostering deep content
learning. The task of evaluating and critiquing their peers’ models provides some
insight into students’ learning.
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Grounded in research in Science Education and
Cognitive Science...
 based on students’ misconceptions of plate tectonics of both the inside structure of the
earth and of the causal mechanisms underlying plate tectonic-related phenomena
(Gobert & Clement, 1999; Gobert, 2000), as well as students’ knowledge integration
difficulties (Gobert & Clement, 1994). More on this…..
 emphasizes students’ active model-building and scaffolded interpretation of rich
visualizations (Kindfield, 1993; Gobert & Clement, 1999; Gobert, 2000; Gobert &
Buckley, in prep.) as strategies to promote deep learning. More on this…
 Implemented in WISE (Web-based Inquiry Science Environment) developed by Marcia
Linn & Jim Slotta at UC-Berkeley, which is based on 15 years of research in science
education (Linn & Hsi, 2000).
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Typical models of structure of earth (Gobert, 2000)
Type 0= 10.6%, Type 1=89.4%
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Typical models of volcanic eruption
(Gobert, 2000)
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Description and frequency of models of
volcanic eruption (Gobert, 2000)
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Project Goal
 East and West coast Students’ collaborate on-line about the differences
in plate tectonic phenomena on-line using WISE (Web-based Inquiry
Science Environment; Linn & Hsi, 2000).
 In doing so, students develop…
 Content knowledge of the spatial, causal, dynamic, and temporal features
underlying plate tectonics.
 Inquiry skills for model-building and visualization.
 Epistemological understanding of the nature of scientific models.
See papers from 2002-03 for these papers at mtv.concord.org.
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Model-Based Scaffolding Elements

Representational Assistance to guide students’ understanding of the representations or
the domain specific conventions in the domain.

Model pieces acquisition to focus students' attention on the perceptual pieces of the
representations and support students' knowledge acquisition about one or more aspects
of the phenomenon (spatial, causal, functional, temporal).

Model pieces integration to help students combine model components in order to come to
a deeper understanding of how they work together as a causal system.

Model based reasoning supports require students to reason with their models and
supports them in doing so.

Reconstruct, Reify, & Reflect support students to refer back to what they have learned,
reinforce it, and then reflect to move to a deeper level of understanding.

See specifics under this sheet.
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Model-based activities and respective
scaffolding for unit: What’s on your plate?
 Draw, in WISE, their own models of plate tectonics phenomena.
 Participate in an on-line “field trip” to explore differences between the East and West
coast in terms of earthquakes, volcanoes, mountains (beginning with the most salient
differences).
 Pose a question about their current understanding (to support knowledge integration
and model-building)
 Learn about location of earth’s plates (to scaffold relationship between plate boundaries
anf plate tectonic phenomena).
 Reify important spatial and dynamic knowledge (integration of pieces of model) about
transform, divergent, collisional, and convergent boundaries.
 Learn about causal mechanisms involved in plate tectonics, i.e., convection &
subduction (scaffolded by reflection activities to integrate spatial, causal, dynamic, and
temporal aspects of the domain).
 Learn to critically evaluate their peers’ models which in turn serves to help them think
critically about their own models.
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Model-based activities and respective
scaffolding for unit (cont’d)
 Engage in model revision based on their peers’ critique of their model and what they
have learned in the unit.
 Scaffolded reflection task to reify model revision which prompt them to reflect on how
their model was changed and what it now helps explain. Prompts are:
 “I changed my original model of.... because it did not explain or include....”
 “My model now includes or helps explain…”
 “My model is now more useful for someone to learn from because it now
includes….”
 Reflect and reify what they have learned by reviewing and summarizing responses to
the questions they posed in Activity 3.
 Transfer what they have learned in the unit to answer intriguing points:
 Why are there mountains on the East coast when there is no plate boundary there?
 How will the coast of California look in the future?
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Portfolio for one quad of students selected
for typical performance….
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Now that you have drawn your model, write which geologic process your model is depicting.
This model depicts continental drift.
Write a detailed explanation of what is happening inside Earth and on its surface for the
geologic process you are trying to depict/ Include as much detail as you can.
In our model…. The convectin [sic] currents in the mantle pushes the plates together pushing the land
up making mountains.
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Now that you have drawn your model, write which geologic process your model is depicting.
My model is of.. a volcano erupting. The model is supposed to be a volcano. It shows that it
erupts and produces more layers onto earth.
Write a detailed explanation of what is happening inside Earth and on its surface for the
geologic process you are trying to depict/ Include as much detail as you can.
In our model… the volcano erupts that has eight layers. Lava is spilling out onto the earth’s
layers, forming more layers.
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Act 4~ Earth’s plates
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This model depicts continen tal drift . In
our model… the conv ectin [sic] currents
in the mantle pushe s the plates toge ther
push ing the la nd up making mountains.
My new model is of… How convection current
make mountains. Our partners told us to add
layers in our mo untain. We don’t know what
they mean by layers in mo untains but we added
arrows showing how plates push up against each
other making mo untains. Ev erything else is the
same.
W pair: The important features that are included are.. the moving of the plates. The important features that are missing
are.. the labeling of the laers [sic] and how it forms. This model might be able to teach someone what the mountain
looks like but wit some details added this would be a great model. The following additions would help us better
understand your model…the layers (of corse) [sic] and maybe if you label some things.
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Volcano erupt ion
My mo del is of.. a volcano erupting. The model
is supposed to be a volcano. It shows that it
erupts and produces mo re layers onto earth. In
our model… the volcano erupts that has eight
layers. Lav a is spilling out onto the earth’s
layers, forming more layers.
My new model is of…. The volcano erupting.
Here is my revised explanation… the magma
chamber is letting magma out mixing with lava
and erupting.
E pair: In our partners modle [sic], they included that volcanoes add layers to the earth’s crust. Lava comes up from
the earth out of the volcanoe. The important features that are missing are… they don’t include how volcanoes erupt. I
don’t think it would be helpful because it only describes the layers it adds onto the earth. The following additions
would be help us better understand your model… There should be more explanation on how it erupts and why.
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Act 7c~ Students’ Reflections on changes to
their model (East coast pair)
•
In our new model, we included....new arrows that showed the land that moved towards
each other to make mountains.
•
My new model now helps explain.....It helped explain what makes the mountains better
and how the land moves toward each other.
•
It is more useful because...You can now tell that the land moves toward each other.
•
They told us to add layers in the mountain. We didn't know what they meant by that,
so we added arrows explaining how the land pushes against each other.
•
In the Wise program, we learned in more detail how mountains are formed. We added
the arrows because we learned that the plates push against each other.
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Act 7c~ Students’ Reflections on changes to
their model (West coast pair)
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Act 8a~ Students revisit their questions from Act 3~ pose a
question activity.
E coast group’s questions were….
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Responses to E group pair’s first question….
Egroup8 James and Mike - James Shea, Mike Pearson
(Feb 28, 2002, 8:48:32 A
M)
We have never been in an e arthquake.
respond - edit - delete
earthquake - Brandon Soltis, Nicole Mit chell
(Mar 1, 2002, 11:56:49 A M)
All that happens is the ground shakes and some tme s you
hear a big boom.
respond - edit - delete
Brandon and ncole number of Earthquakes - Brandon
Soltis, Nicole Mitchell
(Mar 1, 2002, 7:08:58 A M)
i have been in alot of Earthqu akes because i live in
California but the largest was about a 6.0.
respond - edit - delete
earthquakes - Scotty Waleszonia, Laura King
(Mar 1, 2002, 11:46:31 A M)
well for your first question there aren't earthquakes out here
like every other mo nth t hey come abo ut 3-4 (some time s not
even that mu ch) times a year and the largest to me would
probably be a 3.0.
respond - edit - delete
Egrp2 Kendrad and ShannonB - Kendra Desrosiers,
Shannon Baker
(Feb 27, 2002, 8:21:44 A
M)
a lot about 6 per a week
respond - edit - delete
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Responses to E group pair’s second question….
Fewer volcanoes on East coast... - Linc Johnsen, Katie
Nelson
(Mar 4, 2002, 5:36:23 A M)
There aren't as many volcanoes where we live because
there is no convergent coundry on our land. Califonia has a
convergent boundry on its land, so there are more volcanoes
there.
respond - edit - delete
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Act 8b~ What have we learned? (Questions
posed in Activity 3)
What did you learn from other students about your first question?
We learned (include as much detail as you can ).....We learned that Cali fornia has a
conve rgen t boundary and the e ast coast does not. This exp lains all of the volcanoe s in
that area.
What did you learn from other students about your second question?
Why are there mount ains on the East Coast when there is no p late bounda ry located
there? Billi ons of ye ars ago , when Pange a was still here, the mountains on the east coast
were formed along w it h the Atlas mountains in A fri ca. Over the yea rs the continen ts
drifted apart.
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Act 8a~ Students revisit their questions from Act 3~ pose a
question activity.
W coast group’s question was….
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Responses to W group pair’s question….
Egroup7 Katie Dahill a nd Lauren Casale - Katie Dahill,
Lauren Casale
(Mar 4, 2002, 5:31:54 A M)
We havent really studied that stuff yet, but I think that since a
volcanoes are formed and are active when boundr ys are
colliding, then if a certin volcanoe is sleeping (or dormant)
and that boundry collides again with another plate, then it
can become active again.
respond - edit - delete
E Group 6 Jill Fo ley and Katelyn Corsino - Katelyn
Corsino, Jill Foley
(Mar 4, 2002, 5:32:19 A M)
Dormant Volcanoes can become active when two plates
(this is not the first this has occured) collid with each other
and the more dence plate sinks below the other and pushes
the magma up f or an eurption.
respond - edit - delete
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Act 8b~ What have we learned (W coast)?
 We learned about earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountains. We
learned how they looked from their point of view.
 We learned that dormant volcanoes can become active by
earthquakes or plate movement.
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Part 1: Content Gain Results
 The students from one class on the West coast were partnered with the
students from two classes on the East coast because of the differences in class
sizes. Five such sets or “virtual classrooms” (referred to as WISE periods)
were created in WISE.
 This is analysis of 360 students.
 A significant pre-post gain was found in all five WISE classrooms for content
gains.
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WISE Period 1- sig. Content gains- see
others under this sheet
Interaction Bar Plot for contentgain
Effect: Category for contentgain * teacher
8
Cell Mean
7
Fisher's PLSD for conte ntgain
Effe ct: te ache r
Signific ance Level: 5 %
6
5
A
4
S
Mean Di ff.
T
3
2
Crit. Di ff.
P-Val ue
A, S
-.32 2
1.1 30
.57 45
A, T
.64 3
1.1 10
.25 40
S, T
.96 4
1.2 52
.12 98
1
0
preCtot
postCtot
Cell
ANOVA Table for contentgain
DF Sum of Squares
teacher
Mean Square
F-Value
P-Value
Lambda Power
.998
.3745
1.996
.208
2
17.231
8.615
61
526.577
8.632
Category for contentgain
1
130.331
130.331
44.982
<.0001
44.982
1.000
Category for contentgain * teacher
2
22.548
11.274
3.891
.0257
7.782
.680
61
176.740
2.897
Subject(Group)
Category for contentgain * Subject(Group)
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WISE Period 2- sig. Content gains
Interaction Bar Plot for c ontent gain
Effect: Category for c ontent gain * te ache r
7
6
Fisher's PLSD for conte nt ga in
Effe ct: te ache r
Signific ance Level: 5 %
Cell Me an
5
A
4
Mean Di ff.
S
3
T
2
Crit. Di ff.
P-Val ue
A, S
-1.9 71
1.3 07
.00 34
S
A, T
-1.6 03
1.3 07
.01 67
S
1.4 68
.62 09
S, T
.36 8
1
0
pre Ctot
po stCtot
Cell
ANOVA Ta ble for content gain
DF Sum of Squares
te ach er
Sub ject(Group)
2
10 2.22 9
Mean Squa re
51 .114
F-Value
P-Va lue
La mbda
Power
3.946
.0 246
7.891
.6 87
60
77 7.29 8
12 .955
Cate gory fo r co nten t ga in
1
11 5.69 5
11 5.69 5
39 .473
<.0001
39 .473
1.000
Cate gory fo r co nten t ga in * teacher
2
38 .791
19 .396
6.617
.0 025
13 .235
.9 11
60
17 5.86 0
2.931
Cate gory fo r co nten t ga in * Su bject(Group)
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WISE Period 3- sig. Content gains
Interaction Bar Plot for c ontentgain
Effect: Category for c ontentgain * tea cher
7
6
Fisher's PLSD for conte ntgain
Effe ct: te ache r
Signific ance Level: 5 %
Cell Me an
5
A
4
Mean Di ff.
S
3
T
2
Crit. Di ff.
P-Val ue
A, S
-1.0 10
1.3 00
.12 67
A, T
-1.5 83
1.2 77
.01 55
S, T
-.57 4
1.4 48
.43 47
1
0
pre Ctot
po stCtot
Cell
ANOVA Table for contentgain
DF Sum of Squares
teacher
Mean Square
F-Value
P-Value
Lambda Power
2.525
.0883
5.050
.476
2
60.752
30.376
62
745.837
12.030
Category for contentgain
1
85.178
85.178
26.654
<.0001
26.654
1.000
Category for contentgain * teacher
2
98.937
49.469
15.480
<.0001
30.960
1.000
62
198.133
3.196
Subject(Group)
Category for contentgain * Subject(Group)
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S
WISE Period 4 - sig. Content gains
Interaction Bar Plot for c ontentchange
Effect: Category for c ontentchange * teacher
7
6
Cell Me an
5
A
4
Fisher's PLSD for conte ntcha nge
Effe ct: te ache r
Signific ance Level: 5 %
Mean Di ff.
S
3
T
2
Crit. Di ff.
P-Val ue
A, S
-.78 4
1.3 85
.26 45
A, T
-2.0 83
1.3 60
.00 30
S, T
-1.2 99
1.5 43
.09 82
1
0
pre Ctot
po stCtot
Cell
ANOVA Table for contentchange
DF Sum of Squares
teacher
Mean Square
F-Value
P-Value
Lambda Power
3.898
.0254
7.796
.682
2
97.656
48.828
62
776.675
12.527
Category for contentchange
1
130.942
130.942
25.019
<.0001
25.019
1.000
Category for contentchange * teacher
2
59.218
29.609
5.657
.0055
11.315
.855
62
324.487
5.234
Subject(Group)
Category for contentchange * Subject(Group)
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S
WISE Period 5 - sig. Content gains
Interaction Bar Plot for c ontent gain
Effect: Category for c ontent gain * te ache r
8
7
Fisher's PLSD for conte nt ga in
Effe ct: te ache r
Signific ance Level: 5 %
Cell Me an
6
5
A
4
S
Mean Di ff.
T
3
2
Crit. Di ff.
P-Val ue
A, S
-2.3 94
1.2 36
.00 02
S
A, T
-3.2 85
1.3 31
<.0 001
S
S, T
-.89 1
1.4 46
.22 48
1
0
pre Ctot
po stCtot
Cell
ANOVA Table for content gain
DF Sum of Squares
teacher
Mean Square
F-Value
P-Value
Lambda Power
13.509
<.0001
27.018
.999
2
256.450
128.225
60
569.514
9.492
Category for content gain
1
82.505
82.505
18.220
<.0001
18.220
.994
Category for content gain * teacher
2
107.916
53.958
11.916
<.0001
23.832
.997
60
271.692
4.528
Subject(Group)
Category for content gain * Subject(Group)
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Conclusions
 In most of these programs to date, students are either presented with models to learn
from (Raghavan & Glaser, 1995; White & Frederiksen, 1990) or they are given tasks
which require them to construct their own models (Gobert, & Clement 1994, 1999;
Gobert, 1998; 1999; Penner et al., 1997; Jackson, et al., 1994).
 This research extends a current vein of progressive model-building in science education
(cf., Raghavan & Glaser, 1995; White & Frederiksen, 1990) by having students critique
each others’ models as a way to promote deep understanding.
 Furthermore, all tasks in which students’ are constructing models, are learning with
models, and are critiquing models of their peers are scaffolded using a model-based
scaffolding framework (Gobert & Buckley, in prep.) in order to promote both deep
understanding of the content as well as promote a deep understanding of models in
science and how they are used in theory development.
 It is believed that rich, scaffolded model-based tasks such as these engages students in
authentic scientific inquiry, and as such can significantly scientific literacy.
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To found out more ...
 To view the unit, go to wise.berkeley.edu, click on Member entrance, and for
login enter “TryA1” and “wise” as your password. Click on “Plate Tectonics:
What’s on Your Plate?”
 To find more information…
 Other papers are available at mtv.concord.org.
 For more on The Concord Consortium contact www.concord.org.
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