Knowledge Integration and Student Misperceptions
Rather than dismissing students' inaccurate intuitions about science concepts out-of-hand Marcia Linn and her colleagues at Berkeley have adopted an approach of gradual feedback towards correct knowledge (Knowledge Integration)...
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Rather than dismissing students' inaccurate intuitions about science concepts out-of-hand Marcia Linn and her colleagues at Berkeley have adopted an approach of gradual feedback towards correct knowledge (Knowledge Integration). Students perform the whole learning task with scaffolded props to achieve integration. For example, at this site you, like the students, will see a "prototype" first. In this scheme a prototype is a very practical application--action knowledge--of a theory or model, such as distinguishing the effects of heat versus temperature changes (a concept delineated in the California Science Framework and relevant to the study of energy). The prototype problem asks: which material, aluminum foil, wool or styrofoam, would keep your soda cold for lunch? A series of activities and group of key phrases as prompts on the screen propel students towards the theory itself with explicit connections between each step to foster guided reflection and knowledge integration. The interactive notebook software includes postit notes for prompts and student checklists for comparing the outcomes of each experiment.
The software is designed for use on a LAN. Project-developed components include a NetBook for organizing information, gleaned from the net; Tool Palette and Coach for scaffolding; SenseMaker for organizing arguments and categorizing evidence; Networked Evidence Base; SpeakEasy for discussion chats; and a teacher Planner and Profiler to track progress. Netscape Navigator and Claris are used from the commercial sector.
This group does not attribute the notebook's effectiveness exclusively to technology; the technology allows consistent attention to reflection and easy comparisons, the underlying learning goals. This notebook is designed for individual student or small group records rather than telecollaboration.Gradually, however, lessons and accompanying support software being Web-enabled. If you substitute /web/ for /kie.html/, you will discover six lessons about light. Steps include offering initial opinions about a phenomenon, surveying and then creating the evidence, refinement of arguments--all Web capable procedures to stimulate reflection.
The KIE project has been succeeded by WISE (Web-based Integrated Science Environment).The contents have been broadened to include genetically modified foods,earthquakes, plants in space and frog dissection, for instance. In addition to evaluation of evidence, other skills, such as managing complexity of information. have been incorporated as Web-based tools.
C3P, an older NSF-sponsored project, has created a CD physics curriculum which also begins with student misperceptions and via a spiral approach, including everyday applications, propels students towards quantitative reasoning. The CD is inquiry-based with videos and an assessment bank. While it differs from KIE in that student assists are not as flexible, on the other hand, the contents are more comprehensive and could be used in conjunction with KIE. For most students physics is a difficult subject so these projects are truly a boon.
Searching on the National Science Foundation site for LIS-Learning and Intelligent Systems-turns up a new initiative in which telecommunications aid tutoring, visualization of large data bases, and related research topics. Eventually, the results will yield new learning aids which lend themselves to telecommunications like KIE.
Annotation
The KIE and WISE technologies illustrate a method for guided reflection to which all of us aspire but in the pellmell of a classroom sometimes forget. Computers are tireless and they never forget. Of course, a checklist could be placed on an overhead like typical classroom rules. This software, however, allows some customization for each student--an exhausting manual task for teachers in today's heterogeneous classrooms. The content in current versions is pre-set. Building on this model, however, you could design notebook pages for your students on your own WebSite.
In spite of all of these resources the underlying issue has not been broached: why do students hold such misperceptions? Is this phenomenon attributable to counter-intuitive physical events? Perpetuated poor teaching at all levels? A combination?
