Research on Learning

Scientific Argumentation in Earth System Science Education part of SERC Web Resource Collection

Diane Schweizer Clayton, Catherine Gautier
We investigate the merit of including deliberate instruction on argumentation and debate in an undergraduate Earth system science course. We examine sample student evaluations of arguments ...

Causality in Complex Dynamic Systems: A Challenge in Earth Systems Science Education part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Federica Raia
This paper explores the concepts of causality necessary to understand complex system behavior and evolution and simple but important steps in teaching about complexity can support students in ...

Designing Coherent Science Education: Implications for Curriculum, Instruction, and Policy part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Yael Kali, Marcia C. Linn, Jo Ellen Roseman
Too often in today's science classes, students learn isolated facts but are unprepared to apply scientific thinking outside of checking off answers on standardized tests. Designing Coherent ...

The Role of Scaffolding Student Metacognition in Developing Mental Models of Complex Earth and Environmental Systems part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Bruce E. Herbert
Students organize knowledge in Earth and environmental sciences and reason about environmental issues through manipulation of mental models. The nature of the Earth and environmental sciences, which ...

Inquiry learning through students' East-West Coast online collaboration about plate tectonics part of SERC Print Resource Collection
J. Gobert
This paper describes a collaborative online project about plate tectonic activity involving middle and high school students in California and Massachusetts. The students collaborated online using ...

Outside the Lines: Issues in Interdisciplinary Research part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Liora Salter, Alison Hearn (eds.)
This book explores the nature and practice of interdisciplinary research in Canada. Contributors address the ways in which interdisciplinary research is defined, positioned, and handled by ...

Multisensory Immersion as a Modeling Environment for Learning Complex Scientific Concepts part of SERC Print Resource Collection
C. Dede, M. Salzman, B. Loftin, D. Sprague
This article explores the strengths and limits for learning of various types of VR (virtual reality) modeling. Previous research shows that such immersive, multisensory experiences enhance ...

The Effects of Different learning Tasks on Model-building in Plate Tectonics: Diagramming Versus Explaining part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Janice D. Gobert
Based on previous work in students' conceptions in geology, this article from the Journal of Geoscience Education features three studies of students' conceptions and cognition in plate ...

A Study of Junior High Students' Perceptions of the Water Cycle part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Orit Ben-zvi-Assarf, Nir Orion
This study explored junior high school students' perceptions of the water cycle. The findings indicated that the students understand various hydro-bio-geological processes, but most of them lack ...

Water Towers, Pump Houses, and Mountain Streams: Students' Ideas about Watersheds part of SERC Print Resource Collection
Daniel P. Shepardson, Jon Harbor, Bryan Wee
The watershed concept is important in many areas of geology and environmental science, and the purpose of this study was to investigate students' ideas about watersheds and how these ideas ...