| Images of connected features: |
| | | The WISE inquiry map |  |
| | | Decision justification chart |  |
| | | System of scaffolds for participating in a cognitive practice |  |
| | | PDA Form |  |
| | | Data Query (The Galapagos Finches) |  |
| | | Work Reviewer |  |
| | | Science Research Link |  |
| | | Identify a Phase from a Continuous Process |  |
| | | Dynamic Molecular Model |  |
| | | Authentic contexts in the Jasper project |  |
| | | Drop down list of investigation questions for experimentation with visualization |  |
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Connections 
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| Description: |
This principle calls to include in learning enviorments examples of how scientitst work, and thus model to students how they can discover new views to add to their mix of ideas and how they can detect failures, deal with negative feedback, and communicate with others.
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Theoretical background:
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Many projects model the process of scientific thinking. For example, in our research on computer programming, we developed case studies where experts modeled the process of selecting among alternatives (Linn & Clancy, 1992). Palinscar and Magnusson (Palincsar et al., 2001) ask students to interpret scientific notebooks designed by experts to model the process of carrying out complex science investigations. When students can select among varied models of the process they have the opportunity to compare alternative approaches to the problem.
When expert scientists serve as role models they represent their cultural group as well as their particular methods for making sense of science. Scientists can show students how they discover new views to add to their mix of ideas but they are even more effective if they also show students how they detect failures, deal with negative feedback, and communicate with others. Reif and Scott (19xx) show how this process can be implemented using a computer to make expert use of problem solving strategies visible for students. Role models can encourage students to distinguish among their notions, interpret feedback from others, reconsider information in light of experimental findings, and develop a commitment to scientific endeavor. Some role models discourage learners by depicting science in ways that do not connect to the views of the individual or by only telling success stories instead of also recounting frustrations and mistakes. Cognitive apprenticeship (Collins, Brown, & Holum, 1991), emphasizes the benefits of learning from more able others based on Vygotsky’s (1978) notion of the zone of proximal development. Programs based on cognitive apprenticeship make the thinking of experts visible. These programs structure activities to encourage students to behave more and more like experts. Many designers have followed this approach, creating instructional programs to support students as they emulate the practices of experts (Kozma et al., 1996).
Making expert thinking visible is much more easily advocated than accomplished. Textbooks generally give the right answer or the conclusion rather than clarify the interpretive process including pitfalls, wrong paths, and misunderstandings that occur along the way. Scientific papers typically report only on the results leading to the ultimate conclusion, rather than also describing all of the frustrations and dead ends that led to the reported findings. Often limits on classroom time motivate teachers to simplify the process of thinking that leads to a conclusion. Making time for thinking available in the curriculum by including inquiry projects has proven difficult.
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| Tips (Challenges, Limitations, Tradeoffs, Pitfalls): |
-Textbooks generally give the right answer or the conclusion rather than clarify the interpretive process including pitfalls, wrong paths, and misunderstandings that occur along the way.
- Scientific papers typically report only on the results leading to the ultimate conclusion, rather than also describing all of the frustrations and dead ends that led to the reported findings.
- Some role models discourage learners by depicting science in ways that do not connect to the views of the individual or by only telling success stories instead of also recounting frustrations and mistakes.
- Scientists call for courses in science appreciation that emphasize breakthroughs rather than the more mundane exploration of unrewarding conjectures.
Limits on classroom time motivate teachers to simplify the process of thinking that leads to a conclusion. Making time for thinking available in the curriculum by including inquiry projects has proven difficult.
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| References (Off-line): |
Linn, M. C., & Hsi, S., 2000. Computers, Teachers, Peers: Science Learning Partners. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
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| References (Online): |
| http://clp.berkeley.edu/CLP |
| Summary of changes (wiki): |
| I shortened the description (the original had a section of the theoretical background) |
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History
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