Showing papers by "David Fortus published in 2020"
TL;DR: This article found evidence that students who construct an ETM when making sense of phenomena consider the role of energy transfers between systems more comprehensively than students who do not construct an energy transfer model.
Abstract: In the sciences, energy is an important idea to get insight into phenomena, as energy can help to reveal hidden systems and processes. However, students commonly struggle to use energy ideas to interpret and explain phenomena. To support students in using energy ideas to interpret and explain phenomena, a range of different graphical representations are commonly used. However, there is little empirical research regarding whether and how these representations actually support students’ ability to use energy ideas. Building on common ways of representing energy transfer, we address this issue by exploring whether, and if so how, a specific representation called the energy transfer model (ETM) supports middle school students’ interpretation of phenomena using the idea of energy transfer. We conducted an interview study with N = 30 8th grade students in a quasi-experimental setting and used qualitative content analysis to investigate student answers. We found evidence that students who construct an ETM when making sense of phenomena consider the role of energy transfers between systems more comprehensively, i.e., they reason about hidden processes and systems to a larger extent than students who do not construct an ETM.
9 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that students that had more coherently organized knowledge networks were more successful in transfer and also found a connection between mastery goal orientation and the organization of students' knowledge networks, their success in transfer, and their goal orientation.
Abstract: Knowledge-in-Use, i.e., the ability to apply what one has learned, is a major goal of education and involves the ability to transfer one’s knowledge. While some general principles of knowledge transfer have been revealed, the literature is full of inconclusive results and it remains hard to predict successful transfer. However, research into expertise suggests that how one organizes one’s knowledge is critical for successful transfer. Drawing on data from a larger study on the learning of energy, we employed network analysis to investigate how the organization of students’ knowledge about energy influenced their ability to transfer and what role achievement goal orientation may have played in this. We found that students that had more coherently organized knowledge networks were more successful in transfer. Furthermore, we also found a connection between mastery goal orientation and the organization of students’ knowledge networks. Our results extend the literature by providing evidence for a direct connection between the organization of students’ knowledge networks, their success in transfer, and their goal orientation and hint at the complexities in the relationship between mastery approach goal orientation and successful transfer beyond what is reported in the literature.
8 citations
01 Jan 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors review the prior chapters and identify four challenges in designing appropriately contextualized learning environments, including distract, confuse, and activate irrelevant knowledge in science education environments.
Abstract: To deal with the environmental, scientific, and health challenges facing the world, individuals throughout the globe will need to experience science education that will allow them to develop usable STEM knowledge. Contextualization plays a crucial role in developing usable knowledge. Without appropriate contextualization, most knowledge remains inert. Although contextualization can provide meaning to an otherwise abstract science topic, inappropriate contextualization can also distract, confuse, and activate irrelevant knowledge. We review the prior chapters and identify four challenges in designing appropriately contextualized learning environments.
2 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated how differences in the achievement goal orientations of a high school biology teacher and her 9th grade student led to tensions between them in their perspectives of what it meant to do school science, leading the teacher to under-estimate the student and recommend that she abandon further studies in biology.
Abstract: In this case study we investigated how differences in the achievement goal orientations of a high school biology teacher and her 9th grade (14 years old) student led to tensions between them in their perspectives of what it meant to do school science, leading the teacher to under-estimate the student and recommend that she abandon further studies in biology. During 9th grade, Israeli students decide upon their preferred subject of emphasis for the rest of high school. The student wanted to major in biology but the teacher felt it was beyond her abilities. While expectancy-value theory is typically used to explain the mechanism through which under-estimation can lead to a lower sense of self-efficacy and lower performance, the reasons why a science teacher may under-estimate a student have yet to be studied. We analyze both the student and the teacher’s motives and learn that unforeseen obstacles may lie on a student’s road to science.
2 citations