"When is the pressure zero inside a container? Mission impossible": 7th grade students learn science by constructing computational models using the much.matter.in.motion platform
{"title":"\"When is the pressure zero inside a container? Mission impossible\": 7th grade students learn science by constructing computational models using the much.matter.in.motion platform","authors":"Janan Saba, H. Hel-Or, S. Levy","doi":"10.1145/3392063.3394442","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The paper explores students' learning about gases in chemistry through constructing computational models of complex systems with the new Much.Matter.in.Motion platform (MMM; [7]). The design of MMM is based on the agent-based modelling approach to complex systems. The interface is governed by an epistemological structure into which programming blocks are integrated. They are inserted into one of three sections: properties, actions and interactions, for each population of entities. 22 Seventh-grade students' learning of science and systems concepts and modeling practices using the MMM are compared with 28 students' learning with a normative curriculum. Findings shows that conceptual learning is deeper and more integrated; the system's levels are better distinguished and related. Students' modeling expresses a gradual increase in explorative-ness and most importantly, show a gradual shift from relying on the external modeling platform to activating and developing their own internal mental models on the fly.","PeriodicalId":316877,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2020-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394442","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
The paper explores students' learning about gases in chemistry through constructing computational models of complex systems with the new Much.Matter.in.Motion platform (MMM; [7]). The design of MMM is based on the agent-based modelling approach to complex systems. The interface is governed by an epistemological structure into which programming blocks are integrated. They are inserted into one of three sections: properties, actions and interactions, for each population of entities. 22 Seventh-grade students' learning of science and systems concepts and modeling practices using the MMM are compared with 28 students' learning with a normative curriculum. Findings shows that conceptual learning is deeper and more integrated; the system's levels are better distinguished and related. Students' modeling expresses a gradual increase in explorative-ness and most importantly, show a gradual shift from relying on the external modeling platform to activating and developing their own internal mental models on the fly.