A role for simulative mental models in science concept representation : the case of instantaneous speed
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- What kinds of thinking go into learners' cognitive representations of fundamental science concepts like force or ion? The work reported on here advances the broad hypothesis that there are many science concepts for which representation depends upon a special kind of thinking, depictive mental simulation, and that the representations that result from this thinking are simulative mental models. This hypothesis is developed within an empirical study of the representation of one concept in particular, instantaneous speed. The study was a true experiment with two conditions. In one condition, high school students participated in learning activities in which they engaged in a form of depictive mental simulation hypothesized to be useful for understanding instantaneous speed. In the other condition, students participated in the same learning activities except that they did not engage in depictive mental simulation. On a posttest, students who had engaged in depictive mental simulation understood instantaneous speed better than those who had not. Interpretation of these results in light of a classic set of studies in science thinking and learning leads to the broad hypothesis that depictive mental simulation plays a key role in the representation of many different science concepts. This hypothesis calls for changes in the field's conception of what it means -- and what it takes -- to teach for understanding in science.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Shemwell, Jonathan T |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, School of Education. |
| Primary advisor | Shavelson, Richard J, 1942- |
| Thesis advisor | Shavelson, Richard J, 1942- |
| Thesis advisor | Osborne, Jonathan |
| Thesis advisor | Schwartz, Daniel L |
| Advisor | Osborne, Jonathan |
| Advisor | Schwartz, Daniel L |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Jonathan Todd Shemwell. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the School of Education. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2011. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by Jonathan T. Shemwell
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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