TY - GEN
T1 - Examining students’ quantitative reasoning in a virtual ecosystem simulation of the water cycle
AU - Panorkou, Nicole
AU - Germia, Erell
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant number 1742125. The reviews expressed do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Foundation. The researchers would also like to thank Sowmith Etikyala, Michelle Zhu, and Pankaj Lal for the development of the simulation and Debasmita Basu for assisting in the data collection of the study.
Publisher Copyright:
© ISLS.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - In this study, we designed and tested an instructional module to help students develop their quantitative reasoning while examining the scientific phenomenon of the water cycle. The results from a design experiment in a sixth-grade classroom showed that students exhibited reasoning that integrated science and mathematics and avoided the typical naïve conceptions about the water cycle. Specifically, students engaged in covariational and multivariational reasoning as they coordinated the simultaneous change of the quantities involved in the water cycle. They also exhibited transitive reasoning in terms of those quantities and relational reasoning connecting the water cycle to other science content. These forms of reasoning illustrate the power of mathematical reasoning for helping students construct an advanced understanding of the water cycle phenomenon. The findings also show that the context of science helped students to construct advanced forms of mathematical reasoning about quantities, illustrating the reciprocal relationship between math and science learning.
AB - In this study, we designed and tested an instructional module to help students develop their quantitative reasoning while examining the scientific phenomenon of the water cycle. The results from a design experiment in a sixth-grade classroom showed that students exhibited reasoning that integrated science and mathematics and avoided the typical naïve conceptions about the water cycle. Specifically, students engaged in covariational and multivariational reasoning as they coordinated the simultaneous change of the quantities involved in the water cycle. They also exhibited transitive reasoning in terms of those quantities and relational reasoning connecting the water cycle to other science content. These forms of reasoning illustrate the power of mathematical reasoning for helping students construct an advanced understanding of the water cycle phenomenon. The findings also show that the context of science helped students to construct advanced forms of mathematical reasoning about quantities, illustrating the reciprocal relationship between math and science learning.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85102866187&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85102866187
T3 - Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Conference, CSCL
SP - 959
EP - 966
BT - 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences
A2 - Gresalfi, Melissa
A2 - Horn, Ilana Seidel
PB - International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
T2 - 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences: The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2020
Y2 - 19 June 2020 through 23 June 2020
ER -