Translational Science of Cognitive Science in Middle School Science Curricula Christian Schunn Joe Merlino 21 PSTEM Jennifer Cromley Christine Massey Nora Newcombe Tim Nokes

STEM Education Coalition The Research to Practice Bathtub Research Application to practice

X STEM Education Coalition Cognitive Science on Trial Systematically applying cognitive science principles to improve existing middle school science curricula Systematically applying cognitive science principles to improve existing middle school science curricula

X STEM Education Coalition Cognitive Science on Trial Systematically applying cognitive science principles to improve existing middle school science curricula Systematically applying cognitive science principles to improve existing middle school science curricula

X STEM Education Coalition Cognitive Science on Trial Systematically applying cognitive science principles to improve existing middle school science curricula Systematically applying cognitive science principles to improve existing middle school science curricula

STEM Education Coalition Modify 3 units / Curriculum (~1/2 of 2 yrs of instruction) Curriculum Biological Sciences Earth Sciences Physical Sciences Holt =Textbook Cells, Heredity, & Classification (self-evident) Inside the Restless Earth (geology) Introduction to Matter (basic chemistry & physics) FOSS =Hands-on Diversity of Life (same as above) Earth History (geology) Weather & Water (causes of weather + climate) –

STEM Education Coalition 1. Contrasting cases setup instruction

STEM Education Coalition 1. Contrasting cases setup instruction

STEM Education Coalition T. rex found in marine environments moves by swimming eats plankton found in African rainforests also walks on all fours eats fruits, leaves, and small animals Bonobo Barnacle lived 65 to 68 million yrs ago ate other animals found on land move by walking upright made up of many different kinds of cells each cell has nucleus move ingest food found in environment reproduce sexually

STEM Education Coalition Followed by: reading/ lecture (in FOSS, followed by: experiment )

STEM Education Coalition 2. Visualization conventions and challenges E.g., Help with zoom outs E.g., Help with zoom outs The circle located above and to the right of the microscope illustrates what it would look like if one was looking into the microscope. This image also uses a “ zoom-out ” convention in that part of the image is at a much higher level of magnification than the rest.

STEM Education Coalition 3. Instruction must build upon and address student prior knowledge E.g., Children confuse genotype & phenotype E.g., Children confuse genotype & phenotype How come two black labs could have a puppy with a yellow phenotype but two yellow labs could not have a puppy with a black phenotype? Can a puppy with a black phenotype have a yellow allele as part of its genotype? Why or why not?

STEM Education Coalition 4. Spaced testing improves retention Daily warmup activities retrieve prior days/weeks of content Daily warmup activities retrieve prior days/weeks of content Weekly quizzes include questions from prior weeks of instruction Weekly quizzes include questions from prior weeks of instruction

STEM Education Coalition 4. Spaced testing improves retention Daily warmup activities retrieve prior days/weeks of content Daily warmup activities retrieve prior days/weeks of content Weekly quizzes include questions from prior units of instruction Weekly quizzes include questions from prior units of instruction

STEM Education Coalition Effectiveness Experiment ConditionCurriculumProfessional Development Cognitive Science Modified curriculumPD on modifications / cogsci principles (some content) Content PDExisting curriculumMatched # hours of PD focused on underlying science content ControlExisting curriculumNone

STEM Education Coalition Development process Analyze unit Analyze unit Revise unit Revise unit Pilot test Pilot test Revise unit Revise unit Cohort 1 Cohort 1 (Revise unit) (Revise unit) Cohort 2 Cohort 2 Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr 4 Analyze unit Analyze unit Revise unit Revise unit Pilot test Pilot test Revise unit Revise unit Cohort 1 Cohort 1 (Revise unit) (Revise unit) Cohort 2 Cohort 2 Units 1+2Units 3,4,5, 6

STEM Education Coalition Many Issues in Translation 1. Principles for problems (e.g., misconceptions research) vs. principles for solutions 2. Incomplete principles (many decisions remain) 3. No free time: What gets deleted?