1. Hui Jin, Charles W. Anderson
Developing a Learning Progression for Energy and Causal Reasoning in Socio-ecological Systems
Hui Jin, Charles W. Anderson

2. Research Overview
Learning progressions are descriptions of increasingly sophisticated ways of thinking or reasoning about science topics (National Research Council)
Research focus: energy as it relates to carbon-transforming processes— photosynthesis, digestion & biosynthesis, cellular respiration, and combustion.
My dissertation research is conducted within the scope of Environmental Literacy Research Project.
We have been working in the Environmental Literacy Research Project for five years.
The project focuses on developing learning progressions in socio-ecological systems. We have three content strands: carbon, water, and biodiversity. I’m in the carbon group.

3. Why Are Carbon-transforming Processes Important?
Keeling Curve: The graph below shows changes in concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere over a 47- year span at Mauna Loa observatory at Hawaii.
This is Keeling curve.
As the citizens in US and China, we have the responsibility to bend this curve. However, people are unlikely to accept the changes in policy and lifestyle necessary to bend the curve unless they understand the processes that are driving the changes in CO2 concentration

4. Using Electric appliances Body Movement; Dead Organism Body Decay
Loop Diagram
Human Socio-economical Systems
Ecosystem
Atmosphere
Heat
CO2
CO2 LE
Matter Conservation
Energy Conservation
Energy Degradation
Using Electric appliances
Driving Vehicles
Burning fossil fuels
Body Movement; Dead Organism Body Decay
Plant Growth
Animal Growth
Organic Carbon Oxidation
(Combustion)
Organic Carbon Oxidation (Cellular Respiration)
Organic Carbon Generation
(Photosynthesis)
Organic Carbon Transformation
(Biosynthesis, digestion)
OrgC CE
The loop diagram is my analysis of what it means to understand the Keeling curve
Everything in the loop diagram is in the current national standards.
Here you can see that in our everyday life, a variety of macroscopic events are related to carbon transforming. Even younger students have rich experience with these events. These events are macroscopic carbon-transforming processes.
They are explained by three classes of biochemical processes at the atomic-molecular scale.
Photosynthesis explains the event of plant growth. In photosynthesis, light energy transforms into chemical potential energy, making energy available to all organisms and humans.
Organic carbon transformation: Digestion and biosynthesis explain the event of animal growth. In these processes, organic compounds change from one form to another, losing some energy as heat but keeping most energy as chemical potential energy.
Organic carbon oxidation: Cellular respiration and combustion explain a variety of events related to energy consumption. In oxidation processes, the chemical potential energy contained in the organic compounds is released to do work and heat is also released as byproduct; finally all energy transforms into waste heat.
These processes all happen in three socio-ecological systems: atmosphere, biosphere, and human socio-economical system. So, the general pattern is that carbon cycling among all the three systems, while energy flow from biosphere to human socio-economical systems and finally dissipates as waste heat.
All these processes are constrained by three principles: matter conservation, energy conservation, and energy degradation.
CE: Chemical Energy; LE: Light Energy; OrgC: Organic Carbon-containing Molecules

5. Conceptual Framework
Developing an empirically validated learning progression for energy and causal reasoning
Learning Progression Framework
Associated Assessments
Suggested Teaching Approaches
Energy and Causal Reasoning
This is the research framework for developing an empirically validated learning progression.
Three elements that are centered around energy and causal reasoning.
Learning progression framework describes the increasingly sophisticated ways of reasoning about energy.
Each of the three elements must be coordinated with the other elements.

6. General Structure of the Learning Progression Framework
From Environmental Literacy Research Project
Levels of Achievement
Progress Variables
Variable 1
Variable 2
Variable 3
Upper Anchor
Learning Performances
Intermediate Levels
Lower Anchor
Students’ learning performance can be measured from different dimensions. For example, we can measure how they understand matter and energy or how they understand different chemical processes. These dimensions are all progress variables. The problem is what progress variables most effectively describe patterns of students’ reasoning.
There are patterns of students’ performances along each progress variables.
Levels of achievement can be organized into three parts: upper anchor is the scientific reasoning; lower anchor is defined by students’ informal reasoning and knowledge as they enter the age range that We focus on; intermediate levels reflect the intersection of school science and students’ informal reasoning.
Progress Variables: Progress variables are aspects of students’ overall performances that differ for students at different levels of achievement.
Levels of Achievement: There are patterns of students’ learning performances along each progress variable, which can be ordered into different levels in terms of the scientific proficiency

7. Research Participants
K-12 students from suburban and rural schools in Michigan.
K-12 students from urban and rural schools in China
Stages
Country
Assessments
Elementary
Middle
High
Stage 1 ( ) US
Tests
194
143
377
Stage 2 (2008 Summer)
Interviews 18 12
China 17 13
Stage 3 ( )
Pre-interviews 8
Post-interviews
Pre-tests 91
214
222
Post-tests
125
211
207
My research has three stages. The table shows the number of participants at each stage.

8. Learning Progression Framework Development
Stage 1. Science-based progress variable—energy
Stage 2. Performance-based progress variables—naming and explaining
Stage 3. Reconsider energy as progress variable
Learning Progression Framework Development
Learning Progression Framework
Associated Assessments
Suggested Teaching Approaches
Three Stages of Research
Energy and Causal Reasoning
My dissertation research began in 2007 and lasted for 3 years. It contains three stages. At each stage, the ideas about progress variables and the learning progression framework changed significantly.

9. Stage
Younger Students Tend to Rely on Force-dynamic Reasoning
Cognitive linguists studying English grammar (Pinker, 2007; Talmy, 2000) and Chinese grammar (Dai, 2005; Lai & Chiang, 2003) suggest that both languages have implicit theories of cause and actions—force-dynamic reasoning.
Force-dynamic reasoning understands the world in terms of actors and enablers.

10. Stage 1. 2007-08 The Learning Progression Framework for Energy
Levels of Achievement
Energy
Upper Anchor
Level 4. Accounts that successfully explain energy transformation in carbon-transforming processes
Intermediate Levels
Level 3. Accounts about changes involving energy forms; Use energy principles unsuccessfully
Level 2. Force-dynamic accounts with hidden mechanisms
Lower Anchor
Level 1. Macroscopic force-dynamic accounts that do not involve energy
In year , We used energy as progress variable to develop the learning progression framework. It has four levels of achievement.
This work is reported a NARST conference paper.
We found that there is a serious conceptual problem with the way energy was conceptualized in the paper.

11. the Energy Progress variable did not capture student learning!!
Stage
Conceptual Problem
We used energy as progress variable to measure students’ learning performances, but Level 1 and 2 are not about energy. They are about force-dynamic reasoning.
the Energy Progress variable did not capture student learning!!
Conceptually, we used matter and energy as progress variables, but the level 1 and level 2 of the progress variable are not about matter and energy. They are about force-dynamic reasoning. In other words, matter and energy didn't do a good job of describing the reasoning of younger students. Younger students may use the words matter and energy, but not with their scientific meanings.

12. Stage Summer
Performance-based Progress Variable—Naming and Explaining
Naming Progress Variable: The performance of verbatim reproduction of vocabulary.
Explaining Progress Variable (nature of the accounts): The performance of using specific reasoning patterns to construct the accounts.
 Naming and Explaining are general progress variables that can be used to measure students’ understanding about any science topic.
At stage 2, We discard energy as progress variable.
We worked with another graduate student in a cross-cultural study. We compared American and Chinese students’ accounts of carbon-transforming processes. We found that performance-based progress variables are more effective in comparing students’ accounts.
Naming refers to the performance of verbatim reproduction of vocabulary. For example, what are the vocabulary students use to construct their accounts.
Explaining variable refers to the nature of the accounts, the performance of using specific reasoning patterns to construct the accounts.
This work is documented in a paper we submitted to JRST.

13. Can We put performance and science together?
Stage
Performance-based progress variables or science- based progress variables?
Performance-based progress variables—Naming & Explaining
Advantage: Naming and explaining enabled us to find important patterns of students’ understanding.
Disadvantage: Naming and explaining progress variables tend to describe performances in ways that lose track of science.
Science-based progress variables—Energy
Advantage: Energy is an important concept in science, science education, and everyday reasoning.
Disadvantage: Level 1 and Level 2 of the energy progress variable are not about energy.
Shall We use naming and explaining to replace energy? Naming and explaining are performance-based progress variables. They can be used as general progress variables to measure students’ understanding in different science topics. However, this advantage could also be disadvantage. Naming and explaining tend to describe performances in ways that lose track of science.
Energy is science-based progress variable. It did not work well with younger students, but it is still an important concept in science, science education, and everyday reasoning.
I’m in a dilemma. Shall We choose performance-based progress variables or science-based progress variables? Each of them has advantages and also disadvantages.
If we cannot find the answer to the question, it often means that we need to change the question.
So, instead of choosing between the science-based progress variables and performance-based progress variables, my question is can We put them together?
Can We put performance and science together?

14. “Energeia” (Energy) means being-at-work, the opposite to being-at-end
Stage
Identify progress variables that are both science- based and performance-based
“Energeia” (Energy) means being-at-work, the opposite to being-at-end
Energy is an abstract quantity that is conserved—continues through events
Association
Tracing
There are two historical perspectives about energy.
One is from Aristotle. The word energy derives from the Greek word “energeia”. Aristotle first developed the word “energeia” to mean “being-at-work”, the opposite of “being-at-end”. In this reasoning, energy only exists in situations involving movement or activities. When the objects or organisms are in a status of “being-at-end”—being dead or being at rest—energy disappears.
This meaning of “being-at-work” has been built into our everyday informal reasoning. For example, we often say: “We have a lot of energy to start my work.” “I’m so tired. We ran out all of my energy.” In our everyday life, energy is an entity that associated with lots of aspects of events and it does not exist when the event was over.
This is very different from Feynman’s notion about energy. As, we talked before, energy is an abstract quantity that continues through events. It is associated limited energy indicators such as light, motion, foods, fuels, and so on.
So, if we compare Aristotle’s notion of energy with Feynman’s notion of energy, we can see that the differences exist in two types of performance: association and tracing.
Aristotle associate energy with all aspects of an event, but in scientific reasoning, energy is only associated with energy indicators. In other words, Aristotle and Feynman associate energy with different things. Aristotle does not trace where energy is from and where energy goes, but Feynman emphasizes that energy is a quantity that continues through any event. In other words, Aristotle and Feynman trace energy differently. So, where are our students? We talked before about students’ alternate views of energy. It seems that our students are more like Aristotle than like Feynman.

15. Stage
Association and tracing as explaining progress variables
Naming
Explaining: What is the entity students use to construct accounts? How is the entity used to construct the explanations.
Association:
Do students associate the entity with different things? What are those things?
Tracing:
Do they trace the entity backward and forward? How? If they do not trace the entity, do they trace anything else? What do they trace?
Ok. Here are the progress variables for the learning progression for energy and causal reasoning. The learning progression has two progress variables: naming and explaining. Explaining focuses on the entity students use to construct the accounts.
Under the umbrella of explaining, there are two progress variables: association and tracing. With respect to association, the questions we focus on are: what is the entity students construct to make accounts? What is their understanding of the entity? Do they associate the entity with different things? What are those things? With respect to tracing, the questions we focused on are: What causal chain do students trace? Do they trace the entity backward and forward? How?

16. Actor reaches its goal; Changes happen
Stage
Level 1. Natural Ability as a naturalistic and psychological entity
Broad association: Associate natural ability with elements of events (i.e., actors, enablers, and settings).
Only cause-effect tracing: Trace the macroscopic action-result chain. Do not trace the entity of natural ability.
Elements of Events:
Result:
Actor reaches its goal; Changes happen
Actors
Enablers
Settings
Accounts at Level 1 are constructed based on natural ability, which is a naturalistic and psychological entity.
With respect to association, natural ability is associated with elements of events including actors, enablers, and settings. Natural ability is a naturalistic entity, since it indicates the naturalistic reasoning—the actor always do things and it always needs certain enablers, because that is how the natural world works. Natural ability is also a psychological entity, since it is often associated with feelings and desires. For example, energy is something that makes you happier. When you have energy, you are excited.
With respect to tracing, accounts at level 1 do not trace the entity of natural ability. Since naturally the actor always has the ability and the enablers also have abilities to be useful, it is not necessary to trace where the ability comes from. Also, it does not trace where the ability goes.
Level 1 accounts do trace things. Instead of tracing natural ability, Level 1 accounts trace a macroscopic causal chain—the action-result chain: the actor uses enablers to make certain changes to happen; the result of the actor’s action is that the actor reaches its goals.

17. Stage 3. 2008-09 Level 1 Example (4th grader; American pre-interview)
Researcher: Do you think the girl’s body uses the food for energy?
Watson: Yes.
Researcher: Do you know how?
Watson: Because the food helps make energy for the girl so then she can like learn how to walk and crawl and stuff. And it will also help the baby so it will be happy, be not mean and stuff.
Researcher: Yes, ok. Let’s talk about the next one. You said sleep, right? So say a little bit about that. How is it related to growth?
Watson: Because it will make it somehow so you’ll grow. Because that way you will get more energy so you can like run and jump, and jump rope and walk and play. And that’s it.
Researcher: Does the baby’s body need sleeping for energy?
Watson: Yes. Because then it will be happy and it won’t cry. And it will be able to play and make it so it will eat and stuff.
Researcher: What do you think is energy? What energy is like?
Watson: We think energy is like, it helps it grow and it helps it so it won’t be crabby, like when you get mad.
Here is an example. The highlighted sentences are indicators that indicating students’ reasoning.
We can see that the student associate energy with lots of things such as foods, sleeping, and emotion. As he said that if the baby has energy, it will be happy not mean or crabby. Although the student used the word energy in his explanation, what he meant by energy is actually a naturalistic and psychological entity—natural ability.
With respect to tracing, we can see the student traces an action-result chain. The baby girl has the natural ability to grow and do activities; she needs enablers such as food; the result of her actions is that she feels happy and grows.
The baby eats food and sleeps. The result of the baby’s actions is that the baby feels happy and grows.

18. Actor reaches its goal; Changes happen
Stage
Level 2. Vital Power as a mechanical entity
First signs of energy specific association: Associate vital power with physical and biological properties and structure of enablers such as nutrients, power, vitamin, foods, fuels and energy.
Initial tracing: Trace power-result chain (trace vital power backward not forward)
Enablers
Vital power
Result:
Actor reaches its goal; Changes happen
Enablers: Vital power
Elements of Events:
Settings
Actors
Accounts at Level 2 are constructed around the entity of vital power. Unlike natural ability, vital power is a mechanical entity, because it is often associated with physical or biological properties and structures of enablers. Nutrients, power, vitamin, foods, fuels, and energy are words students use to mean vital power.
With respect to tracing, accounts at Level 2 trace vital power backward but not forward. They state that the actor cannot create the power and the power must comes from enablers. However, they usually do not trace the power forward. Instead, they trace a power-result chain: the power triggers some processes to happen; since the power causes the result to happen, we don’t need to take care of it.

19. Stage 3. 2008-09 Level 2 Example (11th grader, American Pre-interview)
Researcher: And when they arrived in Chicago, they found that the gas tank is almost empty, right? Jim: Ok. And then they need to fill up. Researcher: So where does the gas go? Jim: The gas is used up by all the parts. It’s also exhausted. It’s exhausted through the gas pipe or the exhaust pipe We mean. And it goes back into the air. Researcher: Ok. So do you think the car needs the energy in order to move? Jim: Yes. The gasoline is their form of energy Researcher: Ok. So when the gasoline is used up or become exhaust, where does the energy go? Jim: The energy goes with it into the air – back into the air. Researcher: What form of energy is that? Oh. That’s fine. Jim: We can’t think anymore. Researcher: Yeah. Ok. Jim: But We guess it – the energy is used in all of the different parts and that’s where it goes. But all the energy that’s like left out… that the car doesn’t need goes through the exhaust pipe and back into the air. It pollutes our air.
Here’s an example.
With respect to association, Jim said that energy comes from the enabler gasoline, but he did not distinguish between gasoline and energy.
With respect to tracing, he explained that gasoline or energy is partly used up to power the car and partly becomes exhaust. We can see that he trace a power-result chain. The gasoline powers the car and causes the result of car running. In this process, and gasoline may left and becomes exhaust.

20. Stage 3. 2008-09 Level 3. Tracing Energy Unsuccessfully
Energy/matter association: Associate energy with energy indicators including the unobvious indicator—organic molecules, but may identify other substances as energy sources. Do not distinguish energy from organic molecules.
Energy/matter tracing: Attempt to trace energy backward and forward, but cannot do that successfully: matter-energy conversion; tracing energy without degradation.
Elements of Events:
Actors
System
Enabler
Matter
Energy
At level 3, students are more like Feynman. We can see that accounts at level 3 reason in terms of matter and energy instead of actors, enablers, and settings. Energy is used as a useful tool to construct accounts.
With respect to association, Level 3 accounts associate energy with energy indicators including the most difficult and unobvious indicator—organic molecules. However, since students usually do not know that organic molecules contain chemical energy due to the configuration of atoms in the molecules (i.e., organic molecules contain C-C and C-H bonds), they may also identify other substances as energy sources. Usually all reactants of the chemical reaction is identified as energy sources. For example, since oxygen is the reactant of combustion, it is often identified as the energy source for burning.
With respect to the performance of Tracing, Level 3 accounts attempt to trace energy not only backward but also forward in chemical changes or at the global scales. However, level 3 accounts usually cannot trace energy successfully. There are three patterns of this unsuccessful tracing energy: matter-energy conversion; tracing energy without degradation; describing energy transformation without connecting to chemical reactions.

21. Stage 3. 2008-09 Examples High school pre-test (11th grader)
Where does the light energy go when it is used by the plants?
The light energy is used in photosynthesis, to use sunlight and convert it into sugar (glucose).
A. Please describe how one glucose molecule from the grape you eat helps to move your finger.
When you eat the grape you are giving yourself glucose. For cellular respiration, you need glucose. ADP+P and oxygen and this makes ATP which your cells can use for cell work which you can use to move your finger.
B. Does the same glucose molecule also help you to maintain your body temperature?
No, because the glucose is a part of the ATP, but another glucose molecule can be used.
Here are two examples from written assessment data. The first student used matter-energy conversion: sunlight is converted into sugar (glucose).
The second student’s responses indicate both the pattern of matter-energy conversion and the pattern of tracing energy without degradation. As the student said that the glucose is already a part of ATP to provide energy for finger movement, it cannot provide energy to keep your body temperature. But another glucose molecule can provide energy for you to keep warm.

22. Stage 3. 2008-09 Level 4. Tracing Energy Successfully
Energy distinguished from matter association: Associate energy with energy enablers and associate matter with matter enablers successfully
Tracing energy and matter as enduring entities: Trace matter and energy backward and forward successfully
Enablers:
Systems
Matter
Useful Energy form
Heat
Elements of Events:
At Level 4, students are able to explain the macroscopic socio-ecological events in terms of the key carbon-transforming processes (photosynthesis, digestion & biosynthesis, oxidation) and successfully trace energy across these processes. In particular, they successfully identify energy sources and associate energy with energy indicators. They also account for energy transformation separately from matter and with degradation. Here is the example.

23. Stage 3. 2008-09 Example (7th Grader; Post-interview)
Researcher: So how does a tree use air? Eric: The carbon dioxide in the air contains molecules, atoms, We mean specifically oxygen and carbon, which will store away and break apart to store it and use as food. Researcher: So do you think that the tree also uses water? Eric: Yes. The tree also needs water. All living things do. The water is used to help break apart food so that the tree can have energy. It’s also used to combine parts of the water molecules together with parts of the carbon dioxide in photosynthesis and used as food.
Researcher: So, you know, the tree, it begins as a very small plant. So over time, it will grow into a big tree and it will gain a lot of mass. Where does the increased mass come from? Eric: The mass comes from the food that the tree is producing during photosynthesis, which is mostly carbon and hydrogen pieces bonded together and that is then being stored away
… … Researcher: So you also talk about energy, light energy. So where does light energy go?
Eric: Light energy is, first it’s absorbed through the leaves. It is then converted to a stored energy by combining the hydrogen and carbon atoms into various molecules.
Here’s an example. As we can see that Eric talked about sunlight provides energy, while carbon dioxide and water are involved in matter transformation. He was also able to trace matter and energy successfully.
Let’s focus on energy. Eric explained that light energy becomes “stored energy” of the organic molecules—molecules that contain carbon and hydrogen bonds.

24. Environmental Literacy Research Project
Andy Anderson, Hui Jin, Jing Chen, Kennedy Onyacha, Hamin Beak, Li Zhan, Jonathon Schramm, Jennifer Doherty, Dante Cisterna from Michigan State University; Karen Draney, Mark Wilson, Jinnie Choy, Yongsang Lee from University of California, Berkeley

25. Questions and Comments?
Thank You!
Questions and Comments?