Abstract
In science education, building models of dynamical systems is a promising method for understanding various natural phenomena and artifacts with scientific concepts. It is, however, difficult to learn skills and concepts necessary for modeling. Though several model-building learning environments (MBEs) have been developed with potentially useful methods for assisting students, the verification of them has been limited so far. Most studies evaluated their effectiveness by measuring the degree of model completion by students, or total learning effect that consists of several types of assistance. In this study, we investigated how students learn modeling skills and concepts of system dynamics through modeling dynamical systems, focusing on how students’ behavior and understanding are influenced by the type of assistance and students’ prior knowledge. We implemented the function that detects the difference of a model by students from the correct model and gives one of the two types of feedback: structural explanation indicates structurally erroneous parts of a model by students to promote students’ model completion, while behavioral explanation suggests erroneous behavior of a model by students to promote students’ understanding about the cause of error. Our experiment revealed the following: (1) Students assigned to structural explanation showed high model completion, but their understanding depended on whether they used the feedback appropriately or not. (2) Students assigned to behavioral explanation showed less model completion, but once they completed models, they acquired a deeper understanding.
Highlights
The purpose of this study is to investigate how students learn modeling skills and concepts of system dynamics through modeling dynamical systems, focusing on how students’ behavior and understanding are influenced by the type of assistance and students’ prior knowledge.In science education, building models of dynamical systems is a promising method for understanding various natural phenomena and artifacts with scientific concepts
In this study aiming at the purpose (d), we focus on the learning of modeling skills and concepts of system dynamics through modeling dynamical systems
Assistance in the current systems Several methods for assisting students in Model-building learning environment (MBE) have been implemented (Beek & Bredeweg, 2012a; Beek & Bredeweg, 2012b; Bravo et al, 2006; Bredeweg et al, 2009; Forbus et al, 2005; Gracia et al, 2010; Vanlehn et al, 2016). Though their purposes and target students are wide-ranged, here, we focus on those that aim the learning of modeling skills and concepts of system dynamics through the modeling of dynamical systems
Summary
The purpose of this study is to investigate how students learn modeling skills and concepts of system dynamics through modeling dynamical systems, focusing on how students’ behavior and understanding are influenced by the type of assistance and students’ prior knowledge.In science education, building models of dynamical systems is a promising method for understanding various natural phenomena and artifacts with scientific concepts. Several model-building learning environments (MBEs) have been developed in which students are given a set of model components and build models of dynamical systems by combining them (Biswas, Leelawong, Schwartz, & Vye, 2005; Bravo, van Joolingen, & de Jong, 2006; Bredeweg, Linnebank, Bouwer, & Liem, 2009; Forbus, Carney, Sherin, & Ureel Il, 2005; isee systems, 1985; Vanlehn, Wetzel, Grover, & Van De Sande, 2016). They can simulate their model to see whether it behaves as they expected. They modify the model and try simulation again
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