Toward Ontological Alignment: Coordinating Student Ideas with the Representational System of a Computational Modeling Unit for Science Learning
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Toward Ontological Alignment Coordinating Student Ideas with the Representational System of a Computational Modeling Unit for Science Learning.pdf
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3.28 MB
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Adobe PDF
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Author(s)
Wagh, Aditi
Rosenbaum, Leah F.
Fuhrmann, Tamar
Eloy, Adelmo
Blikstein, Paulo
Wilkerson, Michelle
Date Issued
November 18, 2024
Journal
Cognition and Instruction
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Citation
Wagh, A., Rosenbaum, L. F., Fuhrmann, T., Eloy, A., Blikstein, P., & Wilkerson, M. (2025). Toward Ontological Alignment: Coordinating Student Ideas with the Representational System of a Computational Modeling Unit for Science Learning. Cognition and Instruction, 43(1–2), 1–32.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Computational modeling tools present unique opportunities and challenges for student learning. Each tool has a representational system that impacts the kinds of explorations students engage in. Inquiry aligned with a tool’s representational system can support more productive engagement toward target learning goals. However, little research has examined how teachers can make visible the ways students’ ideas about a phenomenon can be expressed and explored within a tool’s representational system. In this paper, we elaborate on the construct of ontological alignment—that is, identifying and leveraging points of resonance between students’ existing ideas and the representational system of a tool. Using interaction analysis, we identify alignment practices adopted by a science teacher and her students in a computational agent-based modeling unit. Specifically, we describe three practices: (1) Elevating student ideas relevant to the tool’s representational system; (2) Exploring and testing links between students’ conceptual and computational models; and (3) Drawing on evidence resonant with the tool’s representational system to differentiate between theories. Finally, we discuss the pedagogical value of ontological alignment as a way to leverage students’ ideas in alignment with a tool’s representational system and suggest the presented practices as exemplary ways to support students’ computational modeling for science learning.
MIT Department
MIT Professional Education (Program)
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2024.2427400
