Investigating the Relative Difficulty of Complex Systems Ideas in Biology
Name
Klopfer_Investigating the relative.pdf
Size
299.92 KB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
fe331d0b884f073b048517354591b64f
Author(s)
Goh, Sao-Ee
Yoon, Susan A.
Wang, Joyce
Yang, Zhitong
Klopfer, Eric
Date Issued
July 2012
Journal
Proceedings of the10th International Conference of the Learning Sciences: The Future of Learning
Publisher
International Society of the Learning Sciences
Citation
Goh, Sao-Ee, Susan A. Yoon, Joyce Wang, Zhitong Yang,and Eric Klopfer. "Investigating the Relative Difficulty of Complex Systems Ideas in Biology." 10th International Conference of the Learning Sciences: The Future of Learning, ICLS 2012, Sydney, Australia, July 2-6, 2012.
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
A number of students’ biology misconceptions can be attributed to their lack of understanding in complex systems. Comprehending complex systems can be counter intuitive and difficult. A literature review reveals that we have yet to systematically determine a learning approach to address these learning challenges. In this paper, we propose that learning progressions research offers a methodical approach to organize the learning pathways students take to improve conceptual competence in complex systems. As a first step, we articulate a sequence of complex systems ideas - from the least to most difficult - by analyzing students’ written responses. Using an Item Response Theory model, we found that the easiest ideas to grasp are those that relate to the interconnected nature of these systems whereas the most difficult ideas are those concerning the decentralized organization of the system, and the predictability of the system effects.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
http://www.isls.org/icls2012/downloads/ICLS2012%20Program.pdf
