About
32
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Introduction
A Lynn Stephens is a Research Scientist at the Concord Consortium, investigating use of a semi-quantitative system dynamics modeling tool in secondary science classes. She is also exploring how to support students working with nested data structures in CODAP (the Common Online Data Analysis Platform). She helps administer a website that features a large collection of model-based teaching strategies compiled from years of classroom observations by the Clement group at UMass College of Education.
Skills and Expertise
Current institution
Additional affiliations
September 2012 - September 2018
Publications
Publications (32)
We describe a methodology for identifying evidence for the use of three types of scientific reasoning. In two case studies of high school physics classes, we used this methodology to identify multiple instances of students using analogies, extreme cases, and Gedanken experiments. Previous case studies of expert scientists have indicated that these...
This study investigates student interactions with simulations, and teacher support of those interactions, within naturalistic high school classroom settings. Lesson sequences were conducted in 19 physics class sections, where some sections used the simulations in a small group setting and matched sections used them in a whole class setting. Unexpec...
Comparative case study analyses are used to investigate a physics lesson sequence in which students used a simple simulation and a set of animations with playback controls to explore aspects of projectile motion. The sequence was conducted within naturalistic high school settings (2 schools) in 11 physics class sections (n=212) where roughly half t...
Deep-sea research is rarely available to undergraduate students. However, as telepresence technology becomes more available, doors may open for more undergraduates to pursue research that includes remote fieldwork. This descriptive case study is an initial investigation into whether such technology might provide a feasible opportunity for undergrad...
An ability to engage in system thinking is necessary to understand complex problems. While many pre-college students use system modeling tools, there is limited evidence of student reasoning about causal relationships that interact in diverging and converging chains, and how these affect system behavior. A chemistry unit on gas phenomena was implem...
Although there is a push to provide more student agency in science classrooms, teachers and students may become frustrated when inquiry activities and equipment do not work as planned—teachers because of the time crunch to “cover” topics and students because of the perceived lack of value in activities that are “off task.” In classroom implementati...
Understanding and reasoning with multidimensional data is a critical skill for students in various disciplines. This study explores how data experts navigate and analyze unfamiliar multidimensional datasets. Through our interviews with nine data experts, we identified three main approaches: (1) manipulating flat tables, (2) creating relational data...
It is widely recognized that we need to prepare students to think with data. This study investigates student interactions with digital data graphs and seeks to identify what might prompt them to shift toward using their graphs as thinking tools in the authentic activity of doing science. Drawing from video screencast data of three small groups enga...
The "correction" is that the article is now open access. There have been no other changes.
Interpreting and creating computational systems models is an important goal of science education. One aspect of computational systems modeling that is supported by modeling, systems thinking, and computational thinking literature is “testing, evaluating, and debugging models.” Through testing and debugging, students can identify aspects of their mo...
We face complex global issues such as climate change that challenge our ability as humans to manage them. Models have been used as a pivotal science and engineering tool to investigate, represent, explain, and predict phenomena or solve problems that involve multi-faceted systems across many fields. To fully explain complex phenomena or solve probl...
Data stories can be used to frame guided inquiry so that students can use data they produce (Hardy et al., 2020) to communicate their thinking. We want students to have the experience of learning science by doing science (Bell et al., 2005). By developing a set of compatible technologies and approachable activities, students from many backgrounds m...
Developing and using models to make sense of phenomena or to design solutions to problems is a key science and engineering practice. Classroom use of technology-based tools can promote the development of students’ modelling practice, systems thinking, and causal reasoning by providing opportunities to develop and use models to explore phenomena. In...
Examining a lesson in a high school biology unit that utilized noisy sensor data, we sought to understand the ways students engaged in active reasoning about the data and the factors that influenced this process. Video analysis centers on one small group of students as they learn to use sensors to collect data on osmosis, focusing particularly on t...
There is broad belief that preparing all students in preK-12 for a future in STEM involves integrating computing and CT tools and practices. Through creating and examining rich learning environments that integrate “STEM+C”, researchers are defining what CT means in STEM disciplinary settings. This interactive session brings together a diverse spect...
Building and using models to make sense of phenomena or to design solutions to problems is a key science and engineering practice. Using technology-based tools in class can promote the development of students’ modeling practice, systems thinking, and causal reasoning. In this chapter we focus on the development of students’ system modeling competen...
The National Science Foundation funded the Transforming Remotely Conducted Research through Ethnography, Education, and Rapidly Evolving Technologies (TREET) project to explore ways to utilize advances in technology and thus to provide opportunities for scientists and undergraduate students to engage in deep sea research. The educational goals were...
We investigate supporting higher quality deliberations in online contexts by supporting what we call "social deliberative skills," including perspective-taking, meta-dialog, and reflecting on one's biases. We report on an experiment with college students engaged in online dialogues about controversial topics, using discussion forum software with "r...
We report on two studies that suggest that showing reports of student progress at key moments of deactivating negative emotions (boredom or lack of excitement) can help improve students' affective state and learning behavior while using an adaptive math tutoring system. The studies involved 160 middle-school students in public schools in Arizona an...
This chapter will (1) briefly review selected studies examining the nature of thought experiments in science; (2) review previous studies on the role that thought experiments can play in science instruction; (3) give case study examples of thought experiments (TEs) proposed by both teachers and students and the en- suing classroom discussions. We d...
We wish to document the use of important teaching strategies and to cast them in a form that will optimize their usefulness for teachers and curriculum developers.From expert think-aloud protocols, we have identified a number of strategies for evaluating and modifying explanatory mental models. Analyzing a model-based high school science curriculum...
We discuss evidence for the use of runnable imagery (imagistic simulation) in four types of student reasoning. In an in-depth case study of a high school physics class, we identified multiple instances of students running mental models, using analogies, using extreme cases, and using Gedanken experiments. Previous case studies of expert scientists...
This study explores roles that thought experiments (TEs) play in the classroom. An in-depth analysis of case studies identifies multiple instances of TEs in classroom episodes. With the use of a detailed list of imagery indicators, evidence is provided for the involvement of kinematic and kinesthetic imagery. Student-and teacher-generated TEs appea...
