Emily E. Scott

University of Washington Seattle | UW · Department of Biology

In recent years, there has been a strong push to transform STEM education at K‐12 and collegiate levels to help students learn to think like scientists. One aspect of this transformation involves redesigning instruction and curricula around fundamental scientific ideas that serve as conceptual scaffolds students can use to build cohesive knowledge...

We systematically compared two coding approaches to generate training datasets for machine learning (ML): (i) a holistic approach based on learning progression levels and (ii) a dichotomous, analytic approach of multiple concepts in student reasoning, deconstructed from holistic rubrics. We evaluated four constructed response assessment items for u...

Recent calls in biology education research (BER) have recommended that researchers leverage learning theories and methodologies from other disciplines to investigate the mechanisms by which students to develop sophisticated ideas. We suggest design-based research from the learning sciences is a compelling methodology for achieving this aim. Design-...

Vision and Change challenged biology instructors to develop evidence-based instructional approaches that were grounded in the core concepts and competencies of biology. This call for reform provides an opportunity for new educational tools to be incorporated into biology education. In this essay, we advocate for learning progressions as one such ed...

Constructed responses can be used to assess the complexity of student thinking and can be evaluated using rubrics. The two most typical rubric types used are holistic and analytic. Holistic rubrics may be difficult to use with expert-level reasoning that has additive or overlapping language. In an attempt to unpack complexity in holistic rubrics at...

Flux is a core concept and principle in undergraduate physiology that describes passive flow of substances and heat down gradients. Student thinking about flux can be characterized using a learning progression (LP) framework. LPs are frameworks which outline cognitive paths of student learning in a domain and can provide reference points of student...

This poster shows our work developing a learning progression that describes how students' ideas about mass balance/pools and flux/accumulation in physiological systems gains sophistication.

Peer-reviewed paper for Challenges in developing computerized scoring models for principle-based reasoning in a physiology context. Paper Set: Measuring complex constructs in science education: Applications of automated analysis.

Previous studies reported a learning progression that described the development of American students' explanations of carbon-transforming processes. This study examined the validity of this learning progression for Chinese middle school students. The comparison of American and Chinese students' performances showed both similarities and differences...

Real-world processes are complex and require ideas from multiple disciplines to be explained. However, many science courses offer limited opportunities for students to synthesize scientific ideas into coherent explanations. In this study, we investigated how students constructed causal explanations of complex phenomena to better understand the ways...

Learning progressions (LPs) are frameworks which outline cognitive paths of students and can provide reference points for student progress. LPs are built using evidence about student reasoning collected by a complex and iterative routine of LP development, assessment item and rubric development, data collection, human coding and re-alignment of LPs...

Dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) is a potentially significant vector of N loss from forest ecosystems that has been characterized as an “N leak.” Although the term “leak” suggests a lack of regulation, it is clear DON losses are a function of biological and physicochemical processes that influence its production and retention across the landscape....

The movement of dissolved organic matter (DOM) through forest soils is regulated by a suite of physicochemical and biological processes that retain, transform, and release DOM. While sorptive processes are known to limit DOM losses, there are still uncertainties about what regulates DOM composition. This study examined DOM dynamics in waters percol...

The relationship between inorganic nitrogen (N) cycling and plant productivity is well established. However, recent research has demonstrated the ability of plants to take up low molecular weight organic N compounds (i.e., amino acids) at rates that often rival those of inorganic N forms. In this study, we hypothesize that temperate forest tree spe...

We conducted a study that evaluated the likelihood of capturing food web relationships with stable isotopes using two dominant producers, red alder and Douglas-fir, in the Oregon Coast Range. Foliage from 10 riparian forests dominated by either red alder or Douglas-fir was analyzed for D15N and D13C to determine the isotopic variability within a fo...

We used naturally occurring stable isotopes of N to compare N dynamics in near-stream and upslope environments along riparian catenas in N-fixing red alder (Alnus rubra) and Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests in the Coast Range of western Oregon. Based on the existing literature, we expected soil δ15N to be enriched closer to streams owing...

Typescript (photocopy). Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2004. Includes bibliographical references.