Synthesis of Research on Thinking & Learning in the Geosciences: Developing Representational Competence Kim A. Kastens (Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University) Cathryn A. Manduca (SERC, Carleton College) Geological Society of America, 19 October 2009 An NSF REESE Synthesis Project

Knowledge Integration in Geosciences: How to pull it all together? So many terms So many data types So many modes of inquiry So many localities, all different No consensus curriculum

Students struggle with knowledge integration Percentage of Students Achieving NAEP Proficiency in 1990 Level13 yrs17 yrs 150 Knows everyday scientific facts Understands simple scientific principles Applies basic scientific information Analyzes scientific procedures and data Integrates specialized scientific information 09 Source: Baker & Piburn (1997) Constructing Science

How can Geoscience educators foster knowledge integration? Integrate around professional practices of scientists Practices of scientific discourse (IQWST) Use of representations/ visualizations Use of physical and computer models Integrate the content Integrate around a place or region Integrate around a societally-important problem Integrate around big ideas of science “Representational Competence” (Schank and Kozma, 2002)

Big Problem for Geoscience Education: The Earth is 18 orders of magnitude larger than your classroom. Classroom (exaggerated) Earth

3. Use representations There are three, and only three, ways to cope with this fundamental challenge: 1. Bring small pieces of the Earth into your classroom (e.g. minerals, fossils) 2. Bring students out of the classroom to observe pieces of the Earth in nature.

Geoscientists use a lot of representations

Geoscientists use a lot of kinds of representations What does it mean to have “representational competence”? How can we foster this expertise?

Four components of representational competence 1. Ability to read and write geoscientists’ conventional representations (basic literacy) 2. Metarepresentational understanding (the nature of representations and representational strategies) 3. Ability to invent suitable representations to record and convey novel concepts or new data types 4. Ability to make inferences about Earth processes from representations (“meaning-making”)

Concept of earthquake slip direction 1. Ability to read and write geoscientists’ conventional representations (basic literacy)

2. Understanding about the nature of representations and representational strategies Adapted from Liben in Damon & Lerner, (Earth) Learner

Insight from Clark & Wiebe (2000) Journal of Technology Studies, v26. Data-driven VisualizationConcept-driven Visualization Reynolds et al. (2010) Knowledge of representational strategies: Distinguish between… Reynolds et al. (2010)

Universal Truths Mantle wells up beneath mid- ocean ridge Mid-ocean ridge vulcanism is basaltic Volcanoes occur above subduction zone Conditional Truths Arc vulcanism is only sometimes andesitic Overriding plate is only sometimes continental Continent-ocean boundary is only sometimes an active margin (subduction zone). Concept-driven visualizations often overspecify; they commit to a single set of options. The Blue Planet p. 152

Expert’s epistemological model of one data-driven visualization Collaborator: Sandra Swenson

Insight from Dutrow (2007) Representation suitable for data interpretation Representation suitable for communicating Knowledge of representational strategies: Distinguish between…

3. Ability to invent suitable representations to record and convey novel concepts or new data types Portions of the first geological map and legend Cross-section William Smith

Source: Enyedy (2005). Novices Invent Representational Strategies

Collaborators: Lynn Liben, Shruti Agrawal, Toru Ishikawa Invented representations for dip angle

…and come across as an ingenious solution to an authentic representational challenge …. Eventually, the professionally accepted representations are introduced… …. rather than an arbitrary, imposed convention.

4. Ability to make inferences about Earth processes from representations Divergent Plate Boundary Transform Plate Boundary Seamounts Continental Fragment Kastens, K.A., Macdonald, K.C., Becker, K., and Crane, K., 1979, Marine Geophysical Researches, 4,

Suggestion for meaning-making: Hypothesis templates Example: in a spatial representation, objects or phenomena are clustered. There are recurring patterns in representations.

Hypothesis templates (continued)

One final thought: In Geoscience education, representational competence is a means, not an end. Adapted from Liben in Damon & Lerner, (Earth) Earth Science learning goals are here not here Learner

DeBruin, Richard (1970) 100 Topographic Maps: Illustrating Physiographic Features, p19. Google Maps Students no longer need representational strategy of topographic contours to examine landforms! Learning goal: How glaciers shape the landscape

Because of the size and spatial character of Earth phenomena, geoscientists use many and varied representations Competence in using representations is a core expertise in Geoscience which can serve as a unifying theme across the curriculum Competencies include: Ability to understand and produce standard Geo representations Metarepresentational understanding about how representations work in general Ability to invent effective representations to convey novel ideas or observations Ability to infer meaning about Earth processes from representations Representational competence in Geosciences is a means not an end; the goal is to understand the referent, the Earth. Summary

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