Empirical Research, Emerging Research Strand: A Unified, Cross-domain Approach to Studying Learner Understanding of Emergence

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

Brem and team propose to investigate general properties that students must understand in learning about a specific cross-disciplinary phenomenon --- emergent systems (vis a vis complex adaptive systems). The proposers argue that these common properties can be learned, primarily through addressing misconceptions and areas of learning difficulty, and such knowledge can then be applied to investigating specific systems that bear these characteristics. Several of these properties are counterintuitive given that emergent systems are complex in hierarchy, are irreducible as systems, and novel and unpredictable (among other things). Specifically, the investigator will use visualizations and face-to-face interviews in iteratively developing, refining, and validating something of a concept inventory (assessment instrument) that will define and measure student learning in this area. The focus will primarily be on undergraduate learning. The team has chosen examples from geology (erosion), chemistry (the relationship of temperature and pressure in gases), natural selection (the evolution of mimetic abilities), and psychology (detecting and avoiding outsiders) as contexts to conduct their research. The broader impacts of this work lie in its ability to ultimately assist students in overcoming some common and consistent learning obstacles in their study of disciplinary and interdisciplinary science.