Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Science with sInvestigator

George Mason University, Fairfax VA

Investigators

Abstract

A team of experts from computer science, artificial intelligence, science teaching and pedagogy, systems architecture, software engineering, knowledge engineering and human computer interaction at George Mason University (GMU) is developing a cognitive assistance tool, "sInvestigator," to help students acquire critical thinking skills in addressing scientific problems. The sInvestigator cognitive assistant is a significant technological innovation, based upon a computational theory of reasoning in science. It incorporates a substantial amount of general knowledge about scientific reasoning with evidence guiding and helping the student with the scientific inquiry process. The tool is novel and operates on multiple computer platforms. It is designed for students to use at home and in the lab and supports their acquisition of the core competency of evidence-based reasoning. The resulting theory is extendable to all STEM disciplines both undergraduate and K-12. Broadening participation is achieved through workshops having the capacity of 50-70 participants. Recruiting targets community colleges and minority serving institutions to attract women and underrepresented groups to the workshops organized in collaboration with the GMU Center for Teaching and Faculty Excellence. Evidence based reasoning is at the core of problem solving and decision making not only in STEM disciplines but also law, intelligence analysis, forensics, medicine, history, archeology and other domains. The developed educational materials together with sInvestigator exercises are widely distributed. Information on how teachers and researchers can freely obtain the sInvestigator are posted on GMU's Learning Agents Center website. The three-year project is first piloted in two Honors courses enrolling 30-40 students. Working in teams, students are guided to approach a scientific problem as ceaseless discovery of evidence, hypothesis and arguments. New knowledge is added by answering research questions that explore improvements in student perception of science process skills and gains in student content knowledge, as measured by course assessments. Students experience numerous opportunities to exercise imagination and creativity and acquire critical scientific practices, particularly: (1) Asking questions; (2) Constructing explanations; (3) Engaging in argument from evidence; and (4) Obtaining, evaluating and communicating explanations (NRC, 2012 p.3). The use of sInvestigator is explored in a sequence of courses to learn what works and what does not work and incrementally evolve the theory and the approach while developing and testing case studies. The mixed-methods evaluation is mostly formative with a focus on understanding students' collaborative experiences with sInvestigator through surveys and interviews. Modification of assessment tools is made based upon evaluation which allows for analysis of student intrinsic motivation, career motivation, self-determination, self-efficacy and grade motivation. In the final year a quasi-experimental research design will be used to evaluate the impact of sInvestigator in a general science course with 250-300 students in two course sections. The design allows for a comparison group on student achievement scores using course assessments, a Science Motivation Questionnaire and a Science Process skills inventory.