ICLS 2000 Proceedings

 

Designing Mildred: Scaffolding Students' Reflection and Argumentation Using a Cognitive Software Guide

Philip Bell
University of Washington
322 Miller Hall, Box 353600
Seattle, WA 98195-3600
Tel: (206) 221-3642, Fax: (206) 543-8439
Email: pbell@u.washington.edu

Elizabeth A. Davis,
University of Michigan
610 E. University Ave.,
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259
Tel: (734) 647-0594, Fax: (734) 763-1368
Email: betsyd@umich.edu

Abstract: In this paper, we discuss the design and study of a guidance and prompting system for a technology-based learning environment used in science classrooms. We focus briefly on how the tool has evolved through several years of iterative refinement, how the tool has been used by students in different curricular contexts for different epistemic practices, and how we as researchers can learn about students' learning and cognition through use of the affordances of such software environments. In particular, scaffolding in the form of prompts and hints are investigated for supporting causal explanations of scientific evidence (or argumentation) and promoting more general reflection. The results imply that both kinds of scaffolds support students' knowledge integration in important ways. The paper concludes with the claim that the guidance software helps students identify ways to improve their understanding by helping students think individually and collaboratively to provide alternative examples, thought experiments, and counter-evidence for consideration, and by providing a place to make their own thinking about these ideas visible and explicit. The paper also makes the broader claim that educational design studies such as the two reported here serve a unique role in identifying designed approaches that best support student learning while also informing our understanding of individual and social cognition in typical educational contexts.

Keywords: learning environments, scaffolding, science education, reflection

 

Preferred Citation Format:
Bell, P., & Davis, E.A. (2000). Designing Mildred: Scaffolding Students' Reflection and Argumentation Using a Cognitive Software Guide. In B. Fishman & S. O'Connor-Divelbiss (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 142-149). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Click here to download the full version of this paper in PDF form.