[Geoldept] Fwd: Colloquium Speaker Tuesday, February 9, 2016 4-5:pm at CF 120

[Susan DeBari]

A talk that might be interesting for those of you interested in Earth Science education and/or climate change
education in K-12.



Colloquium Speaker

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

4-5:pm at CF 120

Student and Teacher Learning about Complex Systems through Engagement with Scientific Practices



Lauren Barth-Cohen


Ph.D. in Science and Mathematics Education, University of California, Berkeley



In this talk I present an overview of my work on student and teacher learning of often-difficult concepts in the physical sciences, primarily involving the domain of complex systems, an interdisciplinary area in which learners tend to have difficulties. Using an expanded version of coordination class theory, a theoretical framework that was initially built to capture individual learning in interview settings, the analysis captures both individual and group learning in a classroom environment in which 9th grade earth science students created models with their bodies for a specific scientific concept, the steady state energy of the earth. The students encountered difficulties aligning their models with their conceptual understandings, and yet, they were able to make progress by changing their models to better align their understanding of the scientific concept with their newly modified model-instances of individual and group learning. This expanded theory has implications for the design of classroom learning environments. I will conclude by discussing the design of a professional development workshop for science teachers that is based on the teachers generating increasingly sophisticated scientific models for the causes and effects of climate change with an additional focus on learning about the underlying physics and complex-systems concepts.


Lauren Barth-Cohen earned a Ph.D. in Science and Mathematics Education from the University of California, Berkeley in December 2012 and a BA in physics from Smith College in 2005.  She is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami.  Previously, she held a post-doctoral position at the University of Maine, where she studied middle school science teachers' content learning through their participation in scientific modeling activities. Her research interests include conceptual change in science, physics education, and student and teacher learning through their engagement with various scientific practices.







Abdo Mohamed
Office Assistant
Physics and Astronomy
Western Washington University
360-650-3818

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