Translational
Science of
Cognitive Science
in Middle School
Science Curricula
Joe Merlino
21 PSTEM
Christine Massey
IRCS@Penn
Christian
Schunn
LRDC@Pitt
Jennifer Cromley
SoE@Temple
Tim Nokes
LRDC@Pitt
Nora Newcombe
Psy@Temple
The Research to Practice
Bathtub
Research
Application
to practice
STEM
Education
Coalition
Cognitive Science on Trial
 Systematically applying cognitive science
principles to improve existing middle school
science curricula
X
STEM
Education
Coalition
Cognitive Science on Trial
 Systematically applying cognitive science
principles to improve existing middle school
science curricula
X
STEM
Education
Coalition
Cognitive Science on Trial
 Systematically applying cognitive science
principles to improve existing middle school
science curricula
X
STEM
Education
Coalition
Modify 3 units / Curriculum
(~1/2 of 2 yrs of instruction)
Curriculum
Holt
=Textbook
Biological
Sciences
Earth
Sciences
Cells, Heredity, &
Classification
Inside the
Restless Earth
(self-evident)
(geology)
Physical
Sciences
Introduction to
Matter
(basic chemistry &
physics)
Earth History
FOSS
=Hands-on
Diversity of Life
(same as above)
(geology)
Weather & Water
(causes of weather
+ climate)
–
STEM
Education
Coalition
1. Contrasting cases setup
instruction
STEM
Education
Coalition
1. Contrasting cases setup
instruction
STEM
Education
Coalition
T. rex
• lived 65 to 68 million yrs ago
• ate other animals
• found on land
• move by
walking upright
• found in marine
environments
• moves by swimming
• eats plankton
Barnacle
• made up of many
different kinds of cells
• each cell has nucleus
• move
• ingest food found in
environment
• reproduce sexually
• found in African
rainforests
• also walks on all
STEM
fours
Education
• eats fruits,
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leaves, and small
animals
Bonobo
Followed
by:
reading/
lecture
(in FOSS,
followed
by:
experiment
)
STEM
Education
Coalition
2. Visualization
conventions and
challenges
 E.g., Help with zoom outs
The circle located above and to the
right of the microscope illustrates
what it would look like if one was
looking into the microscope.
This image also uses a “zoom-out”
convention in that part of the image
is at a much higher level of
magnification than the rest.
STEM
Education
Coalition
3. Instruction must build upon
and address student prior
knowledge
 E.g., Children confuse genotype & phenotype
How come two black labs could
have a puppy with a yellow
phenotype but two yellow labs
could not have a puppy with a
black phenotype?
Can a puppy with a black STEM
phenotype have a yellow Education
allele as
Coalition
part of its genotype?
Why or why not?
4. Spaced testing improves
retention
 Daily warmup activities retrieve prior
days/weeks of content
 Weekly quizzes include questions from prior
weeks of instruction
STEM
Education
Coalition
4. Spaced testing improves
retention
 Daily warmup activities retrieve prior
days/weeks of content
 Weekly quizzes include questions from prior
units of instruction
STEM
Education
Coalition
Effectiveness Experiment
Condition
Curriculum
Professional
Development
Cognitive
Science
Modified curriculum
PD on modifications /
cogsci principles (some
content)
Content PD
Existing curriculum
Matched # hours of PD
focused on underlying
science content
Control
Existing curriculum
None
STEM
Education
Coalition
Development process
Units 1+2
Units 3,4,5, 6
 Analyze unit
Yr 1
 Revise unit
 Pilot test
Yr 2
 Revise unit
 Cohort 1
 Analyze unit
 Revise unit
 Pilot test
 Revise unit
 Cohort 1
Yr 3
 (Revise unit)
Yr 4
 Cohort 2
 (Revise unit)
 Cohort 2
STEM
Education
Coalition
Many Issues in Translation
1.Principles for problems (e.g., misconceptions
research) vs. principles for solutions
2.Incomplete principles (many decisions remain)
3.No free time: What gets deleted?
STEM
Education
Coalition