scientific literacy – EDUC 342: Child Development & New Technologies https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu Thu, 25 Feb 2016 07:30:09 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.6.1 Week 8 Discussion https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-8-discussion-2/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-8-discussion-2/#respond Thu, 25 Feb 2016 07:30:09 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1551 Constance Steinkuehler and Sean Duncan’s paper Scientific Habits of Mind in Virtual Worlds especially intrigued me because of the approach the authors took in analyzing a MMO that was not necessarily created for an educational purpose, but made a valid argument that it can be used to promote informal scientific literacy. I wonder how much of this socially constructed knowledge is based off of  each user’s adopted persona – are interactions different if gender becomes apparent? The article mentions that players from all background levels participate in these conversations where knowledge is being socially constructed, but are users more likely to explain harder concepts to boys than to girls? Since gamer culture is predominantly male, I wonder what affordances of MMOs and technology can be leveraged so that video games, and specifically these forum conversations, are more appealing to girls.

I am also very interested in learning more on how students form identities around certain subjects. For example, I am curious to what extent a student who develops a strong “STEM identity” in K-12 is more likely to perform well in STEM classes and perhaps choose a STEM major in college. Steinkuehler and Duncan mention that “intellectual activities that constitute successful gameplay are nontrivial” and include the “construction of new identities” in simulated worlds (Steinkuehler and Duncan 531). Like other forms of childhood play, MMOs seem to be offering a fantastic opportunity for children to assume different roles and learn through role play. It is also established that socially constructed knowledge within MMOs transfer over to the real world. Is this also true / can this be done for something like fostering a sense of STEM identity?

]]> https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-8-discussion-2/feed/ 0 Week 8: Informal Science Learning https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-8-informal-science-learning/ https://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/week-8-informal-science-learning/#respond Thu, 25 Feb 2016 06:55:32 +0000 http://ed342.gse.stanford.edu/?p=1547 This week’s readings looked at how scientific habits can be formed, fostered, and adapted. Crowley et al.’s look at parents’ explanations to their children featured specific, though “inconclusive,” evidence of its findings that parents explain scientific phenomena more to boys than to girls. Parents have go beyond simply bring their children to the museum, they must overcome gender stereotypes in order for their daughters to have the same relationship to science as their sons. Is this something that museum facilitators could be trained to encourage in the museum? If children of all genders receive the same explanations, they can develop scientific reasoning, a skill they just might need to play WoW.

While video games were considered “torpid” by researchers of the past, Steinkuehler and Duncan find that WoW can actually be a place of learning, specifically in informal science literacy. By giving these players a platform for collective knowledge gathering, they learn from each other about how to play the game. The knowledge does not come from above, but can be the result of one player’s shared experience which is then debated and built upon by other players. This kind of community collaboration could definitely be used for “bridging third places” — Steinkuehler’s name for the space between school and home that allows for student learning.

Zimmerman and Land discuss the design guidelines that can be used in these “third places,” specifically in place-based learning at the Arboretum. These researchers find some really compelling applications of place-based informal learning. However, I still struggle with this approach: how much is the app a distraction from the nature at hand? Is it important that the kids learn outside? In different life stages, would they learn as much in an informal discussion with mom and dad or as a player in a video game with an active scientifically minded-community?

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