Table Of ContentNATO ASI Series
Advanced Science Institutes Series
A series presenting the results of activities sponsored by the NA TO Science
Committee, which aims at the dissemination of advanced scientific and
technological knowledge, with a view to strengthening links between scientific
communities.
The Series is published by an international board of publishers in conjunction with
the NATO Scientific Affairs Division
A Life Sciences Plenum Publishing Corporation
B Physics London and New York
C Mathematical and Kluwer Academic Publishers
Physical Sciences Dordrecht, Boston and London
D Behavioural and
Social Sciences
E Applied Sciences
F Computer and Springer-Verlag
Systems Sciences Berlin Heidelberg New York
G Ecological Sciences London Paris Tokyo Hong Kong
H Cell Biology Barcelona Budapest
I Global Environmental
Change
NATO-PCO DATABASE
The electronic index to the NATO ASI Series provides full bibliographical
references (with keywords and/or abstracts) to more than 30000 contributions
from international scientists published in all sections of the NATO ASI Series.
Access to the NATO-PCO DATABASE compiled by the NATO Publication
Coordination Office is possible in two ways:
-via online FILE 128 (NATO-PCO DATABASE) hosted by ESRIN, Via Galileo
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The CD-ROM can be ordered through any member of the Board of Publishers or
through NATO-PCO, Overijse, Belgium.
Series F: Computer and Systems Sciences Vol. 84
The ASI Series Books Published as a Result of
Activities of the Special Programme on
ADVANCED EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY
This book contains the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop held
within the activities of the NATO Special Programme on Advanced Educational
Technology, running from 1988 to 1993 under the auspices of the NATO Science
Committee.
The books published so far as a result of the activities of the Special Programme are:
Vol. F 67: Designing Hypermedia for Learning. Edited by D. H. Jonassen and H.
Mandl. 1990.
Vol. F 76: Multimedia Interface Design in Education. Edited by A. D. N. Edwards and
S. Holland. 1992.
Vol. F 78: Integrating Advanced Technology into Technology Education. Edited by
M. Hacker, A. Gordon, and M. de Vries. 1991.
Vol. F 80: Intelligent Tutoring Systems for Foreign Language Learning. The Bridge to
International Communication. Edited by M. L Swartz and M. Yazdani. 1992.
Vol. F 81: Cognitive Tools for Learning. Edited by PAM. Kommers, D.H. Jonassen,
and J.T. Mayes. 1992.
Vol. F 84: Computer-Based Learning Environments and Problem Solving. Edited by
E. De Corte, M. C. Linn, H. Mandl, and L. Verschaffel. 1992.
Vol. F 85: Adaptive Learning Environments. Foundations and Frontiers. Edited by M.
Jones and P. H. Winne. 1992.
Vol. F 86: Intelligent Learning Environments and Knowledge Acquisition in Physics.
Edited by A. Tiberghien and H. Mandl. 1992.
Computer-Based
Learning Environments
and Problem Solving
Edited by
Erik De Corte
University of Leuven
Center for Instructional Psychology and Technology (CIP&T)
Vesaliusstraat 2, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
Marcia C. Linn
University of California at Berkeley, Graduate School of Education
Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Heinz Mandl
Universitat MOnchen
Institut fOr Empirische Padagogik und Padagogische Psychologie
Leopoldstrasse 13, W-8000 MOnchen 40, FRG
Lieven Verschaffel
University of Leuven
Center for Instructional Psychology and Technology (CIP&T)
Vesaliusstraat 2, B-30oo Leuven, Belgium
Springer-Verlag
Berlin Heidelberg New York London Paris Tokyo
Hong Kong Barcelona Budapest
Published in cooperation with NATO Scientific Affairs Division
Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Computer-Based
Learning Environments and Problem Solving, held in Leuven, Belgium, September
26-29, 1990
CR Subject Classification (1991): K.3.1, JA, 1.2
Additional material to this book can be downloaded from http://extra.spring.com
ISBN-13:978-3-642-77230-6 e-ISBN-13:978-3-642-77228-3
001: 10.1007/978-3-642-77228-3
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned,
specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is
permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version,
and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution
under the German Copyright Law.
© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1992
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1992
Typesetting: Camera ready by authors
45/3140 -5 4 3 210 -Printed on acid-free paper
Table of Contents
Editors' Preface IX
Part I. Encouraging Knowledge Construction
Introduction to Part I 1
Marcia Linn
Formal education versus everyday learning 5
Jan J. Elshout
Images of learning ........................................... 19
Andrea A. diSessa
An architecture for collaborative knowledge building ...................... 41
Marlene Scardamalia and Carl Bereiter
How do Lisp programmers draw on previous experience to solve novel
problems? ................................................ 67
Marcia C. Linn, Michael Katz, Michael J. Clancy, and Margaret Recker
Analysis-based learning on multiple levels of mental domain representation ........ 103
Rolf Ploetzner and Hans Spada
Modeling active, hypothesis-driven learning from worked-out examples ........... 129
Peter Reimann
Fostering conceptual change: The role of computer-based environments .......... 149
Stella Vosniadou
Computers in a community of learners ............................... 163
Joseph C. Campione, Ann L. Brown, and Michael Jay
VI Table of Contents
Part II. Stimulating Higber-Order Thinking and Problem Solving
Introduction to Part IT ........................................ 189
Erik De Corte and Lieven Verschaffel
Teaching for transfer of problem-solving skills to computer programming . . . . . . . .. 193
Richard E. Mayer
Cognitive effects of learning to program in Logo: A one-year study with
sixth-graders .............................................. 207
Erik De Corte, Lieven Verschaffel, and Hilde Schrooten
The role of social interaction in the development of higher-order
thinking in Logo environments ................................... 229
Douglas H. Clements and Bonnie K. Nastasi
Effects with and of computers and the study of computer-based learning
environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 249
Gavriel Salomon
Facilitating domain-general problem solving: Computers, cognitive processes
and instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 265
Richard E. Clark
Conceptual fields, problem solving and intelligent computer tools ............. 287
Gerard Vergnaud
Part III. Creating Learning Environments
Introduction to Part ill 309
Heinz Mandl
Table of Contents VII
Augmenting the discourse of learning with computer-based
learning environments ........................................ 313
Roy D. Pea
Scientific reasoning across different domains .......................... 345
Robert Glaser, Leona Schauble, Kalyani Raghavan, and Colleen Zeitz
A rule-based diagnosis system for identifying misconceptions in
qualitative reasoning in the physical domain "superposition of motion" .......... 373
Heinz Mandl, lUrgen Bollwahn, Aemilian Hron, Uwe Oestermeier, and
Sigmar-Olaf Tergan
The provision of tutorial support for learning with computer-based simulations ..... 391
Peter Goodyear
Learning and instruction with computer simulations: Learning processes
involved ................................................ 411
Ton de long and Melanie Njoo
Two uses of computers in science teaching: Horizontal motion simulation and
simulation building .......................................... 429
Magnus Moar, Fiona Spensley, Tim O'Shea, Ronnie Singer, Sara Hennessey, and
Eileen Scanlon
Direct manipulation of physical concepts in a computerized exploratory
laboratory ............................................... 445
Vitor Duarte Teodoro
Multimedia learning environments designed with organizing principles
from non-school settings ...................................... 465
Christina L. Allen
Editors' Preface
Most would agree that the acquisition of problem-solving ability is a primary goal of general
education. Yet, recent international assessments of student achievement reveal that, despite the
growing interest in this ability, students' problem-solving performance often remains disturbingly
poor. This volume documents that a large amount of research carried out in different parts of the
world and in a variety of content domains, has resulted in a series of significant findings and
principles, that provide a fairly sound basis for improving the learning and instruction of problem
solving.
An important force in this improvement in teaching and learning problem-solving skills was
the emergence of computer learning environments in the early 1980s. Due to the unprecedented
possibilities for data presentation and handling, for high-level interactivity, and for quick and
individually adapted feedback, the computer was expected to become a unique instrument in the
hands of the teacher for enhancing students' cognitive skills.
A substantial number of studies has been conducted relating to the hypothesis that
computer-based learning environments can significantly facilitate the acquisition and transfer of
higher-order thinking and learning skills. These investigations have been done from different
theoretical perspectives (e.g., discovery learning versus guided instruction), using different kinds
of software (programming languages, educational games, and subject-matter related software),
and with learners from different ages and cultural backgrounds. This research has produced
divergent, sometimes even conflicting results relating to the cognitive-effects hypothesis: While
some researchers have reported highly significant positive effects of computerized learning
environments on subjects' ability to apply valuable" cognitive skills, others have found no
significant gains. A substantial body of theoretical, methodological, and developmental
knowledge has accumulated and is summarized in this volume.
The present volume emerges from a NATO Advanced Research Workshop that aimed at
assembling, discussing and reviewing this knowledge in a multidisciplinary confrontation of
experts in cognitive science, computer science, educational technology, and instructional
psychology.
x
Editors' Preface
n.
The volume includes three related parts: I. Encouraging knowledge construction;
m.
Stimulating higher-order thinking and problem solving; Creating learning environments.
In the first contribution of Part I, Elshout describes and critically discusses the growing
interest of educational psychologists and philosophers in everyday life as the ideal learning
environment. He argues that the recent enthusiasm for informal educational settings is not wholly
rational and shows that there is a heavy price attached to adopting this approach. He reminds
readers that the criticized formal educational settings have important positive sides. Elshout
expects that this current direction for research on learning and instruction has reached a point of
diminishing returns and anticipates that researchers will soon seek a balance between formal and
informal learning.
DiSessa discusses the current images of learning offered by research groups and argues that
the activities of learners have not received sufficient attention. He describes a potential theory
of activities by examining how learners generate new ideas and insights. To illustrate the
argument, diSessa analyzes the activities of a group of learners who, working in a science class,
grapple with alternative ways to represent motion. He argues that these students are acting as
designers and illustrates how they eventually agree that graphing speed versus time is the best
representation for motion.
Scardamalia and Bereiter outline the architecture and the major characteristics of a
hypermedia system built around a student-generated data-base, called CSILE (Computer
Supported Intentional Learning Environments). In CSILE students work cooperatively to
elaborate and upgrade information on-line with several support systems within knowledge
building environments, including data exploration, explanatory coherence, analogy, and
pUblication environments. The authors sketch the educational philosophy underlying this kind of
computer-supported learning environment, and discuss the practical implications of using it in
schools.
Linn, Katz, Clancy, and Recker explain why more and more instructors teach Lisp in
introductory courses and explore ways to facilitate knowledge construction. They seek to identify
the "templates" constructed by Lisp programmers, as well as the skills these programmers use
to solve complex problems. Templates are generalized, reusable programming building blocks.
They describe why a programming environment called the Perspective Library supports students
as they construct programming knowledge and explain how "case studies" help students learn to
solve complex problems.
Editors' Preface XI
Ploetzner and Spada describe a computer simulation model called KAGE (Knowledge
Acquisition Governed by Experimentation), that models how students learn the physics of elastic
impacts as a part of classical mechanics. KAGE reconstructs the acquisition of qualitative and
quantitative knowledge about functional relationships between physical variables. Thereby it
predicts the knowledge states that result when particular learning mechanisms are applied to
certain instructional information. Using KAGE as a computer-supported learning environment
takes advantage of research findings on knowledge acquisition and enables knowledge-based
adaptation to the student's needs.
Starting from a discussion of the use of examples in human problem solving and learning,
and of the difficulties involved in learning from examples, Reimann concentrates on the question
of how to foster the development of effective learning-from-examples skills in students. The
strategy that he proposes can be characterized as an active, hypothesis-driven, explanation
oriented approach to studying examples. Based on this analysis, he presents a conceptual
framework that serves as the foundation for the design of an intelligent tutoring system to help
students improve their example-analysis skills.
Vosniadou draws on a program of research on knowledge acquisition in astronomy to make
recommendations about designing instruction in general and designing computer-based learning
environments in particular. In her view, knowledge acquisition in the domain of science results
from actively restructuring one's prior understanding of the physical world. This understanding
stems from a set of fundamental ontological beliefs, synthesized into mental models, that students
use in a relatively consistent fashion during problem solving. For instruction to be successful,
it must make students realize the inadequacy of their beliefs and provide a different explanatory
framework to replace the one they constructed on the basis of their everyday experience.
Computer-based learning environments offer opportunities for the exploration of alternative,
counter-intuitive hypotheses, and the modelling of expert performance which are difficult to
create in traditional learning environments.
Campione, Brown, and Jay report on investigations of computers as tools for sustained
learning in the science classroom. Students aged 10 to 14 compose illustrated books about science
topics and share them with their peers. Students, working in groups of 5 to 7 at one computer,
gather, synthesize, and communicate information. They learn to select relevant information, to
summarize, and revise their ideas and to report using desktop publishing. The teachers working
with these students engage in some direct instruction but primarily support and guide students
in their own explorations.
