Epistemic Excursions as Agentive Meaning Making within a Digital Plate Tectonics Curriculum

Brandin Conrath, Amy Voss Farris, Scott P. McDonald, Amy Pallant

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Models and modeling are essential for mediating knowledge-building processes about geologic phenomena (Stillings, 2012). We draw on constructs of expansive learning (Engeström, 1987) and personal excursions (Azevedo, 2006) to analyze a case in which two secondary students develop geologic explanations using Seismic Explorer, a tool for visualizing information about earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. We present four episodes in which the focal students conjecture and test ideas through modeling plate tectonics phenomena. Using methods of interaction analysis (Jordan & Henderson, 1995) we describe how the students actively build and revise their moment-by-moment explanations. Our analysis contributes to a deeper understanding of how the design of geologic models and data visualizations for classroom contexts can support sensemaking as a kind of journeyed relationship-building with the phenomena, associated data, and with peers, through relational events that we term epistemic excursions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationISLS Annual Meeting 2023
Subtitle of host publicationBuilding Knowledge and Sustaining our Community - 17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2023, Proceedings
EditorsPaulo Blikstein, Jan Van Aalst, Rita Kizito, Karen Brennan
PublisherInternational Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS)
Pages162-169
Number of pages8
ISBN (Electronic)9781737330677
StatePublished - 2023
Event17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2023 - Montreal, Canada
Duration: Jun 10 2023Jun 15 2023

Publication series

NameComputer-Supported Collaborative Learning Conference, CSCL
ISSN (Print)1573-4552

Conference

Conference17th International Conference of the Learning Sciences, ICLS 2023
Country/TerritoryCanada
CityMontreal
Period6/10/236/15/23

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Education

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