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1. Interactive Demo of the Modeling and Evidence Mapping Environment (MEME) for Supporting both Elementary and Graduate Students.

   Danish, J. (January 2021, Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS).)

   null (Ed.)

   The Modeling and Evidence Mapping Environment (MEME) was designed to support elementary students in using evidence to create a model of an ecosystem. While drawing inspiration from prior modeling environments, MEME is unique in combining the following: 1) MEME incorporates explicit systems scaffolds based on the Phenomena, Mechanism, Component (PMC) framework; 2) MEME supports collaborative, qualitative model building; 3) MEME directly incorporates evidence within the model and modeling environment, and 4) students and teachers can provide and reply to comments directly on the model itself. We will give participants an opportunity to use MEME and share models produced both by 5th grade students learning about ecosystems, and graduate students exploring cultural historical activity theory (CHAT). 

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2. Understanding Students’ Representations of Mechanism through Modeling Complex Aquatic Ecosystems

   Zachary Ryan, Joshua Danish (January 2021, 2021 Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences)

   null (Ed.)

   This study examines how 5th grade students represent the mechanisms of a complex aquatic ecosystem in the Modeling and Evidence Mapping Environment (MEME), a software tool designed to support students in iteratively modeling the elements within a complex system, and their relationships to each other. We explore the various ways students represented mechanisms of an aquatic ecosystem through their models and present our findings on the patterns that emerged and the unexpected ways that mechanisms were utilized within student models. 

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3. Mediating Students’ Scientific Argumentation to Support Model Revision

   Zhou, J. Hmelo-Silver; C. E.; Danish, J.; Ryan, Z.; Cruz Gonzalez, C.; Duncan, R. G.; Chinn, C. A.; Murphy D. (July 2022, Computersupported collaborative learning)

   A. Weinberger; W. Chen; D.Hernández-Leo; D., B. Chen (Ed.)

   Scientific argumentation and modeling are both core practices in learning and doing science. However, they are challenging for students. Although there is considerable literature about scientific argumentation or modeling practice in K-12 science, there are limited studies on how engaging students in modeling and scientific argumentation might be mutually supportive. This study aims to explore how 5th graders can be supported by our designed mediators as they engage in argumentation and modeling, in particular, model revision. We implemented a virtual afterschool science club to examine how our modeling tool – MEME (Model and Evidence Mapping Environment), provided evidence, peer comments, and other mediators influenced students in learning about aquatic ecosystems through developing a model. While both groups that we examined constructed strong arguments and developed good models, we show how the mediators played different roles in helping them be successful. 

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4. How Can Computational Modeling Help Students Shift Their Ideas Towards Scientifically Accurate Explanations?

   Fuhrmann, T.; Wagh, A.; Rosenbaum, L.; Eloy, A.; Wilkerson, M.; Blikstein, P. (January 2023, Proceedings of the 2023 Annual Meeting of the International Society for the Learning Sciences)

   This paper explores how MoDa, an integrated computational modeling and data environment, enabled students to express their ideas about diffusion and shift them toward canonical ideas. Drawing on data from an 8-day unit with two 6th-grade science classes, we analyze students' utterances in presentations, drawings, and written responses to document their diverse ideas about diffusion We present three case studies to illustrate how engaging with computational modeling in MoDa and the unit around it enabled students to shift from non-canonical ideas towards more canonical explanations of diffusion. In particular, we identify three factors that helped in shifting students’ ideas: the availability of code blocks to represent a diverse range of ideas including non-canonical ones, consistent access to video data of the phenomenon, and model presentations to the whole class. The paper illustrates how a computational modeling tool and curriculum can make students' diverse ideas visible and shift them toward canonical explanations. 

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5. Exploring 6th-Grade Students Model-Based Reasoning about Energy Flow Between Societal and Earth Systems.

   Zangori, L. (March 2022, National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST))

   While there is an extensive literature base on the energy ideas students hold, there are few studies that examine how elementary students use scientific modeling to conceptualize the interrelationships between societal and Earth systems or how students consider the ways that societal energy systems interact with natural energy systems. This is exploratory project is situated in this space. We explored how 6th-grade students’ (aged 11 – 12) conceptualize energy flow within and across their school building and the surrounding environment within their models. Here, we report our baseline findings the students held at the start of 6th-grade prior to experiencing any energy curriculum asking how 6th-grade students models conceptualize energy flow between their school building and the surrounding environment in their models. We worked with five 6th-grade teachers from the same school district within a small Midwestern city. We collected and analyzed the data quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings highlight the students’ ideas about energy flow which includes viewing energy used in human systems as separate from energy in natural systems (such as a food chain). 

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