Fostering Reasoning About Complex Systems: Using the Aquarium to Teach Systems Thinking

Applied Environmental Education and Communication

Volumn 12, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 55-64

  Jordan, Rebecca C ^a   Hmelo Silver, Cindy ^a   Liu, Lei ^a   Gray, Steven A ^a  

^a RUTGERS UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84880062066     PISSN: 1533015X     EISSN: 15330389     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/1533015X.2013.797860     Document Type: Article

References (24)

1. Bransford, J. D., Brown, A. L. and Cocking, R. R. 1999. How people learn: Brain, mind, experience, and school., Washington, DC: National Academies Press.
2. Dawes, J. 2000. Tropical aquarium fish: A step by step guide to setting up and maintaining a freshwater or marine aquarium, London, UK: New Holland Publishers.
3. Eilam, B. 2002. Strata of comprehending ecology: Looking through the prism of feeding relations. Science Education, 86 (5): 645 - 671.
4. Gallegos, L., Jerezano, M. E. and Flores, F. 1994. Preconceptions and relations used by children in the construction of food chains. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31 (3): 421 - 426.
5. Goel, A. K. and Bhatta, B. 2005. Design patterns: A unit of analogical transfer in innovative design. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 18 (2): 85 - 94.
6. Grotzer, T. A. and Bell-Basca, B. 2003. Helping students to grasp the underlying causal structures when learning about ecosystems: How does it impact understanding?. Journal of Biological Education, 38 (1): 16 - 29.
7. Haidar, A. H. and Abraham, M. R. 1991. A comparison of applied and theoretical knowledge of concepts based on the particulate nature of matter. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 28 (10): 919 - 938.
8. Hmelo-Silver, C. E., Jordan, R., Liu, L., Gray, S., Demeter, M., Rugaber, S., Vattam, S. and Goel, A. 2008. Focusing on function: Thinking below the surface of complex natural systems. Science Scope, 31 (9): 27 - 35.
9. Hmelo-Silver, C. E., Marathe, S. and Liu, L. 2007. Fish swim, rocks sit, and lungs breathe: Expert-novice understanding of complex systems. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 16: 307 - 331.
10. Hogan, K. 2000. Assessing students' systems reasoning in ecology. Journal of Biological Education, 35 (1): 22 - 28.
11. Hogan, K. and Fisherkeller, J. 1996. Representing students' thinking about nutrient cycling in ecosystems: Bidimensional coding of a complex topic. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33 (9): 941 - 970.
12. Hungerford, H. R., Bluhm, W. J., Volk, T. L. and Ramsey, J. M. 2001. Essential readings in environmental education (2nd ed), Champaign, IL: Stipes.
13. Jordan, R. C., Gray, S., Demeter, M., Liu, L. and Hmelo-Silver, C. 2009. An assessment of students' understanding of ecosystem concepts: Conflating ecological systems and cycles. Applied Environmental Education & Communication, 8: 40 - 48.
14. Jordan, R. C., Gray, S. A., Brooks, W. R., Honward, S. and Hmelo-Silver, C. E. in press. Process based thinking in ecosystem education. Natural Sciences Education,
15. Krajcik, J., Czerniak, C. and Berger, C. 1999. Teaching children science; a project-based approach, New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
16. Leach, J., Driver, R., Scott, P. and Wood-Robinson, C. 1996. Children's ideas about ecology 2: Ideas found in children aged 5-16 about the cycling of matter. International Journal of Science Education, 18 (2): 19 - 34.
17. Liu, L. and Hmelo-Silver, C. E. 2009. Promoting complex systems learning through the use of conceptual representations in hypermedia. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46: 1023 - 1040.
18. Novak, J. D. 1990. Concept mapping. A useful tool for science education. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27 (10): 937 - 949.
19. Reiner, M. and Eilam, B. 2001. Conceptual classroom environment: A systems view of learning. International Journal of Science Education, 23 (6): 551 - 568.
20. Stadelmann, P., Finley, L. and Vriends, M. V. 2003. Tropical fish: Setting up and taking care of aquariums made easy: Expert advice for new aquarists, New York, NY: Barron's Educational Series.
21. Stansbury, E. 1999. The simplified classroom aquarium: A teacher's guide to operating and maintaining a small classroom aquarium, New York, NY: Charles C. Thomas.
22. Wandersee, J. H. 1990. Concept mapping and the cartography of cognition. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 27 (10): 923 - 936.
23. Wilensky, U. and Reisman, K. 2006. Thinking like a wolf, a sheep or a firefly: Learning biology through constructing and testing computational theories-an Embodied Modeling Approach. Cognition and Instruction, 24 (2): 171 - 209.
24. Wilson, J. M. 1994. Network representations of knowledge about chemical equilibrium: Variations with achievement. Journal of Research in Science and Teaching, 31 (10): 1133 - 1147.