2/26/2024 0 Comments Predator vs prey mindsetInstead of accepting classifications as given, they are seen as provisional theories that are constantly reassessed and reconstructed in light of the dialogue between theory and evidence. They devise new evidence gathering methods to test their theories. In this picture, the participants are active theorizers. This picture contrasts sharply with the picture that emerges from the recent biology research literature. And even when students are exposed to research techniques in laboratory work, the emphasis is on following a prescribed procedure rather than reasoning from the evidence gathered in the procedure. Even in cases where the theories are not yet established, such as the extinction of the dinosaurs, the alternative theories are presented as competing stories to be memorized. Similarly, students study biological explanation by absorbing established theories about the process of photosynthesis, the Krebs cycle or the succession of evolutionary ancestors. In high school and early undergraduate studies, the content broadens to include unseen phenomena such as parts of the cell or types of protozoa, but the processes of memorizing classifications remains essentially the same. In middle school, classification may take the form of learning the names of the bones of the body, the names and shapes of different plant leaves or the phyla in the animal kingdom. There is a sharp contrast between the picture of the field of biology as studied in school settings and the picture that emerges from the practice of current biology research.While the two pictures are linked by similar content and the objects of study are recognizably the same, the processes involved in the two activities are quite different.In school settings, typical instruction emphasizes the memorization of classification schemas and established theories. In both cases, students can frame hypotheses related to their questions, construct computer models that incorporate these hypotheses, and test their hypotheses by running their models and observing the outcomes. As such, the embodied modeling approach allows this topic to be productively introduced into the high school curriculum. In the second example, the topic of firefly flash synchronization does not readily yield to classical approaches and is, thus, unfamiliar to students. We argue that the embodied modeling approach connects more directly to students’ experience and allows for extended investigations and deeper understanding. In the first example, the topic of predator prey relations is familiar to students and can be treated by classical methods. We describe two extended examples from MSCP in which this approach was employed: predator-prey relationships and synchronously flashing fireflies. This approach has been developed as part of the "Making Sense of Complex Phenomena" Project (MSCP). Using object-based parallel, embodied modeling tools, students model the micro-rules that underlie the emergence of a phenomenon, and then observe the aggregate dynamics that result. In this paper, we describe a computational approach that enables students to investigate the relations between different biological levels. Yet, it is by examining the connections between such levels that many phenomena in biology, and complex systems in general, are best explained. In typical biology instruction, these levels have been segregated. Uri for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modelingīiological phenomena can be investigated at multiple levels, from the molecular, to the cellular to the organismic to the ecological level. Thinking like a Wolf, a Sheep or a Firefly: Learning Biology through Constructing and Testing Computational Theories - an Embodied Modeling Approach Thinking like a Wolf, a Sheep or a Firefly: Learning Biology through Constructing and Testing Computational Theories - an Embodied Modeling Approach
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