Coordinating modeling and real-world data is central to building scientific theories. This paper examines how a complementary focus on modeling and data contributed to 8th grade students’ learning of mechanisms underlying wildfire smoke spread in MoDa, a web-based environment that integrates computational modeling side-by-side with real-world data for comparison and validation. Epistemic network analysis of student responses in pre-post tests revealed a shift from primarily macro-level explanations to explanations that integrated macro and micro-level explanations of the phenomenon. Video data analysis revealed three design elements that contributed to student learning: Naming of the blocks, match between data and model visualization, and collective reflections on models. We reflect on implications for the design of environments that integrate computational modeling with real-world data analysis.

We describe the design of Story Builder, a tool to support adolescents in building interactive multimedia stories that integrate data analysis and visualization with text, images, and other multimodal resources. Story Builder is a plug in for the Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP), a free, online, open-source drag-and-drop interactive data analysis system. Based on early prototyping conducted with several 7th grade classrooms, we sought to design a tool that would allow students to (a) integrate their data investigations with relevant personal and contextual information; (b) record the step-by-step process and rationale of their data analysis; and (c) reflect on and share these contextual and process-oriented elements of data analysis work with others. A major goal of Story Builder is to encourage students to consider and incorporate personal, social, and scientific considerations during data analysis.

Youth interact with data constantly through visualizations on social feeds and news sites. Unlike traditional graphs that are the focus of school instruction, visualizations use context rich and interactive methods to create narratives and allow users to explore data for themselves. We ask: How do youth make sense of interactive data visualizations? Nine participants ages 12-13 completed semi-structured, think-aloud clinical interviews as they worked with data visualizations about socio-scientific issues. Findings suggest learners used a variety of resources, but often did not coordinate those resources. When they did, they built deeper understandings of the visualizations and their content.

Many students are introduced to computing through its infusion into other school subjects. Advocates argue this approach can deepen learning and broaden who is exposed to computing. In many cases, such interdisciplinary activities are student-driven and collaborative. This requires students to balance multiple learning goals and leverage knowledge across subjects. When working in groups, students must also negotiate this balance with peers based on their collective expertise. Balance and negotiation, however, are not always easy. This paper presents data from a project to infuse computing into high school statistics using the R programming language. We analyze multiple episodes of video data from two pairs of students as they negotiated (1) the statistics and computing goals of an activity, (2) the knowledge needed to meet those goals, and (3) whose expertise can help achieve those goals. One pair consistently reached agreement along these dimensions, and engaged productively with both subject matter and computing. The other pair did not reach agreement, and struggled to accomplish their tasks. This work provides examples of productive and unproductive interdisciplinary computing collaborations, and contributes tools to study them.

Experimentation has shown that in-class educational technologies, by permitting anonymous, authored participation, can dramatically alter student communications in the classroom. Now, the appearance of dual pen-and-keyboard computing devices in the university classroom, notably Tablet PCs, motivates thinking critically about how different expressive modalities could improve in-class student problem -solving and communication.This paper describes the use of Ubiquitous Presenter 2.0 in a study to discover the driving issues of multimodality for both in-class technologies and student exercises. This paper sensitizes instructors to the issues of modality and makes specific recommendations for application design. We find that the choice of modality is not merely one of efficiency or naturalness, but is loaded with numerous personal, social, and material considerations. Although use of the pen (over typed text) is generally preferred, we find that choice itself is critical to encouraging student creativity, collaboration, and communication.

The University of Washington's Classroom Presenter lecturing system enables an active lecturing environment by combining a standard electronic slide presentation format with the capability for extemporaneous ink annotations by instructors and students using Tablet PCs. Thus, it can promote more interactive, student-centered learning. While many students may own laptops, few are yet Tablet devices. Also, Presenter uses multicast networking, which has availability and reliability issues. Ubiquitous Presenter (UP) expands Presenter via common web technologies to support non-Tablet audiences and enhance student control. UP enables students, using internet web browsers, to (a) synchronously or asynchronously view the slides and ink that are broadcast by the instructor, as well as (b) provide contextual submissions via text overlaid on the instructor's slides. The only compromises are that non-Tablet students cannot produce ink, and that professor ink is provided after a small time delay.