DESIGN ARTIFACTS AS EXTERNALIZED MENTAL MODELS OF CHILDREN’S SCIENCE CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) calls for the integration of the practices of science and engineering across all science disciplines beginning in the early elementary grades. Science and engineering education research has determined that engineering design is a productive means for promoting understanding of science concepts. However, design artifacts created during engineering design problem-solving have not received sufficient attention for their potential to embody children’s science understanding. The aim of this study was to examine how conceptual development of the concepts of force and motion was instantiated in design artifacts by early elementary age children engaged in engineering design. Twenty-six children, ages 7-8, from 13 states across the United States engaged in the study from their homes. Design artifacts were considered externalized mental models with evidence of conceptual development evaluated according to the type and number of perceptual dimensions present. It was determined that the artifact could have eight possible perceptual dimensions and the addition of perceptual dimensions was considered evidence of conceptual development. Results indicate that children developed mental models ranging from 2-8-dimensions, with 23 participants (88%) adding dimensions to their mental models during the engineering activity. Video-stimulated prompted recall (VSR) interviews were used to corroborate conceptual development viewed through the design artifact, with all participants able to corroborate or partially corroborate their mental model changes. VSR was instrumental in engaging participants in the metacognitive process of reflection, a known mechanism of promoting conceptual development, which is underutilized with young children. VSR assisted some children in overcoming obstacles in problem-solving. Results are specific to the cotton ball launcher and further study is needed to improve generalizability to other engineering design tasks pertaining to force and motion

A Position Statement on Population Data Science: The science of data about people

Information is increasingly digital, creating opportunities to respond to pressing issues about human populations using linked datasets that are large, complex, and diverse. The potential social and individual benefits that can come from data-intensive science are large, but raise challenges of balancing individual privacy and the public good, building appropriate sociotechnical systems to support data-intensive science, and determining whether defining a new field of inquiry might help move those collective interests and activities forward. A combination of expert engagement, literature review, and iterative conversations led to our conclusion that defining the field of Population Data Science (challenge 3) will help address the other two challenges as well. We define Population Data Science succinctly as the science of data about people and note that it is related to but distinct from the fields of data science and informatics. A broader definition names four characteristics of: data use for positive impact on citizens and society; bringing together and analyzing data from multiple sources; finding population-level insights; and developing safe, privacy sensitive and ethical infrastructure to support research. One implication of these characteristics is that few people possess all of the requisite knowledge and skills of Population Data Science, so this is by nature a multi-disciplinary field. Other implications include the need to advance various aspects of science, such as data linkage technology, various forms of analytics, and methods of public engagement. These implications are the beginnings of a research agenda for Population Data Science, which if approached as a collective field, can catalyze significant advances in our understanding of trends in society, health, and human behavior

Tales from the other drug wars : papers from the 12th Annual Health Policy Conference, held in Vancouver, B.C., Nov. 26, 1999

"Tales from the Other Drug Wars examined the role of research evidence in the newly emerging world of industry-health policy. The conference critically examined the notion that industry policy, which facilitates the free market use of research evidence, is becoming a much stronger determinant of health and health care than any health policy designed to balance that influence, taking other factors into account. The health sector faces unprecedented challenges deciding on what is appropriate in health care as more and more research is funded and designed to meet private industry needs." -CHSPR websiteMedicine, Faculty ofPopulation and Public Health (SPPH), School ofUnreviewedFacultyResearche