Visualization: Theory and Practice in Science Education

✍ Scribed by John K. Gilbert (auth.), John K. Gilbert, Miriam Reiner, Mary Nakhleh (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 326
• Series: Models and Modeling in Science Education 3
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

External representations (pictures, diagrams, graphs, concrete models) have always been valuable tools for the science teacher. The formation of personal, internal, representations – visualizations – from them plays a key role in all learning, especially in that of science. The use of personal computers and sophisticated software has expanded into the areas of simulation, virtual reality, and animation, and students now engage in the creation of models, a key aspect of scientific methodology. Several academic disciplines underlie these developments, yet act independently of each other, to the detriment of an attainment of what is possible. This book brings together the insights of practicing scientists, science education researchers, computer specialists, and cognitive scientists, to produce a coherent overview. It links presentations about the cognitive theory of representation and visualization, its implications for science curriculum design, and for learning and teaching in classrooms and laboratories.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages I-2
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Visualization: An Emergent Field of Practice and Enquiry in Science Education....Pages 3-24
Front Matter....Pages 25-27
The ‘Ins’ and ‘Outs’ of Learning: Internal Representations and External Visualizations....Pages 29-52
Comprehending and Learning from ‘Visualizations’: A Developmental Perspective....Pages 53-72
Seeing Through Touch: The Role of Haptic Information in Visualization....Pages 73-84
Front Matter....Pages 85-87
Using External Visualizations to Extend and Integrate Learning in Mobile and Classroom Settings....Pages 89-102
Visualizing the Molecular World – Design, Evaluation, and Use of Animations....Pages 103-131
Engineering Instructional Metaphors Within Virtual Environments to Enhance Visualization....Pages 133-153
Teaching Chemistry with and Without External Representations in Professional Environments with Limited Resources....Pages 155-185
Front Matter....Pages 187-189
The Educational Value of Multiple-representations when Learning Complex Scientific Concepts....Pages 191-208
Learning Chemistry Using Multiple External Representations....Pages 209-231
Representational Resources for Constructing Shared Understandings in the High School Chemistry Classroom....Pages 233-282
Visualization Without Vision: Students with Visual....Pages 283-294
When an Image Turns into Knowledge: The Role of Visualization in Thought Experimentation....Pages 295-309
Back Matter....Pages 311-325

✦ Subjects

Education (general); Science Education; Learning & Instruction