Life in the Hive: Supporting Inquiry into Complexity Within the Zone of Proximal Development

Abstract

Research into students' understanding of complex systems typically ignores young children because of misinterpretations of young children's competencies. Furthermore, studies that do recognize young children's competencies tend to focus on what children can do in isolation. As an alternative, we propose an approach to designing for young children that is grounded in the notion of the Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky 1978) and leverages Activity Theory to design learning environments. In order to highlight the benefits of this approach, we describe our process for using Activity Theory to inform the design of new software and curricula in a way that is productive for young children to learn concepts that we might have previously considered to be ''developmentally inappropriate''. As an illuminative example, we then present a discussion of the design of the BeeSign simulation software and accompanying curriculum which specifically designed from an Activity Theory perspective to engage young children in learning about complex systems (Danish 2009a, b). Furthermore, to illustrate the benefits of this approach, we will present findings from a new study where 40 first-and second-grade students participated in the BeeSign curriculum to learn about how honeybees collect nectar from a complex systems perspective. We conclude with some practical suggestions for how such an approach to using Activity Theory for research and design might be adopted by other science educators and designers.

Applying an Activity Theory Lens to Designing Instruction for Learning About the Structure, Behavior, and Function of a Honeybee System

“…In an effort to help mediate reflective inquiry, the software was designed for projection on an interactive whiteboard, with 5-10 students at a time supported by a teacher who helped to structure the inquiry activity. Thus, student engagement with the object of activity was mediated not only by the software but by the organization of space, the teacher, the other students present, and the rules of inquiry as enforced by the teacher (this relationship was explored in more depth in a subsequent study: Danish, Peppler, Phelps, & Washington, 2011).…”

Promoting Conceptual Change for Complex Systems Understanding: Outcomes of an Agent-Based Participatory Simulation

“…Outcomes have included improvements in middle school students' understanding of cause and effect relationships, with a greater balance of focus on processes instead of events alone within this complex system (Grotzer et al 2013). Using the simulation BeeSign, with careful scaffolding, even students as young as first grade have demonstrated understanding of the connection of micro-level actions and aggregate level behavior in the complex system of a beehive (Danish et al 2011).…”

“…Students gain experience with how they as agents affect and are affected by other agents and parts of the system. Similarly, in studies using the simulation BeeSign, children as young as first grade were able to make connections between agent-level behavior and aggregate outcomes (Danish et al 2011). Both visualization and experiences may decrease the cognitive work needed to understand behavior at the micro-level.…”

Turning Transfer Inside Out: The Affordances of Virtual Worlds and Mobile Devices in Real World Contexts for Teaching About Causality Across Time and Distance in Ecosystems

“…Such programs show promise in helping students learn ecosystems and complex systems concepts (e.g. Danish, Peppler, Phelps, and Washington 2011;Grotzer et al, 2013;Hmelo-Silver et al 2007;Metcalf, Kamarainen, Tutwiler, Grotzer, and Dede 2011). Further, mobile devices make it possible to situate learning in authentic contexts and augment reality by offering models and other representational support.…”