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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Name: Terri Dunbar
Dissertation Proposal Meeting
Date: Thursday, December 9, 2021
Time: 2:30 PM
Location: https://bluejeans.com/167695945/
Advisor: Jamie Gorman, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)
Dissertation Committee Members:
Richard Catrambone, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)
Sashank Varma, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)
Julie Linsey, Ph.D. (Georgia Tech)
Nia Amazeen, Ph.D. (Arizona State University)
Title: Supporting Systems Thinking in Simulated Systems with Computer-Based Scaffolding
Abstract:
Learners frequently misunderstand emergent processes in systems, where the mechanism can only be explained through the collective interactions of system components. These misconceptions are thought to occur because learners inappropriately apply their schemas of direct processes (i.e., processes that can be broken down into a sequence of events between distinct components) to emergent processes. Direct training on emergent processes can alleviate these misconceptions; however, some types of misconceptions, such as how temporal distance distorts perceptions of causality or failing to ‘close the feedback loop’, have not been a major focus in prior instructional design research. In addition, the scaffolds provided often support many areas of systems thinking simultaneously, so it is unclear which areas are most in need of support to prevent over-scaffolding. For my dissertation, I propose two studies to investigate the effectiveness of different instructional supports while working with simulated agent-based systems. In the first study, instructional supports will target different aspects of systems (Components, Relationships, Feedback Loops, Levels, Dynamic Behavior, Self-Organization) deemed relevant to sequential and emergent processes to determine which areas need more support for the learner. Learners will either train on systems with more direct processes (coupled oscillator systems) or systems with more emergent processes (self-organizing systems); however, learners’ understanding will be assessed with both types of systems pre- and post-test. In the second study, the progressive order of the instructional supports will be varied during the learning process as either continuous, faded, or productive failure to determine when learners are able to perform the tasks without assistance. The results from my dissertation will help identify the most cognitively demanding areas of systems thinking where college learners need the most support during the learning process as well as how that support should be sequenced when learning with simulated systems.
