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Project Description:
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Dr. Stewart is interested in working with
students from any science, mathematics, or
psychology major interested in questions
about how students learn. You do not have to
be an education major, but this work is
particularly well-suited for students
interested in K-12 or college teaching.
Communities of Practice
Evidence for the positive impact of learning in community both for students and for professionals is emerging at an increasing rate. People have always engaged in social learning, but its treatment as a theoretical framework for learning is a more recent phenomenon that has been developed by Etienne Wenger and others. Wenger starts with the assumption that “engagement in social practice is the fundamental process by which we learn and so become who we are.” (Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity, Etienne Wenger, Cambridge, 1998.) The Stewart group is using the theoretical framework developed by Wenger and others to study the impact of an existing community of practice, IONiC, on faculty professional practice. In other words, we are addressing the question “Can participation in a community of practice improve a faculty member’s teaching and scholarship?”
Interdisciplinary Learning in
Science
Currently, the Stewart group is
interested in the question of how students
develop their abilities to address real,
complex, science-rich problems. Many
important societal issues such as climate
change are deeply rooted in science and
technology. It is important that students, as
our future leaders, understand the science
behind these problems. But more importantly,
students must develop an understanding of the
production and nature of scientific knowledge
(how do we know what we know?) so they can be
critical consumers of emerging science
knowledge.
One approach to these questions in the
Stewart group involves the development and
testing of case studies that address
important science questions. The case studies
are interdisciplinary and investigative.
Investigative means that the students
participating in the case study must develop
their own research question to pursue. In
other words, they "make" new science
knowledge, and thus in a hands-on fashion,
learn something about the production of
science knowledge.
Climate
Change and Science Learning
In order to be able to use science
knowledge to address complex, societal
issues, students must be able to integrate
knowledge from many different disciplines
with their own beliefs and values. This
integration process typically involves making
creative cognitive, affective, and social
"moves." In my general education class on
abrupt climate change, I am studying the
integrative and creative moves that students
make. On-going data analysis involves both
quantitative survey data and qualitative
student writing samples.
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