Brem and team propose to investigate general properties that students must understand in learning about a specific cross-disciplinary phenomenon --- emergent systems (vis a vis complex adaptive systems). The proposers argue that these common properties can be learned, primarily through addressing misconceptions and areas of learning difficulty, and such knowledge can then be applied to investigating specific systems that bear these characteristics. Several of these properties are counterintuitive given that emergent systems are complex in hierarchy, are irreducible as systems, and novel and unpredictable (among other things).
Specifically, the investigator will use visualizations and face-to-face interviews in iteratively developing, refining, and validating something of a concept inventory (assessment instrument) that will define and measure student learning in this area. The focus will primarily be on undergraduate learning. The team has chosen examples from geology (erosion), chemistry (the relationship of temperature and pressure in gases), natural selection (the evolution of mimetic abilities), and psychology (detecting and avoiding outsiders) as contexts to conduct their research.
The broader impacts of this work lie in its ability to ultimately assist students in overcoming some common and consistent learning obstacles in their study of disciplinary and interdisciplinary science.
Our world is complex and there are challenges to understanding that complexity. Emergent systems are complex system with many component parts that can only be understood in interaction such as cloud formation, traffic jams, and birds flocking. Researchers have treated emergent systems as if they are the same whether you are talking about weather, traffic patterns, or animal behavior. However, our research has shown that key features of the system make a significant difference in how individuals understand these complex phenomena. By creating an inventory and a set of simulators we were able to explore which features individuals find important. For example, individuals consider factors such as whether there are actors in the system (animals or humans) and whether those actors seem to be in control of their actions. This has implications for understanding how we teach and learn about emergence. Complex systems are a part of every STEM discipline and have implications for other disciplines such as economics and psychology. Understanding the features that prove difficult for students who are learning about complex systems can improve efforts to overcome misconceptions and promote greater understanding. Understanding of emergence and complex systems may help to strengthen science education in the US, allowing us to build bridges between increasingly specialized and fragmented scientific disciplines and move towards solving real world complex problems.
