by Chris Dede
Immersive Simulations and Stealth Assessment with Tina Grotzer and Seyedahmad Rahimi. More details about the guests below the video.
Episode Guests
Tina Grotzer is a cognitive scientist who studies learning, instructional design, and science education. Her mission is to help others learn to use what we know about the cognitive architecture of our minds to become better learners, thinkers, and global citizens. She carries out her research in grounded contexts and was a teacher and district level program coordinator for many years prior to her work in academia. She is a senior researcher at Project Zero and faculty member at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition to many research articles, her books include, Learning Causality in a Complex World, the Causal Patterns in Science Curriculum series, and chapters focused on developing deep understanding, issues of pedagogy and teaching to the Next Generation Science Standards. With colleague, Chris Dede, she developed the EcoLEARN curriculum that leverages new technologies to teach complex ecosystems science concepts. She was awarded a Career Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the Obama White House for her research which identifies how assumptions about the nature of causality impact our ability to deal with complexity in our world. She is also the recipient of the 2013 Morningstar Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Seyedahmad Rahimi (Ahmad) is a Doctoral Candidate at Florida State University (FSU) in the Instructional Systems & Learning Technologies (ISLT). His research interests are learning sciences, stealth assessment, and learning analytics focusing on assessing and enhancing students’ 21st-century skills (e.g., creativity). Before coming to the U.S. in 2014, Ahmad got his Bachelor’s degree in computer software engineering in Iran, and got his first Master’s degree in multimedia (e-learning technologies) in Malaysia. He also got his second Master’s degree in Measurement & Statistics at FSU. In the past five years, Ahmad has been involved in Dr. Valerie Shute’s several research projects using a digital game called Physics Playground. As the programmer of Physics Playground since 2017, he continued the development of the game with including an incentive system, learning supports, and affective supports. He also finalized the computer architecture of the game (i.e., communication mechanism between the assessment engine and the game engine), and implemented an adaptive algorithm which would select the best next game level for the students based on their current knowledge and performance in the game.
Episode Description
Tina will discuss how virtual worlds hold promise for helping the next generation learn to think about complex causality. Their immersive qualities make it possible to see not only what students are able to do when cued to think in certain ways, but also what they perceive and attend to in the environment. This makes it possible to teach for sensitivity, ability, and inclination in reasoning about complex causal dynamics. She will describe work on the EcoXPT Project and ecosystems dynamics to provide examples. Tina will share insights from the classroom and will talk about how this work can be leveraged during distributed learning to help students grasp the kinds of complex interactions that are relevant to understanding pandemics.
Ahmad will provide an overview of the research he has been involved in about stealth assessment and game-based learning in the past five years. Specifically, he will discuss how such diagnostic assessments and learning methods can be used to enhance students’ learning. He will share his experience with collecting data and conducting research during the pandemic. He also will discuss the paradigm-shift we need to see in education around the world, and some misconceptions about online learning. In addition, Ahmad will briefly talk about a project he started in Iran to help teachers prepare for teaching during the pandemic. Inspired by the experts from various educational fields around the world (especially the Silver Lining for Learning initiative), Ahmad invited a group of educators in Iran (including teachers and educational technology experts) to remotely collaborate and create a package in Farsi called “The first-aid kit for emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic”—32 pages. This group continues to update the materials they developed and curated over the past four months.