The study explores the development of 11-year-old students' informal inference about random bunny hops through student talk and use of computer simulation tools. Our aim in this paper is to draw on dialogic theory to explain how students make shifts in perspective, from intuition-based reasoning to more powerful, formal ways of using probabilistic…

Students conducted inquiry using simulations within a rich learning environment for 4 science topics. By applying educational data mining to students' log data, assessment metrics were generated for two key inquiry skills, testing stated hypotheses and designing controlled experiments. Three models were then developed to analyze the transfer of…

The National frameworks for science emphasize inquiry skills (NRC, 1996), however, in typical classroom practice, science learning often focuses on rote learning in part because science process skills are difficult to assess (Fadel, Honey, & Pasnick, 2007) and rote knowledge is prioritized on high-stakes tests. Short answer assessments of…