About CompHydro

CompHydro will integrate computational and data sense making practices and understandings into the Water Systems Learning Progression. It will produce a trajectory of learning and associated assessment instruments that can describe how students become more sophisticated with respect to integrated scientific practices, including analyzing, interpreting and representing data; developing and using models; using computational thinking; and constructing scientific explanations and predictions about hydrologic systems.

CompHydro project will address one of the most daunting challenges to developing scientific literacy in students: integrating teaching and learning of key ideas and practices of place-based environmental science with computational and quantitative science in authentic, innovative and effective ways. The basic premise of the project is that to achieve model-based reasoning in environmental science, a student needs to concurrently develop more sophisticated computational reasoning. Four curriculum/professional development modules will be developed to integrate Earth system and computational thinking content. They will focus on these computational concepts and practices: bility to access and manipulate data from multiple sources; ability to use computational tools to develop models, analyze data, produce data visualizations, and identify key trends; application of computational reasoning and model-based understanding to construct quantitative, scientific explanations and predictions regarding hydrologic systems. The project will: 1) develop and refine instructional units for surface and groundwater, each comprising two 1-week modules, 2) engage teachers as partners and agents of dissemination, 3) study teacher and student learning, 4) explore supports and constraints on teaching, and 5) build a platform for project research and development and dissemination. The project will engage four teams of 6 teachers, who will work over two school years with educators and scientists at four diverse sites (Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, and Montana). Comp Hydro will utilize a design-based research approach, grounded in learning progressions as a theoretical and methodological frame, for both its research and instructional materials. The project will integrate computational and data sense making practices and understandings into the Water Systems Learning Progression. It will produce a trajectory of learning and associated assessment instruments that can describe how students become more sophisticated with respect to integrated scientific practices, including analyzing, interpreting and representing data; developing and using models; using computational thinking; and constructing scientific explanations and predictions about hydrologic systems. The project also will develop a set of design principles, and an associated computer platform for broader dissemination and for supporting teachers in integrating the use of big and small data sets into meaningful environmental science learning experiences with high school students.

Funding & Support

NSF

US National Science Foundation

Education and Human Resource Program

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. (Award number 1543228). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.