Journal article
Lauren Applebaum, Elizabet Spaepen, D. Gentner, S. Levine, S. Goldin‐Meadow
Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2011
Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2011
Semantic Scholar
DBLP
Cite
Cite
APA
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Applebaum, L., Spaepen, E., Gentner, D., Levine, S., & Goldin‐Meadow, S. (2011). Structural Alignment in Learning Bridge Construction. Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society.
Chicago/Turabian
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Applebaum, Lauren, Elizabet Spaepen, D. Gentner, S. Levine, and S. Goldin‐Meadow. “Structural Alignment in Learning Bridge Construction.” Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (2011).
MLA
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Applebaum, Lauren, et al. “Structural Alignment in Learning Bridge Construction.” Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society, 2011.
BibTeX Click to copy
@article{lauren2011a,
title = {Structural Alignment in Learning Bridge Construction},
year = {2011},
journal = {Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society},
author = {Applebaum, Lauren and Spaepen, Elizabet and Gentner, D. and Levine, S. and Goldin‐Meadow, S.}
}
Abstract
Structural Alignment in Learning Bridge Construction Lauren Applebaum University of Chicago Elizabet Spaepen University of Chicago Dedre Gentner Northwestern University Susan C. Levine University of Chicago Susan Goldin-Meadow University of Chicago Abstract: Laboratory studies show that encouraging comparison between situations through spatial alignment promotes learning (e.g., Gentner, 2010). We examine whether alignment will also improve learning in a classroom context. Our study examines 3rd-6th graders’ ability to learn an engineering concept (the stability of triangles) when the lesson uses spatial alignment and when it does not. In the aligned condition, we introduce a triangle, a braced square (consists of two triangles) and a truss (consists of multiple triangles) and spatially align them with one another. In the unaligned condition, we introduce these same components separately, with no spatial alignment. Students are given a pretest before the lesson and a post-test after the lesson, both of which assessed knowledge of the stability of triangles. Preliminary results indicate that students learn more in the aligned condition, suggesting that alignment is an important learning tool, even in less controlled settings such as a classroom.
