Learning About Learning

摘要

Why are some science and engineering concepts so consistently difficult for students to learn? According to Dr. Michelene Chi, professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh, it's the way students think about and categorize these concepts that make them formidable to understand. Students may know "how to work the problems," Chi has discovered, but that doesn't necessarily mean they grasp the underlying concepts. So, when teaching concepts such as heat, electricity, and equilibrium, how can educators design their instruction to improve comprehension? In a seminar sponsored by CSM's Center for Engineering Education, Mines faculty gathered in a campus classroom this summer to learning from Chi. The senior scientist in the University of Pittsburgh's Learning Research and Development Center has published more than 100 scientific articles, one of which is considered a "classic" work in cognitive psychology.