The Effects of Different learning Tasks on Model-building in Plate Tectonics: Diagramming Versus Explaining

Geology is a complex, semantically rich domain involving the interpretation of geological maps as external visualizations. Geological maps are complex in particular because 3-dimensional features must be inferred from 2-dimensional representations depicted by differing line types and weights. Modeling building, as an internal mental activity, is also required in order to achieve deep understanding of textual materials in geology, of geological maps, as well as in understanding complex causal processes, e.g., convection, underlying geological phenomena. Using literature from Cognitive Psychology, a framework for teaching and learning with visualizations in Plate Tectonics is given as an example of one difficult topic in Geology which involves the understanding of visualizations. Based on previous work in students' conceptions in Geology, three studies of students' conceptions and cognition in plate tectonics were designed. These studies highlight the importance of progressive model-building as a good pedagogical approach, as well as examine the efficacy of different learning tasks as strategies to promote model-building on the part of learners.