The Understandings of Consequence Project is supported by the National Science Foundation. Related work on EcoMUVE is supported by the Institute for Education Sciences.

What inherent default assumptions do humans make that influence how we reason about complexity in our world? What are the characteristics of human cognition that lead to these default patterns? In what ways do these patterns help or hurt us when reasoning about causal complexity? How can we help people to use their cognition well in reasoning about causal complexity? How can we educate tomorrow’s learners to reason well about a complex world?

The Understandings of Consequence Research Unit studies causal cognition and learning in a complex world. Dealing with many of the world’s most pressing problems requires an ability to understand and reason about causal complexity. For example, understanding climate change involves reasoning about non-obvious causes, spatial gaps, temporal delays, cyclic causality, and distributed causality where the agency/intentionality of one’s actions are on a different level than those of the emergent outcome. 

Our work has deep implications for policy and practice. We work with experts in the sciences and beyond to impact policy. We also collaborate with teachers to develop curriculum and approaches to teaching the next generation to reason well about causal complexity.

Current and Recent Projects:

CAREER:  Learning About Complex Causality in the Classroom (07/01/09-06/30/14), NSF#0845632, PI: Tina Grotzer)- There has been growing interest in how children reason about the nature of causal complexity and recent research which suggests that children are more capable than previously thought. Yet paradoxically, students’ difficulties learning science have been linked to limited notions of causality. This project considers student learning over time in contexts designed to support learning about causal complexity. It focuses on three complex causal concepts that are important to many science concepts—distributed causality, probabilistic causality, and action at a distance. It tests the development of understanding with promising learning scaffolds. It has two research phases: 1) Microgenetic studies of causal learning over time in supported contexts and; 2) Learning about the nature of causality in curriculum contexts.

EcoMUVE: Advancing Ecosystems Science Education via Situated Collaborative Learning in Multi-User Virtual Environments (07/01/08- 06/30/11) IES#R305A080514, (Co-PIs: Chris Dede and Tina Grotzer) Ecosystems science, an important strand of the life science content standards, requires an understanding of complex causal relationships. However, despite instruction, students often do not know how to reason about ecosystems dynamics. With the research team of colleague, Chris Dede, an expert in virtual worlds, we are developing EcoMUVE, two Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs), to teach ecosystems concepts. The MUVES complement and extend the Understandings of Consequence Project’s Causal Patterns in Ecosystems curriculum. EcoMUVE is funded by the Institute for Education Sciences (IES). Further information can be found on the EcoMUVE Project at www.ecomuve.org

Learning to RECAST Students’ Causal Assumptions in Science Through Interactive, Multimedia Professional Development Tools (07/01/05- 4/30/12), NSF #ESI-0455664, (PI: Tina Grotzer)- Understanding the nature of causality is critical to learning a range of science concepts from “everyday science” to the science of complexity. Our earlier research demonstrated the importance of helping students restructure or “RECAST” their assumptions about the nature of causality in the context of their science learning. Here, the UC team and the Science Media Group (SMG) of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics collaborated to create on-line professional development tools to help teachers use the Causal Patterns in Science curriculum and pedagogy from our earlier research projects. The tools guide middle school physics and biology teachers in assessing the structure of their students’ scientific explanations and in teaching to help students RECAST their understandings to fit with the scientific explanations. We developed additional curriculum units on the Nature of Science and on teaching Causal Patterns in Science generally. The resulting professional development website is available at: http://www.pz.harvard.edu/ucp/causalpatternsinscience

Extending the Understandings of Consequence Project: Investigating Transfer and Persistence (07/01/01 -06/30/06) NSF #REC-0106988, (Co-PIs: Tina Grotzer and David Perkins) In this project, we demonstrated that students could transfer causal understandings from one topic to another without support when the causal structures were similar and without support when they were different. We found some general transfer to thinking about causal structure when learning new concepts. There was clear persistence of effects later in the same school year and again after two years had passed. The findings resulted in revisions to the Understandings of Consequence curriculum units (below). Click here for a summary of research findings.

The Challenge of Developing Systems Thinkers: How Misconceptions about Complex Causality Contribute to Fundamental Problems in Scientific Learning (07/01/98- 06/30/02) NSF #REC-9725502, (Co-PIs: Tina Grotzer and David Perkins)- Scientific explanations structure knowledge in ways that contradict students’ expectations about the nature of causality, for instance, mechanisms are inferred or abstract; patterns extend beyond linear and unidirectional to cyclic, reciprocal, and non-sequential; correspondences between causes and effects are in various respects probabilistic; and agents can be decentralized leading to emergence. This project revealed that students and scientists’ explanations tend to have very different types of causal structures at the core and that impacting students’ assumptions about the nature of causality helps students restructure their knowledge and achieve scientific understandings. We considered mismatches between students' and scientific models to identify and examine points of difficulty and worked with teachers to develop and assess materials designed to help students beyond these points of difficulty. The work resulted in a list of causal default assumptions, a taxonomy of causal models, and an approach to teaching the underlying causality called RECASTing (which includes RECAST activities and discussions.) It led to the development of four curriculum modules in the Causal Patterns in Science Curriculum including units on density, air pressure, simple circuits and ecosystems. Click here for a summary of research findings.                     

Selected Publications and Presentations

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Grotzer, T.A., Duhaylongsod, L. & Tutwiler, M.S. (2011, April). Developing explicit understanding of probabilistic causation: Patterns and variation in young children’s reasoning. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 10, 2011

Grotzer, T., Powell, M., Carr, E. & Cooke, C. (2011, April). Enhancing pedagogical content knowledge: Supporting teachers’ efforts to teach underlying causal structure in density. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 11, 2011.

Grotzer, T.A., Tutwiler, M.S., Solis, L.S. & Duhaylongsod, L. (2011, April). Interpreting probabilistic causal outcomes in science: A microgenetic study of sixth graders’ patterns of reasoning.  Presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, Orlando, FL. (April 4, 2011).

Metcalf, S.J., Tutwiler, M.S. Kamarainen, A., Grotzer, T.A. & Dede, C. (2011, April). Learning complex causality in ecosystems via a multi-user virtual environment. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 8, 2011.

Metcalf, S.J., Kamarainen, A., Grotzer, T.A. & Dede, C. (2011, April). Ecosystem science learning via multi-user virtual environments. American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 9, 2011.

Grotzer, T.A., Tutwiler, M.S., Dede, C. Kamarainen, A., & Metcalf, S. (2011, April). Helping students learn more expert framing of complex causal dynamics in ecosystems using EcoMUVE. Presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, Orlando, FL. (April 4, 2011).

Metcalf, S.J., Kamarainen, A., Grotzer, T.A. & Dede, C. (2011, March). EcoMUVE: Advancing ecosystems science education via situated collaborative learning in multi-user virtual environments.  The Cyberlearning Tools for STEM Education (CyTSE) Conference San Francisco, CA, (March 8, 2011).

Metcalf, S., Dede, C., Grotzer, T., & Kamarainen, A. (2011, March). EcoMUVE: Exploring ecosystems and complex causal patterns in immersive virtual worlds. National Science Teachers Association Conference, San Francisco, CA, March 12,

Arsenault, T., Grotzer, T., & Powell, M (2011, March). Teaching causal complexity in science: A professional development website for teachers.  National Science Teachers Association Conference, San Francisco, CA, March 12, 2011.

Grotzer, T.A., Basca, B., & Donis, K. (2011). Causal patterns in ecosystems: Lessons to infuse into ecosystems units: Second Edition. Cambridge, MA: President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Metcalf, S.J., Kamarainen, A., M.S. Tutwiler, Grotzer, T.A. & Dede, C. J. (in press). Ecosystem science learning via multi-user virtual environments. International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations.

Grotzer, T.A. (2010). Reasoning about causal complexity in science and beyond. Cambridge, MA: President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Grotzer, T.A. (2010, August). Conceptual challenges in climate change education: Reasoning across time scales. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA (August 2, 2010).

Kamarainen, A., Metcalf, S., Dede, C. & Grotzer, T.A. (2010). EcoMUVE: Promoting ecosystems science learning via multi-user virtual assessments. Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA (August 3, 2010).

Metcalf, S., Dede, C., Grotzer, T., Kamarainen, A. (2010, May). EcoMUVE: Design of Virtual Environments to Address Science Learning Goals. American Educational Research Association, Denver, Co. May 3, 2010.

Liu, D. & Grotzer, T.A. (2010, March). Teaching 21st Century Science. National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

Wong, A., Morris, L., Jasti, C., Liu, D, & Grotzer, T.A. (2009). Nature of scientific thinking: Lessons designed to develop understanding of the nature of science and modeling.  Cambridge, MA: President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Honey, R., & Grotzer, T.A. (2009, April).  Cultural Diversity in the Classroom: Salish/Kootenai Students’ Perceptions of Ecosystem Relationships.  Poster presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Annual International Conference, Orange Grove, CA, April 18, 2009.

Grotzer, T.A., Dede, C., Metcalfe, S., & Clarke, J. (2009, April). Addressing the challenges in understanding ecosystems: Why getting kids outside may not be enough. National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, Orange Grove, CA, April 18, 2009.

Liu, Y. & Grotzer, T.A. (2009). Looking forward: Teaching the nature of the science of today and tomorrow. In I.M. Saleh & M.S. Khine (Eds.) Fostering scientific habits of mind: Pedagogical knowledge and best practices in science education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Grotzer, T.A (2009). Learning to reason about evidence and causal explanations: Promising directions in education. In A. Noble (Ed.) K-16 Education and Evidence- Based Policy, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, MA.

Grotzer, T.A., & Mittlefehdlt, S. (in press). Students' metacognitive behavior and ability to transfer causal concepts, In A. Zohar & J. Dori (Eds.) Metacognition and science education. Cambridge, MA: Springer.

Grotzer, T., & Honey, R. (2008, August). Tacit Assumptions that Limit Understanding of Ecosystems, Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI. (August, 4, 2008).

Heffner-Wong, A., Grotzer, T.A., & Morris, L. (2008, March).  The Nature of Scientific Thinking: Assessing How Students Respond to Lessons Designed to Develop Understanding of the Nature of Science and Modeling.  Paper presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Annual International Conference, Baltimore, MD.

Grotzer, T.A., & Lincoln, R. (2007). Educating for "intelligent environmental action" in an age of global warming, in S. Moser & L. Dilling (Eds.) Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Perkins, D.N., & Grotzer, T.A. (2005). Dimensions of causal understanding: The role of complex causal models in students' understanding of science. Studies in Science Education, 41, 117-166.

DeVito, B., & Grotzer, T.A. (2005, April). Characterizing Discourse in Two Science Classrooms by the Cognitive Processes Demonstrated by Students and Teachers. Paper presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, Dallas, TX.

Grotzer, T.A. (2005, April). Transferring Structural Knowledge about the Nature of Causality to Isomorphic and Non-Isomorphic Topics. Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference, Montreal, Quebec.

Grotzer, T.A. (2004, October). Putting everyday science within reach: Addressing patterns of thinking that limit science learning. Principal Leadership,16-21.

Grotzer, T.A., & Sudbury, M. (2004). Causal patterns in simple circuits. President and Fellows of Harvard College for Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.

Basca, B.B., & Grotzer, T.A. (2003). Causal patterns in air pressure-related phenomena. President and Fellows of Harvard College for Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.

Grotzer, T.A. (2003). Learning to understand the forms of causality implicit in scientific explanations. Studies in Science Education. 39, 1-74.

Grotzer, T.A., & Basca, B.B. (2003). Helping students to grasp the underlying causal structures when learning about ecosystems: How does it impact understanding? Journal of Biological Education, 38,(1)16-29.

Grotzer, T.A. (2003, March). Transferring structural knowledge about the nature of causality: An empirical test of three levels of transfer. Paper presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

Mittlefehldt, S., & Grotzer, T.A. (2003, March). Using metacognition to facilitate the transfer of causal models in learning density and pressure. Paper presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

Ritscher, R., Lincoln, R., & Grotzer, T.A. (2003, March). Understanding density and pressure: How students' meaning-making impacts their transfer of causal models. Paper presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, Philadelphia, PA.

Grotzer, T.A. (2002). Causal patterns in ecosystems. Cambridge, MA: Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Grotzer, T.A. (2002). Expanding our vision for educational technology: Procedural, conceptual, and structural knowledge. Educational Technology, 42(2) 52-59.

Basca, B.B., & Grotzer, T.A. (2001, April). Focusing on the nature of causality in a unit on pressure: How does it affect students understanding? Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA.

Bell, B., Carroll, R., & Grotzer, T.A. (2000, April). How causal models can help or hinder an understanding of force and motion concepts. Paper presented at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Conference, Orlando.

Bell-Basca, B., Grotzer, T.A., Donis, K., & Shaw, S. (2000, April). Using domino and relational causality to analyze ecosystems: Realizing what goes around comes around. Paper presented at the National Association of Research in science Teaching, New Orleans, LA.

Donis, K., & Grotzer, T.A. (2000, April). Teaching about domino and cyclic causality to help students understand ecosystems. Paper presented at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Conference, Orlando.

Edgar, M., & Grotzer, T.A. (2000, April). Causal dimensions that create difficulty in understanding evolution. Paper presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, New Orleans, LA.

Grotzer, T.A. (2000, April). How conceptual leaps in understanding the nature of causality can limit learning: An example from electrical circuits. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Grotzer, T.A., & Perkins, D.N. (2000, April). A taxonomy of causal models: The conceptual leaps between models and students’ reflections on them. Paper presented at the annual conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, New Orleans, LA.

Grotzer, T.A., & Sudbury, M. (2000, April). Moving beyond underlying linear causal models of electrical circuits. Paper presented at the annual conference of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, New Orleans, LA.

Houghton, C., Record, K., Bell, B., & Grotzer, T.A. (2000, April). Conceptualizing density with a relational systemic model. Paper presented at the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) Conference, New Orleans, LA.

Perkins, D.N., & Grotzer, T.A. (2000, April). Models and moves: Focusing on dimensions of causal complexity to achieve deeper scientific understanding. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

Sudbury, M., Grotzer, T.A., & Bell, B. (2000, April). Helping students learn about electricity by examining their causal stories. Paper presented at the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Conference, Orlando.

Grotzer, T.A., & Bell, B.B. (1999). Negotiating the funnel: Guiding students toward understanding elusive generative concepts. In L. Hetland & S. Veenema (Eds.), The Project Zero Classroom: Views on Understanding. Cambridge, MA: Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School of Education.

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.

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