Browsing by Author "Okamoto, Yukari"

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    Multidisciplinary Perspectives on a Video Case of Children Designing and Coding for Robotics
    (Taylor & Francis, 2017-05-05) Francis, Krista; Davis, Brent; Hawes, Zachary; Moss, Joan; Okamoto, Yukari; Sinclair, Nathalie; Bruce, Catherine D.; Drefs, Michelle A.; Hallowell, David A.; McGarvey, Lynn M.; Mulligan, Joanne T.; Whiteley, Walter J.; Woolcott, Geoff W.
    Spatial reasoning plays a vital role in choice of and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers, yet the topic is scarce in grade school curricula. We conjecture that this absence may be due to limited knowledge of how spatial reasoning is discussed and engaged across STEM professions. This study aimed to address that gap by asking 19 professionals to comment on a video that documented children's progression through 5 days of building and programming robots. Their written opinions on the skills relevant to their careers demonstrated by the children revealed that spatial thinking and design thinking are central to what they see.
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    Understanding gaps in research networks: using “spatial reasoning” as a window into the importance of networked educational research
    (Springer Nature, 2015-12-30) Bruce, Catherine D.; Davis, Brent; Sinclair, Nathalie; Francis, Krista; Hawes, Zachary; McGarvey, Lynn; Moss, Joan; Okamoto, Yukari; Hallowell, David A.; Drefs, Michelle A.; Mulligan, Joanne T.; Whiteley, Walter J.; Woolcott, Geoff W.
    This paper finds its origins in a multidisciplinary research group’s efforts to assemble a review of research in order to better appreciate how “spatial reasoning” is understood and investigated across academic disciplines. We first collaborated to create a historical map of the development of spatial reasoning across key disciplines over the last century. The map informed the structure of our citation search and oriented an examination of connection across disciplines. Next, we undertook a network analysis that was based on highly cited articles in a broad range of domains. Several connection gaps—that is, apparent blockages, one-way flows, and other limitations on communications among disciplines—were identified in our network analysis, and it was apparent that these connection gaps may be frustrating efforts to understand the conceptual complexity and the educational significance of spatial reasoning. While these gaps occur between the academic disciplines that we evaluated, we selected a few examples for closer analysis. To illustrate how this lack of flow can limit development of the field of mathematics education, we selected cases where it is evident that researchers in mathematics education are not incorporating the important work of mathematicians, psychologists, and neuroscientists—and vice versa. Ultimately, we argue, a more pronounced emphasis on transdisciplinary (versus multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary) research might be timely, and perhaps even necessary, in the evolution of educational research