Supporting Complex Cognitive Skills

The ability to interpret and apply cases is a skill that is a key to successful transferable learning. In this work, we make the following claim: If learners in project-based inquiry classes are able to understand, engage in, and carry out the processes involved in interpreting and applying cases effectively to their projects, they will not only learn those cases contents and lessons deeply and be able to apply those lessons later, but they may also be able to transfer interpretation and application skills to some other learning situations where application of cases is appropriate. This work seeks to understand and describe the path along which middle-school students in a project-based inquiry learning environment acquire and develop the skills needed to apply expert cases to solve science problems. We do this in the context of a system of scaffolds designed such that students will be scaffolded as cognitive apprenticeship suggests whether working individually, in groups, or as a class.