The Leonardo project is designing, developing and investigating an intelligent cyberlearning system for interactive scientific modeling in elementary science education. Students in Grades 4 and 5 are using Leonardo’s intelligent virtual science notebooks to create and experiment with interactive models of science phenomena. As students design, test, and share their models, Leonardo’s intelligent virtual assistants engage them in meaning-making exchanges in which students interactively devise explanations and make predictions. With a curricular focus on the physical sciences, Leonardo scaffolds students’ modeling experiences with advice and explanations that are tailored to individual problem-solving episodes.
The Leonardo project investigates the cognitive mechanisms by which learning occurs. Specifically, it studies the central issues of problem solving and engagement with respect to achievement as measured by both science content knowledge and transfer. With diverse student populations across the U.S. drawn from both urban and rural settings, studies are investigating precisely which technologies and conditions contribute most effectively to learning processes and outcomes.
The Leonardo project is yielding findings and technologies that will inform the development of future cyberlearning systems. In particular, it is seeing the development and investigation of cyberlearning technologies that will form the foundation for context-sensitive scaffolding functionalities. Through an iterative refinement process in which new versions of Leonardo are created, piloted in classrooms, and improved, the project is developing technologies that lead to engaging, effective learning experiences.
The Leonardo project is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DRL-1020229, The Leonardo Project: An Intelligent Cyberlearning System for Interactive Scientific Modeling in Elementary Science Education. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.