Cognitive Studies of Science Learning

Cognitive studies constitute a core research area in science education at HBCSE. These studies have had a significant impact on curriculum development and practice of teacher education at the Centre and also nationally.  Cognitive research at HBCSE has drawn from a range of field experiences within and outside the formal school system.  Graduate Courses on Cognitive Science form part of  HBCSE's Ph.D. Programme in Science Education.  

Ongoing projects are 

• Visual and Spatial Reasoning
• Refined Concept Mapping.

Publications  (See also Biology Education, Chemistry Education, Physics Education)

In Journals 

• Chandrasekharan, S. (2013). The Cognitive Science of Feynmen. Metascience. 22, p. 647–652.
• Chandrasekharan, S., Binsted, G., Ayers F., Higgins, L., & Welsh T. N. (2012). Factors that affectation possibility judgments: Recent experience with the action and current body state. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 65(5), 976-993.
• Vinisha, K. and Ramadas, J. (2013). Visual Representations of the watercycle in science textbooks, Contemporary Education Dialogue, 10(1), pp. 7-36.

• Chandrasekharan, S., Tovey, M. (2012). Sum, quorum, tether: Design principles for external representations that promote sustainability. Pragmatics and cognition. 20(3), 447-482.
• Haydock, K. (2011). Why do we have problems learning and teaching science? Contemporary Education Dialogue 8: 257.
• Padalkar, S. and Ramadas, J. (2011). Designed and spontaneous gestures in elementary astronomy education, International Journal of Science Education, 33(12), pp. 1703-1739.
• Ramadas, J. (2009). Introduction to the Special Issue on "Visual and Spatial Modes in Science Learning". International Journal of Science Education, Vol 31(3), Special Issue on "Visual and Spatial Modes in Science Learning". pp. 297-299.
• Ramadas, J. (2009). Visual and spatial modes in science learning. International Journal of Science Education, Vol 31(3), Special Issue on "Visual and Spatial Modes in Science Learning".pp. 301-318.
• Kharatmal, M. (2009). Concept Mapping for Eliciting Students’ Understanding of Science. Indian Educational Review. 45(2), pp.31-43.
• Mathai, S. & Ramadas, J. (2009). Visuals and visualisation of human body systems. International Journal of Science Education, Vol 31(3), Special Issue on "Visual and Spatial Modes in Science Learning". pp. 431-458.
• Subramaniam, K. & Padalkar, S. (2009). Visualisation and reasoning in explaining the phases of the moon. International Journal of Science Education, Vol 31(3), Special Issue on "Visual and Spatial Modes in Science Learning". pp. 395-417.

• Bardapurkar, A. (2008). Do Students See the “Selection” in Organic Evolution? A Critical Review of the Causal Structure of Student Explanations. Evolution: Education and Outreach 1 (3), 299-305.
• Padalkar, S. and Ramadas, J. (2008) Modeling the round earth through diagrams. Astronomy Education Review, 6 (2), 54-74.
• Kala, L. and J. Ramadas, J. (2001). History and Philosophy of Science, Cognitive Science and Science Education: Issues at the Interface, Indian Educational Review, 37 (2).
• Ramadas, J. and Nair, U. R. (1996). The Systems Concept as a Tool in Understanding Ideas about the Digestive System, International Journal of Science Education, 18 (3), 355-68.
• Ramadas, J., Barve, S. and Kumar, A. (1996). Alternative Conceptions in Galilean Relativity (III): Inertial and Non-inertial Frames International Journal of Science Education, 18 (5), 611-26.
• Ramadas, J., Barve, S. and Kumar, A. (1996). Alternative Conceptions in Galilean Relativity (II): Distance, Time, Energy and Laws International Journal of Science Education, 18 (4), 463-78.
• Panse. S., Ramadas, J. and Kumar, A. (1994). Alternative Conceptions in Galilean Relativity (I): Frames of Reference, International Journal of Science Education, 16 (1), 63-82.
• Ramadas, J. and Driver, R. (1992). Response to Martin Monk's Paper,`Genetic Epistemological Notes on Recent Research into Children's Understanding of Light, International Journal of Science Education, 14 (1), 123-126.
• Ramadas, J. (1982). Use of Ray Diagrams in Optics, School Science, XX, 10-17.
• Ramadas, J. and Kulkarni, V. G. (1982). Pupil Participation and Curriculum Relevance, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 19 (5), 357-365.

In Books

• Chandrasekharan, S. (2014). Becoming knowledge: Cognitive and neural mechanisms that support scientific intuition. In L. M. Osbeck & B. S. Held (Eds.), Rational Intuition: Philosophical Roots, Scientific

  Investigations (pp. 307-337). New York: Cambridge University Press

• Srivastava, A. and Ramadas, J. (2013). Analogy and Gesture for Mental Visualization of DNA Structure.  In Treagust, D.F. & Tsui, C.-Y. (Eds.), Multiple Representations in Biological Education. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. [ PDF ] [ PDF Extended version ]
• Chandrasekharan, S., Nersessian, N. J., Subramaniam, V. (2012). Computational modeling: Is this the end of thought-experiments in science? In J. Brown, m. Frappier & L. Meynell (Eds.), Thought experiments in philosophy, science and the arts. (pp.239-259). London: Routledge.
• Welsh, T. N., Chandrasekharan, S., Neyedli, H. F., Ray, M. C., Chua,R., & Weeks, D.J. (2012). Perceptual-motor interaction: Some implications for human-computerinteraction. In, J.A. Jacko (Ed.), Human computer interaction handbook (3rd ed., pp.3-20). Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Nagarjuna G. and Meena Kharatmal (2011): A Proposal for Developing a Primer for Constructing and Analyzing Conceptual Structures. In S. Andrews et al. (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence: Vol 6828. Conceptual Structures - Learning Teaching and Assessment. In International Conference on Conceptual Structures: Conceptual Structures for Discovering Knowledge (p. 402-405). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-22688-5_36
• Kharatmal, M. and Nagarjuna G. (2010). Introducing rigor in concept maps.  In M. Croitoru, S. Ferre, and D. Lukose (Eds.), Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence: Vol. 6208. International Conference on Conceptual Structures: From Information to Intelligence (p. 199-202). Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag. Doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-14197-3_22

• Ramadas J. (2008). Visual-spatial Modes in Science Learning. In B. Choksi and C. Natarajan (Eds.) epiSTEME-2 Research Trends in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (epiSTEME Reviews Volume 2), Mumbai: Macmillan India, 2008.
• Mathai, S. and Ramadas, J. (2006). The visual and verbal as modes to express understanding of the human body, In D. Barker-Plummer, R. Cox and N. Swoboda (Eds.): Diagrammmatic Representation and Inference, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, LNAI 4045 (pp. 173-175). Berlin and Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. [ PDF ]
• Ramadas, J. and Shayer, M. (1993). Schematic Representations in Optics, In P. Black and A. Lucas (Eds.), Children's Informal Ideas: Towards Construction of Working Theories, Routledge, London.

• Ramadas, J. (1990). Motion in children's Drawings, In I. Harel (Ed.) Constructionist Learning: A 5th Anniversary Collection of Papers, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.

Ph.D. Theses

• Atanu Bandyopadhyay. Cognitive Studies in Relativity.  June 2011, TIFR Deemed University (For Publications see Physics Education)

• Sindhu Mathai. Visual Depictions and Mental Visualisation of Human Body Systems in Middle School Students. January 2011, TIFR Deemed University  
• Shamin Padalkar: Spatial Cognition and Visualization in Elementary Astronomy Education. February 2011, TIFR Deemed University 
• Abhijeet Bardapurkar. Understanding Causality in Natural Selection: Towards the Problematic of Learning Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. February 2009, TIFR Deemed University (For Publications see Biology Education)

Books

Special Issues 

• Ramadas, J. (2009): International Journal of Science Education Special Issue on ``Visual and Spatial Modes in Science Learning''.

• International Journal of Science Education Vol: 31 (3) Special Issue

  Articles published in the International Journal of Science Education, Special Issue on "Visual and Spatial Modes in Science Learning" [2008] [copyright Taylor & Francis]; International Journal of Science Education is available at http://journalsonline.tandf.co.uk/
• Ramadas, J. (Ed.) (1997): Proceedings of the International Workshop on the Cognitive Bases of Learning (December 7-12, 1995), Homi Bhabha Centre For Science Education, Mumbai.
• Vivek, 9 (2), Quarterly on Artificial Intelligence, Special issue on "Cognitive Bases of Learning'' National Centre for Software Technology, Mumbai, April 1996.
• Vivek, 8 (4), Quarterly on Artificial Intelligence, Special issue on "Cognitive Bases of Learning'' National Centre for Software Technology, Mumbai, October 1995.

 In Proceedings 

• Sharma, A., & Chunawala, S. (2015). Using Diagrams in Inclusive Learning Situations. In Chandrasekharan, S., Murthy, S., Banerjee, G., Muralidhar, A. (Eds.). Proceedings epiSTEME 6: International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. Cinnamonteal. pp 117-124
• Kothiyal, A., Majumdar, R., Pande, P., Agarwal, H., Ranka, A., & Chandrasekharan, S. (2014). How does representational competence develop? Explorations using a fully controllable interface and eye-tracking. In Liu, C.-C. et al. (Eds.), Workshop Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Computers in Education, November 30- December 4, 2014 (pp. 738-743). Nara, Japan: ICCE 2014 organizing committee/Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.
• Majumdar, R., Kothiyal, A., Pande, P., Agarwal, H., Ranka, A., Murthy, S., & Chandrasekharan, S. (2014). The enactive equation: Exploring how multiple external representations are integrated, using a fully controllable interface and eye-tracking. In S. Murthy & Kinshuk (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sixth IEEE International Conference on Technology for Education, December 18-21, 2014 (pp. 233-240). Amrita University, Kerala: IEEE Conference Publications/ Conference Publishing Services.
• Pande, P., & Chandrasekharan, S. (2014). Categorization of multiple external representations by chemistry undergrads: An eye-tracking study. In Y.-J. Lee, N. T-L. Lim, K. S. Tan, H. E. Chu, P. Y. Lim, Y. H. Lim & I. Tan (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Science Education Conference 2014 (pp. 1393-1415). Singapore: NIE.
• Pande, P., & Chandrasekharan, S. (2014). Integration of multiple external representations in chemistry: A requirements-gathering study. In Liu, C.-C. et al. (Eds.), Workshop Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on Computers in Education, November 30- December 4, 2014 (pp. 732-737). Nara, Japan: ICCE 2014 organizing committee/Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.
• Pande, P., & Chandrasekharan, S. (2014). Eye-tracking in STEM education research: Limitations, experiences and possible extensions. In S. Murthy & Kinshuk (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sixth IEEE
  International Conference on Technology for Education, December 18-21, 2014 (pp. 116-119). Amrita University, Kerala: IEEE Conference Publications/ Conference Publishing Services.
  
• Kharatmal, M. and Nagarjuna G. (2013). Representing Change Using Concept Maps. In G. Nagarjuna et.al. (Eds.) Proceedings of epiSTEME 5 -- International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, p. 124-131. India: Cinnamonteal.
• Pande, P. and Ramadas, J. (2013). Measurement experiences and responses to length comparison, seriation and proportioning tasks. In Nagarjuna, G., A. Jamakhandi and Ebie M. Sam (Eds.) Proceedings of epiSTEME-5, pp. 145-151. Mumbai: HBCSE, TIFR.
• Kharatmal, M. and Nagarjuna G. (2011).  An Analysis of Growth of Knowledge Based on Concepts and Predicates---A Preliminary Study. In S. Chunawala & M. Kharatmal (Eds.) Proceedings of epiSTEME 4 -- International Conference to Review Research on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education, p. 144-149. India: Macmillan.
• Padalkar, S. and Ramadas, J. (2011). Using diagrams as an effective pedagogic tool in elementary astronomy. In Chunawala, S. and Kharatmal, M. (Eds.) Proceedings of epiSTEME-4 Conference, Mumbai, India, Jan 5-9, 2011, pp. 159-164.
• Kharatmal, M. and Nagarjuna, G. (2009). Refined Concept Maps for Science Education: A Feasibility Study   In K. Subramaniam & A. Majumdar (Eds.) epiSTEME 3 Third International Conference on Review of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. Mumbai: MacMillan Publishers Ltd.
• Padalkar, S. and Ramadas, J (2009). An indigenous approach to elementary astronomy - How cognitive research can help.In Subramaniam, K., & Mazumdar, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of Conference epiSTEME-3, Mumbai, India, 5-9 Jan 2009, 69-75.

   

• Kharatmal, M. and Nagarjuna, G. (2008). Exploring the Roots of Rigor: A Proposal of a Methodology for Analyzing the Conceptual Change from a Novice to an Expert  In A. Canas, P. Reiska, M. Ahlberg, J. Novak (Eds.) Concept Mapping: Connecting Educators. Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Concept Mapping. Tallinn, Estonia & Helsinki, Finland.
• Padalkar, S. and Ramadas, J. (2008) Indian students’ understanding of astronomy. In Electronic Proceedings of the Conference of Asian Science Education (CASE 2008), Kaohsiung, Taiwan, February 2008.
• Kharatmal, M. and Nagarjuna, G. (2007). An Alternative Proposal for Eliciting and Assessing Students’ Knowledge Structure  In C. Natarajan & B. Choksi (Eds.) epiSTEME 2 Second International Conference on Review of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. Mumbai: MacMillan Publishers Ltd.
• Padalkar, S. and Subramaniam, K. (2007) Reasoning processes underlying the explanation of the phases of the moon, Proceedings of Episteme-2, 121-125.
• Mathai, S. and Ramadas, J. (2007). Visualising structure and function of the digestive system. Abstract for Gordon Research Conference on Visualisation in Science and Education Bryant University, Rhode Island, U.S.A., July 1-6.
  
• Kharatmal, M. and Nagarjuna, G. (2006). A Proposal To Refine Concept Mapping for Effective Science Learning  In A. Canas, J. Novak (Eds.) Concept Maps: Theory, Methodology, Technology. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Concept Mapping. San Jose, Costa Rica.
• Kharatmal, M. and Nagarjuna, G. (2004). Understanding Science Through Knowledge Organizers In J. Ramadas & S. Chunawala (Eds.) epiSTEME 1 First International Conference on Review of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education. Mumbai: HBCSE.
• Chunawala, S., Natarajan, C. and Ramadas, J. (1999). Students' Ideas about Living and Non-living: An Indian Cross-cultural Study, Proceedings of the 9th Symposium of the International Organization for Science and Technology Education (IOSTE) - Volume 1, Durban, South Africa.
• Ramadas, J. (1992). Cognitive Issues in Science Learning, Proceedings of the Seminar on Language, Culture and Cognition, New Delhi.

Technical Reports

Lecture Notes

Book Reviews