CRADLE Lab Projects

CRADLE Lab has a long history of applying complex systems approaches for science education with both teachers and students. Our projects have included the creation of cutting-edge professional development programming for teachers, the design of novel high school science curricula and lessons, and the generation of new extracurricular learning experiences for students. A complete list of projects can be found below.

Current Projects

CRADLE Lab is currently engaged in two large-scale NSF-funded research projects. “Developing Teachers' Epistemic Cognition and Teaching Practices for Supporting Students' Epistemic Practices with Scientific Systems” (DeTECT) aims to support the development of teachers’ epistemic instructional repertoires to support growth in students’ epistemic knowledge and practices using models of complex systems. “Professional Development Supports for Teaching Bioinformatics through Mobile Learning” aims to promote computational and scientific action in local urban communities through the collection and analysis of bioinformatics data.

Professional Development Supports for Teaching Bioinformatics through Mobile Learning (K-12 Bioinformatics)

The major goal of the project is to co-construct and field-test multidisciplinary high school lessons organized around bioinformatics concepts through existing educational research.  The lessons engage students in real-world data collection to investigate air quality issues and their relationship with asthma by using a mobile phone and sensors to collect local data in students’ neighborhoods (e.g., particulate matter 2.5 and carbon monoxide). These lessons are anchored in culturally meaningful learning,  real-world inquiry, data literacy, contextualization with mobile technology, and cognitively-rich pedagogies through problem-based learning (PBL).

Over the course of this project, we have: (a) designed an entirely novel bioinformatics curriculum for high school students; (b) partnered with teachers to enact that curriculum with hundreds of high school students from a diverse set of partner schools; (c) run a variety of in-person and online workshops with 15 high school science teachers in the greater Philadelphia area; (d) constructed and delivered a fully online professional development (PD) experience using edX; and (e) designed new methods for teacher training that promote teacher pedagogical content knowledge for data literacy and resource activation.

K-12 Bioinformatics is funded by the NSF Discovery Research K-12 program. More information can be found here.

Related Projects

DeTECT: Developing Teachers’ Epistemic Cognition and Teaching Practices for Supporting Students’ Epistemic Practices with Scientific Systems

The ultimate goal of DeTECT is to support the development of students’ epistemic practices and cognition while promoting their interest and skills in investigating and evaluating scientific phenomena. To accomplish this goal, we are constructing, delivering, and pilot testing a high-quality teacher professional development program using complex systems curricula and agent-based simulations that promote teachers’ ability to recognize and strategize ways to develop their students’ epistemic cognition.

Over the course of this project, we have: (a) run a variety of in-person and online workshops with 12 expert partner teachers from the USA, India, and Kenya; (b) designed novel PD resources to support the integration of opportunities for robust and authentic epistemic practices inside real-world classrooms; (c) developed a new complex systems curriculum and agent-based simulation on StarLogo Nova to engage students in a realistic pandemic investigation; (d) adapted an existing complex systems curriculum (see: BioGraph in the “Past Projects” page) to promote additional opportunities for students to engage in meaningful epistemic practices and to more directly incorporate socioscientific issues (SSIs); and (e) supported the implementation of these new curricular resources with hundreds of students across the globe.

DeTECT is funded by the NSF Discovery Research K-12 program. More information can be found here.

Related Projects

CRADLE Lab has conducted a wide range of research projects funded by NSF, the Milken Foundation, the Lenovo Foundation, and other institutions. These projects include (among many others): BioGraph—Graphical Programming for Constructing Complex Systems Understanding in Biology; BioGraph 2.0—Professional Development for High School Biology Teachers for Teaching and Learning About Complex Systems; App Inventor for Socioscientific Issues to Build Engagement in STEM, and Nanotechnology and Bioengineering in Philadelphia Public Schools; and SPARK—Igniting Interest and Achievement in STEM through Engineering Design.

Past Projects

BioGraph 2.0: Professional Development for High School Biology Teachers for Teaching and Learning About Complex Systems

Our team designed a large-scale fully online PD program to improve access to BioGraph resources and high-quality pedagogical practices at relatively low cost. This program was hosted on edX and was accessed by hundreds of teachers from across the globe. As a result of this program, the BioGraph curriculum was implemented with thousands of students in a wide range of diverse educational contexts. As with the original BioGraph program, the simulations and curricular resources can be found on the BioGraph Moodle site.

BioGraph 2.0 was funded by NSF through its Discovery Research K-12 (DRK12) program from 2017 to 2021. More information about the NSF project can be found here.

BioGraph: Graphical Programming for Constructing Complex Systems Understanding in Biology

Our team developed agent-based simulations and a five-lesson high school biology curriculum to support the teaching of complex systems ideas and concepts in high school science classrooms. The simulations and curriculum were developed in strong partnership with high school science teachers, many of whom still collaborate with CRADLE Lab to this day. The simulations and curricular resources can be found onthe BioGraph Moodle site. These simulations and curricular resources served as a foundational building block for the DeTECT project.

BioGraph was funded by NSF through its Discovery Research K-12 (DRK12) program from 2010 to 2015. More information about the NSF project can be found here.

ARIEL: Augmented Reality for Interpretive and Experiential Learning

This project integrated augmented reality (AR) learning experiences into an exhibit at the Franklin Institute Science Museum. These experiences were targeted primarily towards middle school-aged students and covered topics such as aerodynamics and physics.

ARIEL was funded by NSF through its AISL program from 2008 to 2014. More information about the NSF project can be found here.

App Inventor for Socioscientific Issues to Build Engagement in STEM

This project supported middle school students as they developed their own app to address or raise awareness about locally-relevant socio-scientific issues of their choosing. Over the course of this program, students learned to use the App Inventor programming language before utilizing an iterative process to design, adapt, and revise student-generated apps to challenge the issues that students found most personally relevant.

App Inventor for Socio-scientific Issues to Build Engagement in STEM was funded by the University Research Fund and the Milken Foundation from 2016 to 2017.

Nanotechnology and Bioengineering in Philadelphia Public Schools

This project involved partnering with teachers and guidance counselors from 18 schools across the great Philadelphia area to increase student knowledge of nanotechnology and bioengineering,  enhance student skills at using information and educational technologies, and increase student awareness of post-secondary educational opportunities and careers in science, technology, and engineering. Through a series of workshops, online communications and support, field trips, and a community expo, thousands of high school students were impacted by this project.

This project was funded by NSF through its ITEST program from 2008 to 2012. More information about the NSF project can be found here.

SPARK: Igniting Interest and Achievement in STEM through Engineering Design

"SPARK!" was a weekend and summer OST program based around problem-solving and engineering design for grade 4-8 students. The program presented students with design challenges related to zoo habitats, biotechnology, and robotics, with activities taking place at the Philadelphia Zoo, the iPRAXIS Center, and Penn Engineering laboratories.

SPARK was funded by NSF through its AYS program from 2006 to 2008. More information about the NSF project can be found here.

Other Projects

A Penn-West Philadelphia/Philadelphia Public School Partnership to Develop Innovative and Sustainable Ways for Technology to Positively Impact Learning (Lenovo Foundation, 2011-2012)

Headstart to High School Science in West Philadelphia Schools, a summer project focused on socioscientific issues for middle school students (Lindback Foundation, 2006-2008)