Cristina Wilson, PhD
2023 Seed Grant Awardee
Project Description
Data Simulations
The actual “doing” of science – investigating the natural world through the practices of science inquiry – has traditionally been underemphasized in science education. The reasons for this are twofold: one, because up until recently, we possessed only a limited understanding of how expert field scientists go about generating data collection strategies and how learning from data impacts their strategy adaptation; and two, because getting students access to place-based learning experiences is challenging for a variety of reasons.
To address the education gap in field science practices, the proposed project, Data Simulations, leverages the expertise of Dr. Cristina Wilson, on how working scientists make field data collection decisions, and Infiniscope, to create digital learning content that enables students to experience planning and carrying out field science investigations.
Target Audience Age
| 0-4 | 5-10 | 11-14 | 14-18 | 19-22 | 23-26 | 27-99 |
NASA Division
Cross-Division
Grant Status
Learning Context
Digital Learning
Neighborhood /
Community
Informal /
Out of School
Home / Family
Citizen Science
Formal Education
SME Bio
I am looking forward to drawing on the expertise of the Infiniscope team to create digital learning content that maximizes pedagogical value and student interest. I do not have any experience in generating science curriculum, and so will strongly benefit from the guidance of my collaborators.
Dr. Cristina Wilson
Data Simulations PI
Research Associate
Oregon State University
The outcome of the project will be a new digital learning experience where users form data collection strategies to investigate multiple competing hypotheses, and receive real-time data that can be used to revise strategies and reach hypothesis conclusions. The purpose of the simulated field data collection scenario will be to educate and engage users about how expert scientists make data collection decisions, which is particularly important in anticipation of public outreach for NASA’s Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. The development of the scenario would also coincide with a larger effort by Infiniscope to create digital learning content about the MSR mission. The scenario would therefore help to inform the approach taken to building future Infiniscope content on hypothesis-driven data collection.
SciAct Team
Infiniscope Description
Infiniscope is a NASA-funded project that is transforming Earth and space science education and empowering educators through the creation of high-quality adaptive digital learning experiences, educator professional development, a community of practice, creative tools for designing digital content, and a robust set of educator resources.
Infiniscope gets to work with an early career scientist to take something that they have already created, a simulated field data collection scenario, and then augment that with the power of the authoring tools that Infiniscope offers for its adaptive learning platform. It’s exciting to see how the science community can leverage Infiniscope’s tools in order to share their knowledge with the larger education and outreach community.