RAPT Lab: Representations, Activity, Play, and Technology Lab
About RAPT Lab
We are broadly interested in how people learn in complex, real-world circumstances. However, as our acronym indicates we have a number of areas we focus on depending on the project:
- Representations: Representations are anything that stands for something else. A name, word, picture or diagram can each refer to the same object or idea, transforming how we understand that object or idea. We are interested in all kinds of representations including drawings, pictures, graphs, plays, skits, and computer simulations.
- Activity: We build on sociocultural theories of learning, which highlight the fact that people are always acting in a social world, often in pursuit of one or more goals.
- Play: Play is both a powerful motivator and a key element of human learning and development. We are interested in exploring what kinds of play, and how it can be organized to support learning.
- Technology: We design new technologies that help bring people together to learn in new ways
Most of our projects combine these ideas together!
Recent publications
- Gerber, A., Park Rogers, M. Cross Francis, D., Danish, J., & Akerson, V. (2022, January). Exploring how a Professional Development Program Adapts to Support Elementary teachers Learning to Teach Science with Representations. Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE), Greenville, SC. paper abstract RepTal project info RepTal website
- Zhou, J., Hmelo-Silver, C.E., Danish, J., Ryan, Z., Stiso, C., Duncan, R. G., Chinn, C. A. & Murphy, D. (April 2022). Mediating scientific argumentation when students engage in modeling in small groups. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA. SEEDS project info SEEDS website
- Humburg, M., Craig, K., Szostalo, M., Danish, J., Hmelo-Silver, C., & McCranie, A. (2021). Noticing, Understanding, and Encouraging Positive Engagement with Collaborative History Learning. Paper presented at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the International Society of the Learning Sciences (ISLS), Bochum, Germany (held virtually due to COVID-19). paper Net.Create project info Net.Create website
- Humburg, M. A., Craig, K., Danish, J., & Szostalo, M. (2021). Fostering Historical Empathy Through Network Analysis: Personal Experiences as a Lens for Understanding the Past. Paper presented at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), held virtually (due to COVID-19). Net.Create project info Net.Create website