The Use of Multiple, Linked Representations to Facilitate Science Understanding

Since the 1960s, the information-processing approach to cognitive psychology has characterized thinking in terms of internal mental structures, or representations, and the operations that are performed on these structures (Newell & Simon, 1972). An important component of this approach has been research on expertise (Chi, Feltovich, & Glaser, 1989; Glaser & Chi, 1988; Larkin, McDermott, Simon & Simon, 1980). This research has provided us with detailed descriptions of the mental structures and processes that characterize how experts understand a domain (e.g., physics, chemistry, etc.), and how this understanding differs from that of novices.