  The ability to express scientific concepts in mathematical terms and
integrate scientific and mathematical reasoning about a phenomenon is a
foundational cognitive process involved in scientific thinking. This process
called blended math-science sensemaking (blended MSS) is a desired skill for
all STEM students, but few students are learning it, and there is little
research on how to teach it. In this work we introduce the development and
testing of a novel instructional method for teaching blended (MSS) that is
suitable for use in STEM courses in undergraduate and K-12 educational
settings. This study builds on our past work on developing and validating a
framework for characterizing in detail the cognitive levels involved in such
sensemaking. This work uses the unique power of interactive simulations for
assessing and developing blended MSS. We designed instructional activities to
help students use blended MSS in the contexts of heat capacity and Coulombs
law. The Heat Capacity activity was piloted in a freshmen Chemistry course and
the Coulombs law activity was piloted in a freshmen Physics course. The results
indicate that for students who came in with no knowledge of the relevant
equation the activity supported the development of both the equation, and their
understanding of the mathematical relationships of the equation. These results
indicate that the teaching approach helps students engage in blended MSS at
higher levels of cognitive complexity.
