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I understand Stephen's point that tasks are more meaningful when the inquiry is led by the students. During the summer, I run a habitat improvement workshop where students identify an environmental problem on the school grounds, devise a plan to correct it, write a grant to secure funds, and then carry it out. This learning is meaningful to students, no doubt, because they do own it.
During the school year, however, I am limited to the predetermined objectives that are provided for me by the state of Maryland. Therefore, it is not feasible for all of my science classes to design their own inquiry on a daily basis, because first of all, it would be impossible to manage and also, it would not always lead to the learning of the objectives that the state defines. What would exist in a perfect world is not always possible in reality.
Bethany Swiston
Grade 5 Teacher
Baltimore County, MD
________________________________
From: Informal Science Education Network on behalf of Stephen Uzzo
Sent: Wed 6/9/2004 9:44 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: technology in science
ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
*****************************************************************************
All -
I think it is important that we understand what the role of a particular
technology is before we ask kids to use it. If you are using Probeware
and computers to perform data logging. The probes are extensions of our
senses, so it is useful to decide if the senses need extending.
A lot has been said about making sure that technology is used when its
needed, and not for its own sake (unless, as some have pointed out, the
objective is to learn about the technology itself). In my experience,
kids need to have an objective for whatever work they do: either fun or
useful work will do, but some reason for doing it. Fun could be defined
as experimentation, open-ended inquiry, depending on how (or if) it is
being facilitated by knowledgeable mentors. The important thing is that
the are constructing knowledge and asking questions. Ideally activities
are being designed BY the kids to answer a question or decide what new
questions need to be asked: Open-ended, guided inquiry involving
critical thinking skills. I think this gets to the core problem of most
forms of technology used in education. If they are tools for inquiry,
and the kids, as Eric Siegel stated earlier: "own" the process and
knowledge which results, then we have done our job. If they are viewing
a canned presentation, or simply reconfiguring existing knowledge
(making their own presentation) then someone else "owns" it and there is
less reason to do it.
Of course, this is messy, but I would rather see a powerbook or palm
computer used for data acquisition come back from the field covered with
dirt, than to have it spend most of its time in a sterile classroom
environment and only be used for structured workshops.
As far as the effectiveness of such teaching. I wouldn't bother
evaluating it based on tick boxes on an evaluation form. Let the kids
explain to you why they used the process they did, what they would do
differently to improve the process, what's important about what they are
doing with it and how it makes them think differently about their
day-to-day lives. Just let the tape recorder roll, then evaluate
correlations, trends, and data patterns afterward. Just because science
is reductive, doesn't mean your evaluation of it need to be.
As far as the literature, there's plenty out there. Here are a few
references about how MBLs and technology affect learning:
Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., and Cocking, R.R., eds. How People Learn:
Brain, Mind Experience and School. Washington D.C.: National Academy
Press, 1999.
Chiu, Mei-Hung. Effectiveness of Microcomputer-Based Laboratories in
Teaching Scientific Skills and Concepts. PhD Dissertation, Harvard
University, 1990.
Mokros, J.R., and Tinker, R.F., The Impact of Microcomputer-based Labs
on Children's Ability to Interpret Graphs. Journal of Research in
Science Teaching, 24 1987, 369-83.
Nachmias, R. and Linn, M.C., Evaluations of Science Laboratory Data: The
Role of Computer Presented Information. Journal of Research in Science
Teaching, 24 1987, 491-506.
Scardamalia, M, and Bereite, C. Technologies for Knowledge-building
Discourse. Communications of the ACM 36 (5): 37-41. 1993
Svec, M.T. Effect of Microcomputer-Based Laboratory on Student's
Graphing Interpretation Skills and Conceptual Understanding of Motion.
Ph.D. Dissertation, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, Department of
Education, June 1994.
Thornton, Ronald K., and D.R. Sokoloff, Learning Motion Concepts Using
Real-Time Microcomputer-Based Laboratory Tools. American Journal of
Physics 58(9), 858-867, 1990.
Vigotsky, L.S. Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
1978
And my all time favorite on why NOT to use PowerPoint:
Tufte, Edward R. "The Cognitive Style of Powerpoint" Cheshire: Graphics
Press, 2003. (http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/powerpoint)
Happy Logging!
Swiston, Bethany L wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> I am a fifth grade science teacher at an elementary school in Baltimore County, and this year I have been provided with laptop computers and a variety of different scientific probes for use in the classroom. The students have been really motivated by using temperature probes, light sensors, and motion detectors in order to apply scientific concepts to real world problems.
>
> I was completely psyched about how the technology was impacting my instructional program, but I've recently read an article in which the author perceived technology in a negative light. She saw that using technology that is enjoyable promotes the perception that education should always be entertaining, although learning is sometimes a difficult and taxing process. She also thought that sometimes technology is used before students really have a grasp on the foundational concepts that are necessary in order to apply it. What are your thoughts on the positive and negative impacts of technology use in science?
>
>
>
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> More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
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--
Stephen Miles Uzzo
New York Hall of Science
Project Manager for Technology
47-01 111th Street
Flushing Meadows Corona Park
New York 11368 U.S.A.
v. +1.718.699.0005 x377
f. +1.718.699.1341
http://www.nyscience.org
"freedom and life are earned by those alone who conquer them each day anew."
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]
***********************************************************************
More information about the Informal Science Education Network and the
Association of Science-Technology Centers may be found at http://www.astc.org.
To remove your e-mail address from the ISEN-ASTC-L list, send the
message SIGNOFF ISEN-ASTC-L in the BODY of a message to
[log in to unmask]
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