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Making Sense of Graphs: Science Probes
and Multimedia Authoring
(Please note that the entire presentation consists
of a number of video clips that will make the download rather onerous. The
alternative has been to do screen captures and do annotations. We will discuss
the connections between PASCO probeware (or other types, if you want) and
multimedia authoring using eZediaMX (or your favorite tool) and why you
want to consider these tools. Click here to go
to the pages with the screen captures.
Let us begin the conversation.
"Science is a way of making sense of the natural world.
Scientists seek to describe its complexity, to explain its systems and
events, and to find the patterns that allow for predictions. Science is
the basis for the design of technologies that solve real-world problems."
(1) Put more poetically by nobel laureate, Richard Feynman, "the world
looks so different after learning science. For example, trees are made of
air, primarily. When they are burned, they go back to air, and in the flaming
heat is released the flaming heat of the sun which was bound in to convert
the air into tree. And in the ash is the small remnant of the part which
did not come from air, that came from the solid earth, instead. These are
beautiful things, and the content of science is wonderfully full of them.
They are very inspiring, and they can be used to inspire others."(2)
"Constructivism emerged from the realization that pre-existing knowledge
influences the way new knowledge is added to the individual's conceptual
model, modifying its subsequent meaning (Stahl, 1991). Educators increasingly
understand that private knowledge - the true conceptual framework of the
individual - may differ considerably from the public knowledge of science.
Therefore the goals of formal education have shifted from the relatively
straightforward process of transmitting information to the more complex task
of facilitating development of a meaningful conceptual framework (Brophy,
1992)." (5)
Science education is one of the easiest ways to engage students. Science
is exciting. It can also be very confusing, full of details, and not make
a lot of sense if you lack the conceptual map to link information. Research
such as noted previously, has revealed that the private, unspoken understandings
we have of a concept may vary considerably from the accuracy of that portrayal
in an empirical sense. We've also learned that we can drill on facts, but
that facts in isolation don't have much sticking power. What we want are
students with the stickiest minds ever. So, how do we create the super glue
that makes it happen?
Part of the answer to that question is dependent on the students in our
class. Each child brings a unique set of circumstances with them, along
with their own particular model of the world. We want to scaffold the learning
so that we give them ways to anchor to the experience we are crafting for
them as we develop the learning environment that will invite their participation.
Some days, that's easier said than done. Also, we don't always appreciate
what knowledge children bring to the classroom. It happens to all of us.
I remember a class of grade one children. We were doing the usual informal
chit-chat about what they did last night when they went home. One little fellow,
Mishkin, said that he went home and fed the lions. Considering that we lived
on the prairies, the likelihood of this was pretty far-fetched in my mind.
I nodded knowingly and said "that's nice" and moved on. I've never forgotten
Mishkin because he taught me an important lesson. You see, I had forgotten
there was a wild animal park in the city, and wouldn't you know it? Mishkin's
father worked there and he had indeed been feeding the lions.
Mishkin brought some rather rare experiences with him to the classroom.
Other children don't have the opportunities that Mishkin did. How do we
build a richer conceptual map of a topic before they dive into their experiments?
How do we mix the glue for the sticky minds we want to create? We suggest
that multimedia authoring may be part of the answer. Before you hit the brakes
and turn the other way, you should know that multimedia authoring is no
longer limited to the rarified atmosphere of those who are determined code
experts. It has become a drag and drop environment. Primary children can
now produce projects that the rest of us would have wondered at only a few
short years ago.
It isn't the novelty of multimedia authoring that is the power behind
it. The impact comes from the resources we can combine in multimedia to
craft a conversation about a topic. It goes beyond watching videos and surfing
the Internet. This process challenges the student to pull together the information
from multiple sources - text, video, audio, graphics, Internet, library,
community members - to support a clear line of reasoning. It gives them multiple
ways to expand their understanding of what an ocean is, for example. More
importantly, it gives them multiple ways to express their understanding.
This is where they make the implicit, explicit!
In our presentation for EdTech 2002, you'll have the chance to see what
can be done to move students from passively looking at a chart to annotating
it with multimedia. You'll get to think about what might happen in your
classroom when students start using simple logical tools as a way of expressing
their learning.
What we're proposing is that multimedia authoring combined with the resources
that are available through items such as the PASCO probes and software make
logical, supportive partners for learning. We're looking at a multi-step
process when it comes to examining a science topic, whether in a formal science
class or embedded in another curricular area. The steps we see that would
become part of a multimedia science notebook are as follows:
1. Why do we want to know about this topic? How does this matter in our
everyday situation?
- this gives us a chance to set the stage for what we will be doing
2. What do we know?
3. What do we want to know?
4. How are we going to find out?
- where will we get this information?
- what will our experiment be like? (DataStudio comes in at this point)
5. After the experiment has concluded and we've finalized our observations
and conclusions in DataStudio, we report back what we did find out.
6. Implications
- how does this help us understand things in our everyday world?
- what are some "next step" questions?
Coming soon - a template for a multimedia science notebook
that pulls it all together
Bibliography
1. Michican Content Standards and Draft Benchmarks
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/MichiganCurriculumFramework_8172_7.pdf
2. South Carolina Science Standards - Epigraph
http://www.myscschools.com/offices/cso/Science/Sciencest.htm
3. MCREL data base listing of science standards
http://www.mcrel.org/compendium/Benchmark.asp?SubjectID=2&StandardID=12
4. Learning from the fossil record: National Science Standards Matrix
(also has accompanying lessons)
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/index.html
5. Standards for Science Teacher Preparation: National Science Teachers
Association
in collaboration with the Association for the Education of Teachers
in Science
http://www.nsta.org/main/pdfs/nsta98standards.pdf
6. Tapping educational resources
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/fosrec/Resources.html
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