Transcript Using WebQuests & STELLA with Pre

Using WebQuests & STELLA
with Pre-Service Teachers
Richard Langheim, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Education
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Purpose
Engage in a conversation with educators
about developing effective techniques for
learning and using systems thinking and
dynamic modeling
Outline
Review some literature which supports
aspects of the effort
Draw some conclusions & reactions
Explain one effort at Ramapo College of
New Jersey [RCNJ] to foster systems
thinking
RCNJ Audience
Pre-service teacher education
[TE]students
No background in modeling
Varied background in math
Varied background in using technology
No background in using technology to
enhance learning & teaching
RCNJ Audience
Undergraduates or Post-Baccalaureates
No certified teachers
Elementary & Secondary candidates
Wide variety of disciplinary majors
No unsupervised classroom teaching
Pre-service TE Students - Kay
Evaluating Strategies Used to Incorporate
Technology into Pre-service Education: a
Review of the Literature
Robin Kay
Journal of Research on Technology in
Education - Vol. 38 No.4
Pre-service TE Students - Kay
Review of 68 referred journal articles
“…only a handful of studies have carefully
and rigorously pursued the evaluation
process.”
Pre-service TE Students - Kay
“Given the potential problems, it should
come as no surprise that pre-service
teachers are perceived as unprepared to
use technology.”
Pre-service TE Students - Kay
Kay Model
Multiple Strategies - integration with
content, workshops, single course,
multimedia
Authentic tasks & modeling the use of
technology by faculty and teachermentors
Attitude & ability
Pre-service TE Students - Kay
A rigorous research-based framework
for developing the effective use of
technology does not yet exist.
Bathtub Dynamics - Booth Sweeney & Sterman
o
Bathtub dynamics: initial results of a
systems thinking inventory
o
Linda Booth Sweeney, John D. Sterman
o
System Dynamics Review - Vol. 16 No. 4
Bathtub Dynamics - Booth Sweeney & Sterman
Surprisingly low level of performance by
numerous groups of students
Systems thinking is not intuitive nor easily
developed
Modeling - Penner
Cognition, Computers, and Synthetic
Science: Building Knowledge and
meaning Through Modeling
David Penner
Review of Research in Education, 20002001
Modeling - Penner
Carey - weak conceptual change or weak
restructuring
Enrichment process - develops new
relationships between concepts for
problem solving
Modeling - Penner
Carey - strong conceptual change or strong
restructuring
“… holds that people’s intuitive conceptions of
the natural world are often at odds with current
scientific understanding of phenomenon.”
“… a key goal in science education should be to
help students restructure or replace their
conceptions of the world.”
Modeling - Penner
“In order to use STELLA, students must
conceptualize a phenomenon in terms of four
types of icons available, regardless of their
current understanding and ways of thinking of
the phenomenon under investigation.”
Advocates use of ‘programmable media’ to
model phenomenon
Instructional Practice - Rakes
The Influence of Teachers’ Technology Use
on Instructional Practices
Glenda Rakes, Valerie S. Fields & Karee
E. Cox
Journal of Research on Technology in
Education Vol. 38 No.4
Instructional Practice - Rakes
Study of the relationship between the level
of technology implementation [LoTi] and
personal computer use by teachers [PCU]
on (constructivist) current instructional
practices of teachers [CIP]
Instructional Practice - Rakes
186 total 4th and 8th grade teachers with
123 voluntary participants
11 school districts
Rural, southern schools with 20% or more
below the poverty line
Instructional Practice - Rakes
“…teachers who scored higher on the
LoTi and the PCU have higher levels on
the CPI.”
Confirms Moersch 1999 study “…appropriate use of technology can
reinforce higher cognitive skill
development and complex thinking skills
as promoted through the use of
constructivist teaching practices.”
Technology Integration - Wright
From Preservice to Inservice Teaching: A
Study of Technology integration
Vivian H. Wright & Elizabeth K. Wilson
Journal of Computing in Teacher
Education vol. 22 No. 2
Technology Integration - Wright
Preservice social studies teachers
Methods block - pre & post survey of
perceptions of technology [22]
Student teaching - survey [11] & interview
and observations [3]
First year teaching - interview one in
teaching position and two in graduate
school
Technology Integration - Wright
“Overall, participants were more likely to
emulate what ‘they were taught’ than to
apply individually their own creative
technology integration plans.”
Technology in Schools - Wenglinsky
Using Technology Wisely: The Keys to
Success in Schools
Harold Wenglinsky
2005
Technology in Schools - Wenglinsky
Focuses upon student achievement NAEP results from 1996, 1998 and 2000
4th, 8th and 12th graders
Technology use across disciplines
Technology in Schools - Wenglinsky
“The effective use of educational technology is
enmeshed in the kind of pedagogy employed.”
“Constructivist uses of technology help students
learn better than they would otherwise,..”
“…whereas didactic uses of technology make
the technology useless or even damaging.”
Technology in Schools - Wenglinsky
“The date indicate that, of the nontechnological
instructional practices of teachers, it is
primarily the constructivist ones that are
associated with high student performance.”
Technology in Schools - Wenglinsky
“In math and science, computer use is
positively associated with student performance
when computers are used in a constructivist
fashion, and is either unassociated or
negatively associated with student performance
when computers are used in a didactic
fashion.”
Technology in Schools - Wenglinsky
“In reading, inferences are somewhat more
difficult to make but suggest that when students
use computers for word processing for metaanalytic purposes, student perform better, and
when they are used for spellchecking or reading
stories, students perform worse.”
The Challenge
Introduce students to systems thinking &
dynamic modeling
Develop student use of technology as a
tool to enhance learning through
webquests
Foster a constructivist approach to
teaching and technology
A Proposal - WebQuests & ST
Preservice teacher education students
Build instructional WebQuests
Involve using & building models
Explain phenomenon, model(s) and
instructional foundation of webquest to
peers, faculty and teachers
WebQuests - Dodge
Introduction
Tasks
Process
Evaluation
Conclusion
Teacher Resources
WebQuests - Dodge
“The task focuses learners on what they
are going to do - specifically, the
culminating performance or product that
drives all of the learning activities.”
WebQuests - Dodge
Process “outlines how the learners will
accomplish the task. Scaffolding includes
clear steps, resources, and tools for
organizing information.”
WebQuests - Dodge
Evaluation “describes the … criteria
needed to meet performance and content
standards.”
Examples
Student samples from Systems Thinking at
RCNJ
An Example
Meadowlands WebQuest
Sequential structured series of model
using and building activities embedded in
a webquest about the New Jersey
Meadowlands
Evaluation of teachers during staff
development and student achievement
after classroom use
•
Thank you
Using WebQuests & STELLA
with Pre-Service Teachers
Richard Langheim, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Education
Ramapo College of New Jersey
References
Dodge, B. Building Blocks of a WebQuest. Accessed on
5 June 2006,
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/staffdev/buildingblocks/p
-index.htm
Goodman, M. (2005). Systems thinking as a language.
Accessed on 5 June 2006,
http://www.thesystemsthinker.com/tstlang.html.
References
Heinbokel, J., & Potash, J. (2006). Curricular Innovation
Accessed on 5 June 2006,
http://www.ciesd.org/influence/curricula.shtml.
Kay, R., (2006). Evaluating strategies used to incorporate
technology into pre-service education: a review of the
literature. Journal of Research on Technology in
Education, 38(4), 383-402.
References
Lou, Y., Abrami, P.C., & d’Apollonia, S. (2001). Small
group and individual learning with technology: a metaanalysis. Review of Educational Research, 71(3), 449521.
Mason, C., Berson, M., Diem, R., Hicks, D., Lee, J., &
Dralle, T. (2000). Guidelines for using technology to
prepare social studies teachers. Contemporary Issues in
Technology & Teacher Education [Electronic Version],
1(1).
References
Penner, D.E. (2000-2001). Cognition, computers, and
synthetic science: building knowledge and meaning
through modeling. Review of Research in Education, 25,
1-37.
Rakes, G.C., Fields, V.S., & Cox, K.E., (2006). The
influence of teachers’ technology use on instructional
practice. Journal of Research on Technology in
Education, 38(4), 409-424.
References
Richmond, B., (2001). An Introduction to Systems
Thinking. Hanover, NH: High Performance Systems.
Rakes, G.C., Fields, V.S., & Cox, K.E., (2006). The
influence of teachers’ technology use on instructional
practice. Journal of Research on Technology in
Education, 38(4), 409-424.
References
Booth Sweeney, L. & Sterman, J.D.
(2000). Bathtub dynamics: initial results of
a systems thinking inventory. System
Dynamics Review, 16(4), 249-286.
Wright, V.H. & Wilson, E.K. (2005-2006).
From pre-service to inservice teaching: A
study of technology integration. Journal of
Computing in Teacher Education, 22(2),
49-55.
Wenglinsky, H. (2005). Using technology
wisely: The Keys to Success in Schools.