Transcript PowerPoint Presentation - Technology for Teaching and

Bringing advanced science inquiry tools in for a
soft landing: report of a five year study
Northwest Council for Computers in Education
Seattle, Washington March 2005
Mike Charles & Bob Kolvoord
(Pacific University) & (James Madison University)
Research supported by the
National Science Foundation
The promise
Scientific visualization tools provide...
Rich use of the computers available in schools
Connections to science/math for visual learners
A vehicle for inquiry-based science

Use tools which were originally designed to help
scientists understand and explore data
Goal: To draw today’s increasingly visual learners
into in-depth study of science/math topics
The opportunity
How to get more teachers involved in using
visualization tools in their classrooms?

A promising tool that requires advanced skills
Extended training in the tools is often too
much, too soon...
Project VISM
Three week summer institutes sponsored by the
Interdisciplinary Science and Technology program at
James Madison University
Cross-training in different visualization techniques,
including image processing, GIS, molecular modeling and
simulation
Middle and High School science and mathematics teachers
with some higher education participants

Teacher educators who work with prospective science and
mathematics teachers
Summers of 2000, 2001, and 2002--118 participants total
Tools taught in Project VISM
Image processing
NIH Image/Scion Image/Image J
Geospatial Analysis
ArcView GIS
Molecular Visualization
RasMol/Chemscape Chime
Systems modelling
STELLA
NIH Image/Scion Image/ImageJ
Public domain image
processing software
Software and free
classroom activities
available at
http://www.evisual.org/
Animal hands: identifying
x-rays of animal hands by
describing the hand and
identifying its function
ArcView GIS
Available for educators--See
the ESRI homepage
http://www.esri.com/
Classroom activity available
at http://www.evisual.org/
Plate Tectonics visualized:
mark earthquake and
volcanic sites on a world
map using spreadsheet data.
Observe patterns and
identify plate boundaries.
RASMOL/Chemscape Chime
Public domain software for mol viz
Presented as “molecular storytelling”
Resource page:
http://www.isat.jmu.edu/users/klevicca/vism/vism.htm
"Come See the Molecules—Using 3-D
Modeling Programs to Learn Chemistry" in
ISTE's Learning & Leading with
Technology
http://www.iste.org/L&L/archive/vol29/no4/index.html
(Note: Must be a subscriber to the periodical in order to access Acrobat
files of the articles)
STELLA
Commercial systems
simulation software
Strong educator user base
More info at
http://www.hps-inc.com/
Pictured here: simulation
model for a cup of coffee
cooling using stocks and
flows
The ACOT model of stages of teacher
development in using technological tools
Entry level-competent using the tool at the
workshop

Learned the Animal Hands activity at a workshop
Adopt the tool into their teaching practice

Successfully used the Animal Hands activity with my students
Adapt the tool into their teaching practice

Made significant modifications to the Animal Hands activity to
make it work better with my students
Innovate with the tool in their teaching practice

Brought in new images from a local zoo of animal hands to add to
the activity
The VISM matrix: The ACOT model
described for each of the four tools
Created based on conversations with the instructors over
the duration of the project
Posed as a hypothetical path that teachers might follow
We did NOT expect teachers to reach the innovate level
with all four tools, but instead to make professional
choices among their visualization options

VISM Matrix
Critical attributes of advanced tools
Competency with the software tool (ACOT model)
Competency with the scientific data that the tool uses
Competency with the pedagogical content knowledge needed to teach
curricular content using the tool

Pedagogical content knowledge identifies the distinctive bodies of
knowledge for teaching. It represents the blending of content and
pedagogy into an understanding of how particular topics, problems or
issues are organized, represented, and adapted to the diverse interests and
abilities of learners, and presented for instruction. Pedagogical content
knowledge is the category most likely to distinguish the understanding of
the content specialist from that of the pedagogue. (Shulman, 1987)
Follow-on interviews
10 interviews conducted thus far
35 questionnaires from Summer 2003 and 2004 “reunion” workshop
participants
Starter questions for open-ended interviews
 Briefly describe 1 or 2 projects you carried out last year with your
students using one or more of these visualization tools.
 What were your greatest obstacles in using these tools with your
students during the year?
 Briefly describe what you think you accomplished this year based
on your participation in the VISM workshop, and one thing you
had hoped to accomplish but perhaps did not.
Summary of implementation of the tools
Adopt-used
an activity
Adopt-used
several
acts.
Adapt
Innovate
%
Image
processing
7
17
14
15
38%
Geospatial
Analysis
9
5
8
16
27%
Systems
modeling
7
5
4
10
19%
Molecular
Visualization
11
3
3
6
16%
Totals
34
30
29
47
24%
21%
21%
34%
%
Changes in your ability with these tools
Less competent
More competent
1
2
3
4
5
ArcView
3
5
7
6
23
44
Image J
4
1
12
13
14
44
STELLA
9
7
12
8
7
43
RASMOL/
Chemscape
Chime
8
7
15
7
5
42
total
24
20
46
34
49
14%
12%
27%
20%
28%
%
total
Obstacles
Greatest obstacle for your use of these tools?
(1--not an obstacle…5--serious obstacle)
Average
Lack of space in a crowded curriculum to do projects that use these tools 3.4
Lack of adequate teacher preparation time to prepare activities
3.0
Lack of teacher knowledge of these software tools
3.0
Lack of well-designed curriculum-based materials using these tools
2.8
Relating the use of these tools to increasing student achievement scores
2.6
Lack of adequate hardware/software
2.6
Student difficulty learning the tools
2.3
Incompatibility of these tools with district’s stated educational
objectives
2.3
Obstacles
Time--to develop classroom ready activities
Space in the curriculum
Higher demands of NCLB and high stakes testing
Changes in teaching assignment and personal life
Hardware/software access-…negotiating adequate computer time for students to do their work is
nonetheless a major challenge for these teachers.
Case study examples
In-depth interviews with 9 teachers
Exemplary uses of all four tools by experienced scientific
visualization tool users
Teacher One & Teacher Nine
Image processing
Innovate
Physics Image project—photographing and dropping a ball and determining acceleration rate of gravity.
Adapted from discussions with a VISM participant.
-90 minutes period to do
-90 minute period to analyze
Geospatial Analysis
Innovate
Would “watering holes” in the desert reduce mortality rates for illegal aliens?
Plotted paths on an image of the southwest
-2 week activity
Built an online eAtlas database of economic indicators for 6 border crossings between AZ and Sonora
-8 week project
Molecular Visualization
Adapt
RASMOL model of a number of different inorganic solid structures which they observed the shape of and
predicted the polarity
-90 minute lab activity
Systems modeling
Adapt
Teacher created STELLA model of immigration rates with or without “watering holes”
-90 minute lab activity
Comments
Already at the innovate level with NIH Image and ArcView prior to VISM
More typical implementations
Teacher two
Teacher three
Teacher four
Image
processing
Adopt
Completed Travel USA activity with 9th
grade computer apps course as part of a
population sampling activity
1 period activity
Adopt
Demonstrated one NIH Image
activity to students.
No student activities or projects
1 period activity
Adapt
Maintained her use of this tool. Demos
several activities-- students may investigate
“hands on” outside of class.
Offered summer institutes for 20 teachers
in NIH Image.
Geospatial
Analysis
Innovate
11th/12th grade elective GIS course with 22
students in each of 2 semesters.
Students complete GIS projects-ESRI text
Multi-week mapping projects
Adopt
Demonstrated one GIS activity re
the distribution of volcanoes.
No student activities or projects
1 period activity
Innovate
Taught a GIS applications course to a broad
range of professionals in the region
Applying for an NSF grant to design a GIS
program on campus
Scholarship to GIS in Ed. conference
Molecular
Visualization
Not yet
Adopt
Demonstrated 3D capabilities of
software
No student activities or projects
1 period activity
Not yet
RASMOL Saturday workshop and materials
given to a colleague in chemistry
Systems
modeling
Not yet
Not yet
Not yet
Considering using as part of a BLM prairie
dog town research project
Comments
Pursuing further instruction in ArcView
Intends to do student projects in
advanced courses next year.
Greatest need: more GIS training
VISM tools not yet “landed” in teaching
practice
Teacher five
Teacher six
Teacher seven
Teacher eight
Image processing
Not yet
Not yet
Not yet
Conducted workshops with
teachers--minimal results in
classrooms
Geospatial
Analysis
Not yet
Not yet
Not yet
Conducted summer workshops
using Mapping Our World
Molecular
Visualization
Not yet
Not yet
Adopt
Authored a webpage tutorial
re polar and nonpolar
molecules Used once with
Not yet
students with limited
effectiveness
Systems
modeling
Not yet
•Not yet
•Greatest interest for use
with calculus class
Not yet
Not yet
Comments
Adopted
probeware/astronomy
software based on
VISM tech expertise
New math/science
center -- upcoming
sabbatical to develop
curriculum specific
activities
Hardware access
obstacles
Workshop marked him as a
possible tech leader in his
school.
Hardware access obstacles
Restimulated interest in a new
set of software visualization
tools and motivated her to try
more training in these areass
Crowded curriculum & NCLB
Discussion
Current professional development literature argues for sitebased, curriculum-specific professional development
efforts with significant on-site follow-up
 Sustainable?
 Scalable?
 Need to look outside the constraints of the site and
curriculum
 Intrinsically motivated educators constructing their own
program
of
professional
development--the
fundamentally constructivist nature of teacher learning.
Project VISM was a university-based program with
materials that had only general curriculum connections and
with no significant on-site follow-up component.
Fundamentally constructivist
nature of teacher learning
Professional Development
Staff training
Intrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation
Constructing their own
program
Program determined by
organizational mission and
goals
Personally constructed
Mandated by the
organization
For more info
Mike Charles at Pacific University

[email protected]
Bob Kolvoord, Project Director, at JMU

[email protected]
Project VISM home page
http://www.isat.jmu.edu/common/projects/VISM/