Transcript Computational Anatomy & Multidimensional Modeling

Integrated, Multidisciplinary &
Technology-Enhanced Science Education:
The Next Frontier
It’s Online, Therefore It Exists!
Ivo D. Dinov
www.NSER.org
IIT Divide
•Between providers
& consumers of
educational
materials
•Instructors are
more conservative,
less willing to
explore, validate
and/or adopt new
IT instruments
•Different from the
normative gap of
knowledge
•Byproduct of the
fast-paced
evolution of IT dev
Challenges of KCollege Science Ed
Broad/Balanced
Training
General
• Geographic
• Social
• Economic
• Technological challenges
•Short-term view
favors solid
training in one
narrow scientific
discipline
•Faster
•Cheaper
•Measurable outcomes
Specific
• The continuing expansion of
the
Intergenerational
Information Technology (IIT)
divide;
• Social demand for broad,
comprehensive and balanced
multidisciplinary education.
•Long-term results
may be opposite of
expectations –
•graduate &
professional schools
seek individuals with
widespread
interests, training &
capabilities
IIT Divide
• Continuing Instructional
Technology Training
• Engagement of Instructors
in Science & Technology
Research Projects
• Institutional Commitment
in IT and Blended
Instruction
Challenges & Actions
• Involve science educators in continuing
technology education training.
• discipline-specific or general societal /
organizational umbrellas.
• Most instructors participate in some annual
continuing education events within their discipline.
• Funding Agency
Engagement in IT and
Blended Education
• Few are deeply involved in regular technologybased refresher courses (e.g., < 25% of UCLA
Stats faculty)
• Integration of Available
Digital Resources in the
Classroom
Dinov (2008) Integrated Multidisciplinary and Technology-Enhanced
Science Education: The Next Frontier, JOLT, 4(1), 2008, 84-93.
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no1/dinov0308.htm
IIT Divide
Challenges & Actions
• Continuing Instructional
Technology Training
• Engagement of
Instructors in Science &
Technology Research
Projects
• Institutional Commitment
in IT and Blended
Instruction
• State/Federal Science Fairs
• Learn and contribute to new or ongoing research
projects conducted by higher education
institutions, professional organizations, private
and federally funded initiatives
• Integrate research-derived data into curricula
• Funding Agency
Engagement in IT and
Blended Education
• Integration of Available
Digital Resources in the
Classroom
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no1/dinov0308.htm
IIT Divide
• Continuing Instructional
Technology Training
• Engagement of Instructors
in Science & Technology
Research Projects
• Institutional Commitment
in IT and Blended
Instruction
• Funding Agency
Engagement in IT and
Blended Education
Challenges & Actions
• Provide infrastructure and resources is essential
for the engagement of teachers in multidisciplinary
S&T education.
• Provide computational resources, audio-visual
and Internet-digital infrastructure, seed grants,
human resources etc.
• Institutional commitment could be a significant
barrier or a considerable asset in developing an IT
blended curriculum.
• Integration of Available
Digital Resources in the
Classroom
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no1/dinov0308.htm
Challenges & Actions
IIT Divide
• Continuing Instructional
Technology Training
• Engagement of Instructors
in Science & Technology
Research Projects
• Institutional Commitment
in IT and Blended
Instruction
• Funding Agency
Engagement in IT and
Blended Education
• Integration of Available
Digital Resources in the
Classroom
• In 2006-2007, the NSF received 44,000 grants,
11,000 of which were funded
• Extramural funding does enable instructors to buy
out time for attending continuing education
events, develop blended curricula, establish new
collaborations, collect data and design research
projects
•
•
•
•
•
www.ED.gov
www.GrantsAlert.com
www.NSF.gov
www.spencer.org
www.kidsinneed.net
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no1/dinov0308.htm
IIT Divide
• Continuing Instructional
Technology Training
• Engagement of Instructors
in Science & Technology
Research Projects
• Institutional Commitment
in IT and Blended
Instruction
• Funding Agency
Engagement in IT and
Blended Education
• Integration of Available
Digital Resources in the
Classroom
Challenges & Actions
• Digital resource libraries catalogue, curate,
evaluate & integrate many valuable IT resources
• See list of resource libraries at
SOCR.ucla.edu/htmls/SOCR_Recognitions.html
• These resources provide
• Datasets
• methodological & conceptual learning
materials,
• tools for data analysis and exploration
• hands-on activities, demonstrations, tutorials
and refreshers for all disciplines, topics and
levels.
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no1/dinov0308.htm
Broad vs. Narrow
Training
• Develop New & Diverse
Multidisciplinary
Educational Curricula
• Institutional Commitment
to Multidisciplinary
Education
• Introduce Efficient
Multidisciplinary Resource
Interfaces
• Expectations of Students
Enrolled in Multidisciplinary
Programs
• Assessment of
Interdisciplinary
Instructional Effectiveness
Challenges & Actions
• Lack of available multidisciplinary educational
materials due to scarcity of expertise to develop
such instruments
• Collaborations and interactions between different
areas caused by terminology, specifications of
data and methodological protocols, a priori
assumptions, etc.
• See National Internet-based Science Educational
Resource: www.NSER.org
Dinov (2008) Integrated Multidisciplinary and Technology-Enhanced
Science Education: The Next Frontier, JOLT, 4(1), 2008, 84-93.
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no1/dinov0308.htm
Broad vs. Narrow
Training
• Develop New & Diverse
Multidisciplinary
Educational Curricula
• Institutional Commitment
to Multidisciplinary
Education
• Introduce Efficient
Multidisciplinary Resource
Interfaces
• Expectations of Students
Enrolled in Multidisciplinary
Programs
• Assessment of
Interdisciplinary
Instructional Effectiveness
Challenges & Actions
• Need Firm institutional commitment and support
• 2004 National Academy of Sciences report
(Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research) identified
barriers to interdisciplinary efforts:
•
•
•
•
limited resources,
academic reward system,
differences in disciplinary cultures,
the pursuit of national rankings (based on
traditional disciplinary categorizations),
• differences in policies and procedures across
departments, and
• decentralized budgets favor departments over
interdisciplinary programs.
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no1/dinov0308.htm
Broad vs. Narrow
Training
Challenges & Actions
• Develop New & Diverse
Multidisciplinary
Educational Curricula
• Institutional Commitment
to Multidisciplinary
Education
• Introduce Efficient
Multidisciplinary
Resource Interfaces
• Expectations of Students
Enrolled in Multidisciplinary
Programs
• Assessment of
Interdisciplinary
Instructional Effectiveness
www.NSER.org
Broad vs. Narrow
Training
Challenges & Actions
• Develop New & Diverse
Multidisciplinary
Educational Curricula
• Multidisciplinary research projects attract students’
attention rapidly and sustainably
• Institutional Commitment
to Multidisciplinary
Education
• Learners exposed to well-designed and interactive
hands-on multidisciplinary training acquire unique
perspectives in understanding and dealing with
complex problems
• Introduce Efficient
Multidisciplinary Resource
Interfaces
• Expectations of Students
Enrolled in
Multidisciplinary
Programs
• Assessment of
Interdisciplinary
Instructional Effectiveness
• Balancing the availability of sufficient area-specific
high-level knowledge with abilities to look across
many areas, draw resources and make inference
about general multi-disciplinary challenges.
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no1/dinov0308.htm
Broad vs. Narrow
Training
Challenges & Actions
Assessment of Interdisciplinary Educational Efforts
Measures
• Develop New & Diverse
Multidisciplinary
Educational Curricula
• Institutional Commitment
to Multidisciplinary
Education
• Introduce Efficient
Multidisciplinary Resource
Interfaces
Volume of
Multidisciplinar
y Resources
User
Demographics
Translational /
Transitional
Scientific
Discoveries
Multidisciplinary
• Expectations of Students
Enrolled in Multidisciplinary
Programs
• Assessment of
Interdisciplinary
Instructional
Effectiveness
Publications
Training
Curricula
Overhauls
Economic
demand for
interdisciplinary
Type
Analysis Methods
Summary
quantitative
Time-series
analysis,
parametric
inference
Overall measure of interest
and motivation behind
interdisciplinary educational
endeavors
Mixed
quantitative
&
qualitative
Qualitative data
analysis
Geographic, socioeconomic,
age and level of the
consumers of
multidisciplinary training
qualitative
Domain analysis
Types of problems solved
using techniques, data and
tools developed by broad
multidisciplinary teams
Mixed
quantitative
/ qualitative
Quasi-Statistics &
Domain analysis
Scientific perception of
multidisciplinary activities by
peers and the general public
quantitative
Regression,
correlation &
parametric
inference
Grass root changes in
formal and informal
multidisciplinary training
quantitative
Time-series
analysis,
parametric
inference
Economic impact &
trend to increase the
quantity & quality of workers
with integrated and broad
knowledge
http://jolt.merlot.org/vol4no1/dinov0308.htm
workers
The National Internet-based Science
Educational Resource (NISER)
NISER Demo
Goal is to
demonstrate
• A real research
pipeline
• Data collection,
visualization,
analysis &
interpretation
• Portable webbased resources
• Hands-on example
of interdisciplinary
training
• Interactions
between different
science areas
http://wiki.stat.ucla.edu/niser/index.php/NISER_FishMercuryActivity
N (μ=10.54,σ2 = 45.64)
Alkalinity
Chlorophyll 3D
Acknowledgments
Funding
NSF DUE 0442992 & 0716055
NIH U54 RR021813
Collaborators
N Christou, J Sanchez, R Gould
J Cui, A Che, A Toga
www.NSER.org