A Situated Examination of a GK-12 Case Study at Danville High School for Participatory Evaluation of Scientific Visualization Tools in the Education of Sciences, Mathematics, Engineering, and Technology (SMET) disciplines
Bharat Mehra
(b-mehra1@uiuc.edu)
(not ready to use)
Coauthors
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Rebecca A. Kruse (rkruse@uiuc.edu), Richard Braatz (braatz@ncsa.uiuc.edu), Lisa Paige (lsloan@danville.k12.il.us) , Shelley Barker (slbarker@aol.com) |
ASK
Partner Projects
| Biology Student Workbench, Math Science Technology Education |
Subject Areas
| Education, Educational Technology, Science |
Grade Levels
Unit Keywords
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participatory evaluation; GK-12 project; scientific visualization; situated context, Danville High School, |
Rationale of the Unit
The GK-12 project is an NSF-funded undertaking to support University of Illinois graduate students in the sciences, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) disciplines to collaborate with campus faculty and participating K-12 teachers to integrate the use of computer-based modeling, scientific visualization, and informatics in science and mathematics education. The goal of this inquiry unit is to document the situated context for developing participatory evaluative tools appropriate for assessment of the scientific visualization strategies adopted at Danville High School (http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Crete/1219/ ), an educational institution that is a partner in the GK-12 project.
The role of situated evaluation in this project are two-fold:
- To evaluate the use of scientific modeling and visualization tools in the education of SMET disciplines in K-12 settings; and
- To document the impact of collaborative social dynamics between graduate students (fellows), K-12 teachers, high school students, and university faculty.
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Background and Resources
- For the original GK-12 project website, see http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Divisions/eot/gk12/index.html
- For the new GK-12 website draft under development, see http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Divisions/eot/gk12/temp/
- Initially scientific visualization tools that will be tested and evaluated in the classroom are:
ChemViz (http://chemviz.ncsa.uiuc.edu ) with special focus on its component, Waltz, a computer-modeling software that calculates electron densities and provides 3D visualizations of molecular structures and electron orbitals.
Biology WorkBench (http://bioweb.ncsa.uiuc.edu/educwb ), with special use of Protein Explorer (spring semester).
Important ideas and concepts
- Sense-making (how people make and unmake of sense of the world: B. Dervin) see http://communication.sbs.ohio-state.edu/sense-making/
- Situated evaluation (innovation-in-use: Bruce & Rubin, 1993), see http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~chip/sit-eval.shtml
- Examples (scenarios, critical incidents, and inquiry)
- Role of "inquiry" units as tools within collaborative educational environments for scientific education owing to their resource sharing and information-exchange potential.
Resources and supplement materials
- EdGrid, funded by the Department of education's Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology program, is a consortium of organizations committed to developing, testing, and disseminating systematic approaches to integrate the use of computer-based modeling and scientific visualization in science and mathematics education.
EdGrid homepage (http://www.eot.org/edgrid )
Potential explorations
Scenarios
- Barriers being faced in meeting existing goals;
"Textboks aren't doing it, high school students are visual learners"
- Recently experienced situations (with or without) use of scientific modeling;
- Positive/negative (typical) situations experienced;
- Potential role of modeling and scientific visualization;
- Current resources being sought;
- Strategies perceived to be effective for improvement;
- Perceptions of how the technology will work?
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Activities and Open-ended problems
Progress development: The following section documents activities being undertaken during different stages of the project.
1. Understanding the existing context ('Mapping' the domain)
Sources : Summarized September Progress Report handed in by fellow; my reactions/observations from the meeting with the fellow-mentor (September 28, noon); and first school visit (October 10, 6.15am-1.00pm) with fellow.
The fellow has been observing four classes every Wednesday during September--three Chem I (w/ Teacher 1) and AP Biology (w/ Teacher 2). The fellow arrives one hour before the classes and stays an hour later so that there is time to get acquainted with the teachers and interact with them peronally to develop a rapport as well as to discuss curriculum-related issues and strategies to incorporate scientific visualization tools within the classroom. Both the fellow and mentor felt that in order to establish a collaborative environment, it was very beneficial for the fellow to visit the classroom to be able to get to know the teacher and his/her teaching styles and preferences, observe the situation and understand the levels and "how much they {students} will be able to handle," see how the teacher handled situations, establish what was appropriate/inappropriate for the curriculum, etc.
Nature of classes : The number of students in the three Chem I classes are approximately 6 (MERIT engineering & technology), 27 (Honors), and 17 (AIMS, medicine) students. The range of student participation and enthusiasm varies from "they are so quick to ask questions and discuss {concepts} with one another" to "some are embarrassed to be so smart {they are very shy}."
The process
- What are your visions and curricular goals?
- What is the potential role of technology (the specific computer-modeling and scientific visualization tool) in the existing situation?
Using the books/syllabi the teachers provided to the fellow as a guide for understanding the curriculum that was developed by each teacher, the fellow was able to develop a list of suggeted activities for specific topics. These activities were developed based on the fellow's understanding of the potentiality of substantially enhancing the learning-teaching of these topics via using particular visualization functions of specific computer-modeling tools for each teacher in a manner that may complement their curricula.
Teacher 1 decided to use ChemViz primarily during the first semeseter for visualizing periodic trends, chemical bonding, etc. It was decided that during the second semester the teacher-fellow team will focus on integrating CBLs with the teacher's standard lab curriclum. For Teacher 2's class, the fellow suggested a variety of tools; however using the Biology Workbench (BWB) as a tool for in-class and afterschool spring projects involving protein-linked diseases seemed the best idea to the teacher. The fellow installed all the necessary software/plug-ins on each teacher's classroom computers. It was necessary to work with the network administrator to solve some DHS-server related problems before the fellow could successfully run ChemViz and BWB/Protein Explorer.
The fellow also modified the ChemViz tutorials available on the web to meet the needs of General Chemistry I students as stand-alone lessons. She identified potential topics for which one or more of the current lessons could be used. It was felt that it may be appropriate to write/modify a tutorial/activity for some of the topics. Also, depending upon time and the nuances of the context, additional molecular modeling software may also be investigated. The following were topics on which tutorials from ChemViz were identifed as relevant: molecular structure, electron density, energetics.The following are activities for the identified lessons for which ChemViz and its scientific visualization tools may be relevant:
Chapter 6 Structure of the Atom
Activity: Electron clouds/density
Chapter 7 Chemical Formulas
Activity: Introduction to molecular structure/modeling
Chapter 13 Electron Configurations
Activity: Atomic orbital shapes
Chapter 14 The Periodic Table
Activities: Periodic trends in ionization energy, atomic/ionic radius, electronegitivity
Chapter 15 Chemical Bonding
Activities: Chemical bond formation and energy profiles, molecular shapes, bond polarity
Important aspect(s)
The Danville High School has received a grant to incorporate graphing calculator-based labs (CBLs) in chemistry curriculum, something that is desired by the teachers as well. Students have been expected to buy graphing calculators in addition to the CBLs that were purchased by the grant for classroom use. According to the fellow, traditional labs could be rewritten/modified to incorporate CBLs, depending upon which probe(s) are available for use. A few probe-specific lessons and/or potential calculator-based problem/quiz topics are listed below. It may be beneficial to purchase a CBL lab manual. See http://www.vernier.com/cmat/cwcalc.html and http://www.eaiusa.com/mo_calculator_workbooks_science.htm
Temperature probe
Activities: Physical change, heat of fusion of ice, freezing point depression, calorimetry, heats of reaction.
pH probe
Activities: Acids/bases, titrations and curves, acid dissociation constants, buffers
Voltage probe
Activities: Reduction potentials, batteries, electrolysis
Conductivity probe
Activities: Properties of solutions, electrolysis
It was pointed out by the mentor that the use of CBLs with Chem Viz in the classroom would be a situation of "complementary technologies" rather than "competing technologies."
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Dialogues, Discussions, and Presentations
1. Understanding the existing context ('Mapping' the domain)
Sources : Summarized September Progress Report handed in by fellow; my reactions/observations from the meeting with the fellow-mentor (September 28, noon); and first school visit (October 10, 6.15am-1.00pm) with fellow.
- What are the plans for the coming month in how vision and curriculum goals will be achieved?
Two major activities for getting ChemViz ready for use in the classroom are:
A) The website is being updated to get it ready for use. For example, the ChemViz "How To" sections are being improvized and tailored to four lessons (at http://www.roweba.com ). Suggestions/comments/problems about the website are being conveyed to software developers who will modify and make necessary changes.
(Looking at existing directions in ChemViz and identifying problems; Clarifying instructions via a "walk-through"): These suggestions for changes to the ChemViz website have been about its: content (more lessons need to be provided, they need to be made "more visible"), functionality (resolution issues, molecules get cut-off, search for small molecules reveals list of very large molecules within which the small molecule is embedded), need for additional features (key- identification of atoms/molecules based on color/structure), etc.
Important aspects involve getting feedback from teachers about these changes and in available lessons to ensure that technology and available resources fit with class expectations and curriculum.
B) A ChemViz demonstration will be conducted for students to provide them an initial introduction to the software. Meetings with other experts have been important for preparation for the ChemViz demo. Interaction with other fellows and participants in the project has helped in exchange, feedback and understanding of some issues associated with use of ChemViz and BWB tutorials.
Goals
The goals discussed during meetings between teacher and fellow are not set-in-stone and are evolving constantly based on: situated context of teaching in the classroom, time limitations in each class session (that determines how much curriculum materials are really covered in that session), and learning levels and expectations of students.
Initially, in order to make the students feel comfortable using ChemViz, plans to structure use of the software are to be done in students' own time and during lab. Preparation for ChemViz use in the classroom are being made via modifying existing labs, preparing computers, software demos for teachers, etc.
Potential future explorations
- What are the perceptions of the teacher, the fellow, and the students about the existing situation and the potential role of technology in the future?
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Credits & Acknowledgements
People associated with the GK-12 project:
Dr. Eric Jakobsson (PI and Mentor)
Dr. Bertram Bruce (Evaluation and Mentor)
Dr. Delwyn Harnisch (Evaluation)
Dr. Umesh Thakkar (Project Coordination)
Dr. Deanna Raineri (Mentor)
Sharon Comstock (Evaluation)
Akihiko Takahashi (Evaluation)
Keren B. Moses (Fellow)
Steven A. Moore (Fellow)
John M. Sabo (Fellow)
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