Teaching the Nature of Science

In my last post, I wrote about what science is, and something called the Nature of Science.  This post is is going to look into ways to teach aspects of the Nature of Science, and to do that I think giving a few examples would be a good way to do this.  There are many things that make up the different aspects of the Nature of Science, but I am going to look at these three: the semi-permanence of science fact, difference between law and theory, and our reliance on empirical data but not at the expense of critical thinking an creativity.

Teaching Semi-permanance of Science Fact:

One of the first things that comes to my mind is how the scientific community has changed their view about atomic theory.  Throughout history there have been several ideas about the "smallest" piece of matter.  From the Greeks atom - the smallest indivisible piece of matter - through all of the iterations and descriptions to what we have now: a definitely more complicated, definitely more accurate understanding of the atom.  At each different stage in the progression of these ideas, the commonly held idea about the atom was fact.  Then as technology improved and scientists were able to do more to test their ideas, they were able to prove that some things were not the way that the natural world worked.  When one thing was found to be obsolete the fact withered into historic idea and new conclusions became commonly held fact.

This unit provides a great platform for teaching students about the durability of science fact, but also that they are only fact until we can better explain our observations and analyses of our data.  I want to get students up into the higher level thought processes, so as we are going through each of the iterations of the atomic theory, I want them to do what real scientist would have done: analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each iteration.  I would ask students questions like "Why do scientist/students continue research into a subject?" or "How did new conclusions based on evidence obtained from a new experiment/technology better explain an older concept?" will help students see that maybe in a few years, some of what we think is fact was just holding its place until a better explanation can be found.  Helping students to look back and reflect on the why certain explanations has been an accepted and why another was left by the wayside will show them that an evidence based innovation can change what we know as scientific fact.

And, if we really need to we can remember that when I was a high schooler, Pluto was still a planet.

Law versus Theory: The great misunderstanding

Scientific Law: idealized, generalization about an occurrence in nature.

Scientific Theory: a set of ideas that explains a possible why something occurs in nature.

The problem does not come in understanding their simplified definitions, but rather in how the terms are used and how they are connected.   One of the problems that leads to a misuse in the terms is that they are connected and intertwined.  Theories explain laws, but some laws are integral parts of other theories.   This leads to the terms being interchanged improperly; correcting this is one of the first things that must be done: knowing the difference, then keeping them straight when we are writing or speaking.

Let's look at an example:   The Law of Conservation of mass states that matter/mass cannot be created or destroyed.  That's a fairly all encompassing relationship that, to date, all experiments have followed (remember - the facts as we know them now may be different in the future).  But what explains that law?  Atomic theory does.  Atomic theory describes the current ideas about an atom: atom made of protons and neutrons in a nucleus, surrounded by a cloud of electrons.  Principles, rules, and other laws govern how those subatomic particles behave, interact with one another, and how they interact with other atoms.  Each of these particles has a specific mass, meaning even if you split the atom the mass of all of the particles will be the same as the whole atom you started with; if there is a chemical reaction the mass of the material that is present at the beginning of the reaction is going to be the same mass when the reaction ends.  There's a lot more to the Atomic Theory that scientists prescribe to today, but no matter how much you split an atom even down to the point where we have use Einstein's relationship between energy and mass, or if a reaction is on the extreme macro-level, the Law of Conservation of Mass can be explained by this theory.

In teaching this concept I can see it happening on a continuous timeline.  First there would be vocabulary lesson where students would hear what the difference between the two were, and then helping students see how all of the laws that we would talk about are explained by a theory, each time I would ask the students to use different aspects of the theory when they are explaining what a law means.  Dr. Kruse used an example of this in one of his classes: he performed a "magic-trick" then had his students attempt to replicated and then explain their process.  But in order to explain the way that they went through trying to solve the problem before them, he asked them to explain it using the learning theories that they discussed in previous classes.  This reflection process can help students understand how to use theories and laws correctly when they are putting forth their conclusions.

Empirical Data is King, but...

Everyone knows that you have to take measurements and use numbers in science classes because those numbers are objective information.  We want to see data.  This often leads to the assumption that science is a very "dry" endeavor with very little wiggle room.  What people seem forget is that each scientist is a different person with different life experiences up to the point where they see a certain set of data.  Each one may choose to analyze a different aspect of it, the conclusions that they draw may be different.

This is not a bad thing.

Creativity and critical thinking are among the most important aspects of a good scientist.  We - the people looking at the data - are the ones who draw the conclusions: that objective data has to go through the subjective lens of the scientist.

When I'm teaching, I'll probably be in a high school chemistry class, and the first place I'd bring up this concept is when we start talking about quantitative and qualitative observations.  But it would not end there; every time we have a lab, I would ask the students to go through and a take down both types of observations and ask that they take both into account for their conclusions.  This way they'll see that both the subjective and objective observations from the work that they are doing have a vital role in getting all of the information across.


There are multiple ways to teach each of these concepts.  And, I am pretty sure that after I teach them a couple times, my reflections about these activities and practices will help me to fine tune them and make them work better in the classroom.

The Nature of Science is...

Nature of Science.  A really technical sounding, and somewhat misleading term that to me says “the what and how of the thing we call science.”  Science classes were always one of the most fun classes that I had during the year.  It was always like a puzzle with one more piece.  Try and try and try to find out where and how the piece fit with the rest, and once the right spot was found, more space appeared.  That’s how I like to think of it at least. 

As I was preparing to write this post I went through several articles that were written about the Nature of Science and the importance of it in science education in our schools.  As I was reading it seemed to me that the people who were writing the articles had a similar thought about what Nature of Science is and what it appears to have become.  Today, it seems that the ideas that people have about science are centered on an unfortunate argument: tenets or questions.  Too often I’ve been in a science class, or been trying to explain a concept to another person and I have heard or said “It is just the way it is,” suggesting that its something to accept as fact rather than study, and learn about.  In his article, Clough writes that the here are several ideas about the Nature of Science that would have a clear impact on science education but they have been distilled down to “it’s just the way it is.”  The best science classes that I have had have been the ones where the teacher, even if they said something was just the way it was because, they always wanted their students to look critically at the ideas.  We may have only been trying to replicate or reinforce the ideas that the original scientist came up with during their investigations, but that’s part of the process: coming up with a question then pursuing the questions. 

Brunsell wrote in his 2010 piece that there is a disconnect between the Nature of Science in schools and what scientists in the world actually do.   I can attest to the recipe-like nature of the experimentation practices throughout high schools and college, its wasn’t until my junior and senior years in college that I was really forced to come up with my own experiments.  Truthfully, I think that there is some place for a “recipe” if you will, because as I’ve seen in my different education classes up to this point, there are different levels of development and up to a point some people may not be at the developmental stage where that kind of critical thinking is necessary.  But, like Brunsell and Kruse, I tend to look at science like a journey (or continuous puzzle).  Both of Brunsell and Kruse commented on the deterministic style science education has today.  Always looking to the end result.  I don’t know if that has anything to do with the publish-or-perish mindset that many academic/research scientists have – get to the end of an experiment and show the results to the world.  But that really isn’t the point of the work that they actually are doing.  The product may be what the world wants to see, but the journey to that is just as  important.  Thomas Edison once said about the number of times he tried and failed to create a light bulb, “I have not failed 10,000 times.  I have not failed once.  I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work.  When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”  This quote seems to typify the ideas about how we look at and teach the Nature of Science in schools.  It’s a process of continued learning; its not just the what, but the why and how as well.  Revision too.  How many times has the wheel been “re-invented”? Think about it, we see the cartoons with the solid stone wheels, but that isn’t what we use today.  Wooden wheels, wooden wheels with spokes, iron-rimmed wooden wheels, all the way up to the rubber wheel with an air filled bladder in it.  Science, like the wheel, does not stop with the first conclusion.  If it did, the earth would still be the center of the solar system.  Except that people made observations that didn’t fit with common understanding of the world at the time they were made.  Theories and understandings of the world evolve over time, and we need to be aware of that.  There are a lot of theories out there, and a few laws.  There’s a big difference between them.  The “that’s just the way it is” comment is applied to theories even though those are the ideas that people should be looking at critically because they are only theories.  Almost every article that I’ve read about the Nature of Science talked about the semi-permanence of scientific “fact.” Even though it may seem that we’ve explained almost everything we can, we may have only seen the first 10,001 things that don’t work.

Dr. Kruse’s article had some pretty interesting ideas in it, not to mention ones that should be really considered by those of us who are looking at becoming science teachers.  One of the first things that he talked about was how the Nature of Science is taught:  one unit at the beginning of the course, then on to the “meat” of the course.  We as teachers and educators need to make sure that we continue teaching these ideas throughout the year.  My experiences summer are a prime example, I am working on a couple of content courses for my endorsements – bot of them in a science field.  The textbooks that I purchased for these classes are very informative (based on their pricetags), but the Nature of Science is contained in one or two sections of the first chapter.  It has been simplified down to the barest-of-bones ideas, and in one of the textbooks, the explanation of the scientific method makes it seem like the recipe, step-by-step approach that we often learn in middle and high school science classes is the only way that science can be done.  Another part of Dr. Kruse’s article that I really liked, was the collection of important ideas about the Nature of Science that he put together.  They are (paraphrased as I understood them):

-       Knowledge is not permanent, but it is durable.

-       Science is discovery plus invention.

-       We as scientists cannot be completely objective, we’re human, but we should try to be as much as possible.

-       There are many facets to science and they all have different functions.

-       The natural world is what we are focusing on, not the supernatural; but that doesn’t mean we should make claims about the supernatural.

-       Reliance on empirical data is a must, but that is not mutually exclusive from analyzing that data and being creative.

-       The scientific method is a tool, but it isn't the only one in a scientists toolbox.

-       In science we can’t prove something outright, we can only see resounding evidence in favor of one thing or another.

-       Theory and Law are not the same; theory doesn’t become law; a theory explains a law.

-       Models are problem-solving tools, we should look at them as things that show how reality might work.

If science teachers can use these ideas in there instruction, and get students to ask the why and how questions, rather than just the who, what, where, and when questions, we will be teaching the Nature of Science as we teach the information that earlier minds have established.

In the last couple of articles that I read by (one by Schwartz and one by Moreno), I really came to see that sometimes it isn’t what is being taught that students are having trouble with, sometimes it is what is being said.  In Moreno’s article, the idea that teaching the Nature of Science can help us in an era where science has taken a position of increased importance, yet the scientific literacy needed to understand the issues is lacking.  Schwartz’s article touched on an idea that truly combat what Moreno was seeing: we need to be careful about what we say and how we say them, as well as educate our students to communicate their ideas more effectively.  One statement that I saw criticized in several articles was “The data tells…” or “The data shows…” yet in reality data can’t tell or show anything.  The person who looks at the data has to analyze it in order to make any conclusion.  I keep coming back to the idea that we need to be careful what we say, because, pardon the old phrase, but “loose lips sink ships” and in this era when science is very important, we can’t have any of our students’ ships sinking.

The Nature of Science is an interesting topic: something that is inherently needed and useful to know, but often times is overlooked or oversimplified.  As I was growing up and going through my science classes in school, I cannot say that I actually remember hearing this term.  Even though I did not hear it, I think I came to have a decent grasp of what it means: continuously questioning, continuously learning—a journey to understand the world around us.  But, it seems like a one-size-fits-all recipe with a product being the desired outcome, has replaced this broad look at the Nature of Science.  Critical thinking, analysis, and creativity in a science classroom sometimes take a backseat to getting an answer.  Sure, there are times when having a right answer is needed, and grading a right or wrong answer is much easier than grading a more abstract concept, but science education should not be just about the end product. 

Resources:

Brunsell, E. (2010).  How to Teach Students to Think Like Scientists, Edutopia. 10/26/10.

Clough, M.P. (2007) Teaching the Nature of Science to Secondary and Post-secondary Students: Questions rather than tenets.  The Pantaneto Forum, Issue 25, January.

Kruse, J.W. (2008). Integrating the Nature of Science Throughout the Entire School Year.  Iowa Science Teachers Journal.  35(2). 15-20.

McComas, W.F. (2004).  Keys to Teaching the Nature of Science. NSTA Feature News Story. 10/29/2004.

Moreno, N.P. (2007). Teaching Science in the 21st Century – Teaching the Nature of Science: Five Crucial Themes. NSTA Reports, (1/3/2007).

NSTA Position Statement (2000). The Nature of Science.

Schwartz, R. (2007).  What’s in a Word? Science Scope. 31(2), 42-47.

Lesson Delivery Reflection

At the beginning of the assignment (the planning stages) I kept feeling like I needed to be able to explain everything about the topic in here.  It was something that bugged me up until Amanda and I actually presented.  It also meant that as the instructor we had to be comfortable enough with the material so that we could help the learners make connections in the material, in a way that is pertinent and applicable to them.  One of the ways that I used and felt made a difference was by giving multiple examples of the material, and each example I used had a different “theme.”  Using different themes (kindergartners at recess versus technical collision theory) makes me think critically about the material and who I am dealing with in order to facilitate learning the best way I could.  I really like it when teachers ask questions of the students to get them to think about the material because it keeps students engaged.  When we first started the lesson I was trying to get students to answer questions about a demonstration that we showed (on youtube) so the could come up with somewhat of an understanding of the concepts on their own before we spouted the technical jargon—that way they would have a better idea of what that technical jargon actually meant.

Amanda and I discussed several different methods of assessment that we could use during our presentation, and settled on using a shared document with the problems on it and asking students to email answers to us.  This style of assessment worked ok for the size of class that we had, but any more people or having more sections and students, this would not be a feasible method.  If I were to uses some kind of digital assessment tool for multiple classes, I would use something like surveymonkey.com or polleverywhere.com because these sites compile answers really well and then you won’t have hundreds of emails from every student.  I also think that if a teacher is intent on asking students good questions through out the class period, they can assess in real time where each student is, and if they need to review material or if they can move forward somewhat quicker than expected.

As someone who wants to go into teaching sciences, I think it is very important for me to know and use as many instructional strategies as possible.  By being comfortable with and using several strategies I would be able to keep student invested and engaged in the lesson for the entire time I am in contact with that class.  If I can keep the students engaged in an activity which will help them grasp some aspect of the material, I have succeeded as a teacher because the longer the students stay on task, the more opportunities I would have to help students with material they are struggling with.

Tech Project No. 5: QR Codes

A couple years ago I entered a sweepstakes and ended up winning a Garmin GPS unit by scanning the 2-dimensional QR codes.  As more and more kids have cell phones this type of technology could become an interesting, interactive way to have students learn.

What I created:

I used the QR generation tool on http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ to create a code that would be a part of a scavenger hunt.  I would make several sets of QR codes that would have questions, one that would have links to informational websites, one that would have links to pictures of the subjects in the material.  This would create an interactive experience that I would be somewhat able to control in order to make sure that students would see the material that I thought would be able help them learn about subject material.

This one is a clue to a scavenger hunt about prominent chemists.  Another code I made linked to a website that had information on the scientist from the code above.

Rationale:

This type of activity would cater to the bottom three levels of Bloom's taxonomy if it were used just as is.  Students would be able to gather information in an interactive and fun way.  But if it were coupled with another assignment like making a bumper sticker or poster.  By using it as a stepping stone to another assignment students will elevate this activity toward the upper levels of Bloom's Taxonomy--students would have to analyze, evaluate, and then create a project to illustrate the information they were just perusing.

Struggles for Implementation:

One of the struggles that I can see coming up in the implementation is that students will not have the technology at their disposal to read these codes.  I've seen apps for the iPhone/iPad that would allow the students to use these codes, and there are probably apps out there on other platforms as well, but their availability to students may be limited due to cost, or lack of a phone that can run the app.  Another struggle could be convincing administration that the activities would be worth it to use in the class room. This is a unique activity that is very technology intensive, but I can see how administrators would have a hard time justifying the use of cell phones in the classroom on it.  Administrators could say that it would be better for students to use the materials that the school provides rather than requiring them to use private resources.

Biases, Trade-offs, Limitations:

A major bias that I noticed right off the back is that you can only utilize digital, internet resources.  This would limit what information students would be exposed to.  However, this limitation would also help make sure that you as the teacher would know what information students would have access to, making sure that they got reliable information.  It would be a possible means to magnify the technology divide if there were students who had phones that could accomplish this task and those who did not in the same class.  I could see a way around this if you made a partner activity and had a student with a phone and one who did not work together create the project after this activity.

Standards:
INTASC
5.)  Depending on what questions you ask the students with the codes, any amount of critical thinking is possible.  Using this activity as a partner activity will also encourage collaboration between students who are technology comfortable and those that aren't, in other words encourage collaboration between a diverse set of learners.

8.) This is combination of several active learning strategies that are meant to help students stay engaged in the learning process for the duration of the time that they are in class: partner work, having them get up and move around the room, do their own research in order to create something to describe what they learned.

Citation and Evaluation of Source:

A Multiple-Modality Approach to Word Study: Vocabulary Scavenger Hunts

Sally Vaughan, Sharon Crawley and Lee Mountain

The Reading Teacher
Vol. 32, No. 4 (Jan., 1979), pp. 434-437

This article described a process that would be similar to using QR codes but through a much more analog process.  Students would define their vocab terms then go out to find pictures of things that would be described by those vocab words.  Even though I could not access the full article it shows that this type of interactive experience has been around for a long time, and teachers keep figuring out new and useful ways to keep this strategy up to date in the ever changing technological climate of our society.  I think that it would work better if there were fewer students in each group than was outlined in the source (5-10) because that way you would eliminate the number of students who could "coast through" the activity.

Tech Project Number 3: The Glorious iPad

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been working with the Apple iPad.  I’ve been toying with several apps that can be used as teaching aids in sciences classes since that is what I’d like to teach.  The apps that I’ve been using span types from visual-informational to study-aids, questionnaires/quizzes to apps that allow you to create concept maps and outlines.  These apps can be used in conjunction with one another to complete everything from just remembering the information that they are working with to creating a concept map that connects multiple ideas together.

Apps I Used:

Molecules:  This app is a 3D visualization app that lets you search for any chemical compound that has ever been written about in the Protein Databank or in the PubChem databeses.  It allows for complete manipulation of the molecule so you an view it from any angle and with any amount of zoom that you need.

3D Cell Stain:  This app allows you complete control over position of a 3D cell and then use different stains (that are actually used for the same purpose in real life) to see the effects that they have on various parts of the cell, and to help identify the different parts of the cell.

Chem Pro Lite:  Study aids come in various sizes and shapes and with various tactics.  This app is a collection of presentations that ask questions and present the information for a high school chemistry class.  Each section has a video that is between 10 minutes and 30 minutes, that students can go back through as many times as needed to help with their understanding.

Self-Assembly:  This application allows students to create a “substance” (a material with only two constituent elements) then by manipulating the temperature and the particles speed, students can observe the way their substance forms an aggregate.  I could see this typ of app being a handy thing when taking about how particles move in different phases (a.k.a solid, liquid , or gas).

ChemLite:  ChemLite is an app that has several questions that come from what should be an entire year of high school chemistry.  It contains both the questions and the answers (but on different slides).  These questions go from pretty easy to somewhat challenging.  Students could use this app to test their own understanding of the material, and because the answers are given in a step by step format, the students would be able to see where they went wrong if they didn’t get the right answer and what they need to do next time to get it correct.

Idea Sketch:  This is a very cool app; it allows you to create any size concept map that you need, and it will convert that map into an outline if you need it to.  This app is a great tool that allows students practice analyzing their sources, evaluating what would be important, then creating a project that will explain what it is that was important so other people can see that information and how it is connected to the rest of the information.

Rationale from Bloom’s Taxonomy:

This platform has so many possibilities that I thought that I would try to find apps that could be used for most if not all of the levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.  Of the apps that I mentioned above ChemLite, Chem Pro Lite, and Molecules are pretty much devoted to the bottom layers (remembering, understanding and applying).  They are there to let students see the information through another lens so that they will have a better chance to remember, understand, and apply those concepts in different places.  Idea Sketch and Self-Assembly are primarily focused on the top three layers (analyzing, evaluating, and creating) because in order to get the full benefit that these apps are meant to give you must create something (concept map or substance) then analyze and evaluate what is happening in the simulation or text in order understand the final product.  The 3D Cell Stain app can be considered a bridge over the middle three or four levels.  It presents you with the information that you need to remember and understand, but then you can apply what you know about a cell to analyze why certain stains work with different parts of the cell. 

Struggles for Implementation:

The iPad and iPad2 are both very neat pieces of new technology that can be very beneficial to students.  However them being so new means that cost is something of an issue (iPads start at $399 and iPad2s start at $499).  Accessibility to this technology would be also be an issue—because they are so expensive they would be most likely to be limited to use during school hours on school grounds.  Another thing we have to think about are the students themselves—some students will not be familiar with the technology so they’ll need to be taught how to use it effectively.  Another thing with the software is that apps aren't always free, and that means there would be expenses on top of the original purchase price of the iPad that would need to be taken into account.  Teachers' attitudes toward this technology need to be addressed to; where students may be comfortable with the iPad, teachers may still be trying to get comfortable with a computer.  My mom is a Talented and Gifted teacher at a school where they recently got an "iPad Lab." She was assigned multiple tasks so that she could become comfortable with the technology, but as she was doing that she was still coming to me and my high school aged sister for help with her computer.  

Biases, Trade-offs, and Limitations

This type of technology is biased toward the visual side of things.  You can see what things look like, how they move, what they are, but there is a loss of the hands-on aspect of learning.  For instance building a molecule with a ball and stick model kit: you can see how things fit together but until you actually try to build it you my not understand that the way the molecule looks in the representation is the only way that those particular atoms fit together because of the way bond angles work.  Along those lines, you can see things that you may not have been able to with out the technology, but like our class discussed during the iPad photography exercises we lose out on a lot of the detail that we would have needed if we drew the parts to a cell or seeing them under a microscope.   The novelty of the technology can be both a blessing and a curse: it allows for more possible applications that can help in the teaching process; but on the other side, there are more possibilities for distraction as well (aka games, internet, and more).  The software that would be used on the iPad is not always the easiest to get to know, meaning students who have short attention spans may end up foregoing some of the technologies applications because they want to get to the bells and whistles of the applications. 

It was mentioned in class that the iPad was helping autistic students make great strides in some areas, but at the same time the social skills that they still need to develop will be somewhat hindered--students have the ability to collaborate more because these technologies are so portable, but because they would always have the technology in front of them their interactions are somewhat limited.

Standards

Teacher:

INTASC

5.) Application of Content:

            Several of the apps that I used on the iPad are designed to give learners a different look at the information that should be covered in a conventional curriculum.  However, these apps allow for a few more creative ways to view and assess the ideas that are presented.  These apps create new ways for the teacher to encourage and  multiple students to view the same material and work collaboratively to find solutions, draw conclusions, and create projects. 

6.) Assessment:

As a teacher I could use several aspects of this technology to act as both formative assessment and summative assessment.  Of the apps that I used, I could create a concept map or set of questions that would need to be filled out/answered in order to test the material that was taught, or to judge how much prior knowledge students are coming into the class with.  Because these are digital technologies, I would be able to use existing technologies like Digital Drop Box or turnitin.com to collect students work and check to see that it is their work. 

8.) Instructional Strategies:

            There are several instructional methods that can be employed by using the iPad.  One of the greatest advantages that this technology brings to the table is that it can accommodate amazing visual modeling software.  Seeing the subject matter whether it be the human brain or a cell, in three dimensions means that students can see how everything fits together, interacts, and give more opportunities to students to make connections between their prior knowledge and the new material.  The ability to create something that is interactive and thought provoking is also an advantage that this technology brings to the table. 

ISTE

1.) Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity:

            I’ve always found that have a creative learning tool would help me think more creatively about what I’m working on, but it would also help me remember the material later on.  The iPad is one of those creative teaching/learning tools.  The number of apps that are available for teaching each and every subject is immense and each app allows for a different way of teaching these subjects.  And because of the portability of this technology allows for combining the virtual world and face-to-face interactions—you can have students using the iPads and because of their versatility be using the other class room resources to enhance the lesson.

2.) Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments:

            IPads can be utilized to help enrich authentic activities by bringing more possibilities to the table.  Students will have some sort of technology that they’ll be able to use in real-life situations and if you can show them how to use one form of technology to accomplish an authentic activity they’ll be able to in the future. 

3.) Model Digital-Age Work and Learning:

            Using technology is the first step to knowing and understanding how to teach others how to use it.  Having used this technology, I think that I would be able to show students how this cutting-edge technology can be an asset to their learning not just a tool of distraction.

4.) Promote and Model Digital Citizenship Responsibility:

            Using technology such as the iPad in schools and helping students understand what it is that they are dealing with will aid students and teachers in the ever-evolving digital culture.  This education will introduce students to the beneficial aspects of the technology, and help to ensure that the modes of legal and ethical behavior are conveyed to each user.

5.) Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership:

            Like Standard 3, by using the technology that is on the cutting-edge, we as educators will be continuously able to improve how we teach.  We may not see all of the applications that the iPad can be used for now, but by introducing it too students who are “technology-native,” we may be able to learn a thing or two from how they interact with it or the thought process that they use to go about using it. 

Student

1.) Creativity and Innovation

            As a student, the more creative and innovative the means of teaching used by the teacher was, the more creative and innovative the ideas were that I was able to come up with.  The iPad is one such tool. There are many applications that allow for a lot of creativity and others that utilize innovative ways to help convey the information.

2.) Communication and Collaboration

            This technology allows multiple students to work on the same thing together and separately at the same time.  They each would have access to the resources, be able to collaborate and communicate digitally or verbally with each other which will help with understanding, while still working on something that is uniquely their own.

3.) Research and Information Fluency:

            The iPad would give students the access that to many new sources of information.  But access isn’t everything that they’ll need to be ”fluent.”  Teaching students how to use that access to their advantage is how teachers can help students take full advantage of the vast quantity of information that is at their disposal.

4.) Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

            Of the apps that were used, Idea Sketch is one type of app that requires students to think critically and creatively about the information that they are going through, as they create a project.

5.) Digital Citizenship

            Learning to use the technology in a classroom will help students understand how to use technology in a positive manner that is not only legal but ethical too.

6.) Technology Operations and Concepts

            Getting students to use technology that they haven’t been exposed to until that point will help them to become accustomed to new types of technology, be effective and productive users, and be able to transfer knowledge from one technology to another at later points in time.

Citation and Evaluation of Source

Silvernail, D., Lane, D.   Impact of Maine’s One-to-One Laptop Program on Teachers and Students.  Maine Education Policy Research Institute, Univeristy of Southern Maine Office.  February 2004.

            Maine instituted a one-to-one program for all teachers and students in the middle schools across the state and this study documents the initial results of the program.  Across the board there was an increase in the amount of information that was used in project by both teachers and students.  There are a lot of statistics that support the use of the laptops in classroom, like better organization, more work done, more engagement, and others.  However, the only downside that this study suggests is that there wasn’t enough technical support for when students had trouble with them.  I think that the accessibility and ability to use the technology are a giant plus for students and teachers but, this study appears to neglect that the computers would be used for anything else.  In order for this study to actually mark how students were using the computers they were given, there would need to look more into what was keeping the students engaged (material or computer) and whether or not the computer was actually the reason that they said more learning occurred.

Tech Project 4: Prezi

One of the things that I’ve notice seems to be a problem in classrooms is how teachers present the material that they are going to cover during the class.  Whether it be Powerpoint, notes on an over head projector, or a teacher standing in the front of the class lecturing, it always seems like a chore for students to take notes, and they may not always make the connections that they need to from the information they are given.  Prezi is an interesting presentation tool that a few of you have mentioned before, but I think that this program could make an excellent addition to a science classroom, not to mention all of the other applications that the Prezi website suggests it be used for.

I’ve created a short presentation for an introduction to what an atom is.  This is just a very basic introduction (and not complete) because I wanted to get familiar with the program rather than try to teach all of the chemistry right now.

Rationale (Bloom’s Taxonomy) for how the technology might used with and preferably by students:

            In the projects that others have done on this technology previously, a lot of emphasis has been put on how they as teachers would use it as a method to convey material to students or as a method for creating something like a resume.  I think this technology can be used for every level of Bloom’s taxonomy.  The first couple of levels are pretty self-explanatory: this is an intriguing method of combining a flow chart and note presentations, so students will have a better chance of remember not only the information, but also how every thing is connected.  How Prezi fits with the other four levels have to do with getting students to create a project of their own.  In order to create something with the information that they are given (from texts, notes, or experiments), they would need to apply their prior knowledge about a subject, analyze the new material in order to evaluate the new information so they can get all of the important information across clearly and succinctly.

Struggles for implementing this technology:

            I’ll start off with some of the infrastructural struggles for implementation since those would affect everybody: if you want to make a presentation using Prezi you have to be connected to the internet and not every house has the internet.  Another thing that would be difficult to address is the amount of time that it takes to get used to the software.  I was frustrated by some of the controls that were there and those that weren’t: it took me a fair amount of time to understand the way that you change the font sizes.  I still haven’t quite figured out all of the things that Prezi can do, but I’m guessing that if you asked students to make a presentation, they would be able to show you a few new things.  Students who are technology comfortable will take to this technology quickly and eagerly because it is so versatile.  Mike mentioned in his post about Prezi that because there are a lot of bells and whistles, students may end up focusing on them rather than the content of the presentation.  This is a valid point, and one that would need to be addressed in what the assignment is and what it would entail.  Another struggle would present itself is the cost per amount of storage you get on the Prezi server.  Depending on what type of account you want, the annual fee is $60 dollars or $160.  However there is a teacher account that gives you the same access and storage as the $60 choice has for free.  The reason I am mentioning this is because I didn’t notice it until after I had already made an account.  If as a teacher I want to use this technology in my classroom, I’m going to need the added services of an educator account, and if you aren’t paying attention you may accidentally pay for something you could use for free.

Trade-offs, Limitations, and Biases for this technology:

            One of the things that I can see happening is students and teachers using this novel form technology would only give the main ideas with very little support.  The way that text is input to the presentation makes inserting support from text difficult, inefficient, and can lead to a disjointed presentation.  This technology is also biased toward the use of digital sources.  You can add files, youtube videos, and hyperlinks, but inputting information from print sources is an tedious process.  I’ve heard that you also have to be care when you use this because it sometimes makes people seize or become nauseous if you go from frame to frame too quickly.  Because this is a completely virtual technology (if it is a group project, you can collaborate on a presentation online, and never actually meet with as a group), the face-to-face interaction that students get out of it is the presentation of it.

Teacher and Student Standards:

INTASC Standards:

5.) Application of Content:  This type of presentation is a great way for teachers to show how certain aspects of the material connect to one another.  Teachers can tap into different perspectives, critical thinking exercises, creative and collaborative problem solving techniques depending on the information they want to provide in the presentation, and what questions are posed.

8.) Instructional Strategies: This technology allows for many different ways to present data in a format where students can see how those different ideas are connected.   It also presents an interesting means to provide scaffolding to students, which can help them get to the higher levels of cognitive processes.

Citation and Evaluation of Sources:

Manning, C., Brooks, W., Crotteau, V., Diedrich, A., Moser, J., Zwiefelhofer, A. Tech Tools for Teachers by Teachers: Bridging Teachers and Students.  Wisconsin English Journal. Vol. 53, No. 1. Spring 2011.

This article praises the visual, and spatial aspect of Prezi, but some of the ideas that proposes (substituting Prezi for an essay) seem like they are a little far fetched.  I did like that they thought about a way to use it as both instructional, assessment, and way to increase what they call “21^st century literacy:” being able to use technology in order convey meaning and encourage discussion and interaction between students and teachers.  Although this article does explain that Prezi can be an good tool, it completely glosses over the limitations, biases, and any trade-offs that come with the technology.

Second Tech Project

For the second tech project I found a resource that I think could be really helpful in a science classroom.  For those of us who have take several lab courses in the past know that seeing an experiment can help a person understand what will be going on in the lab, but it is really hard to get that kind of experience without actually doing the experiment.  Now with the level of technology where it is, simulations are becoming easier and easier to make and perform, and now available online.  Internet4Classroom (http://www.internet4classrooms.com/chemistry.htm) is a website that has a lot of interesting tools that can be used in a variety of science classrooms, but the ones that I am focusing on are a couple of chemistry simulations: an acid/base titration and an electrochemical cell.

When I was going through my chemistry courses (any science course for that matter), there were always a couple things that I had trouble grasping.  I could see these tools as a way that every student could see the experiment before having to do it on their own.  Vygotsky would probably be happy that as an educator, I would be helping my students to learn by helping them find the tools that will aid them in their quest for knowledge, as well as giving them a means through which they could see the concepts at work.

The two simulations that I wanted to show are two interactive ones that allow you to either: complete one of several titrations to see how that process works - as well as understand what information a student is looking to get from this kind of experiment; or, create one of several basic electrochemical cells virtually to see how they work (in the macro- and microscales).  The links to these simulations are really long so I've posted them at the bottom of the post.

The Rationale
These activities are something that would definitely apply to the first level of Bloom's taxonomy: remembering.  Students would be able to make a connection between the concepts they read about/took notes over, and the visual process of the experiments.  One of the concepts that Omrod puts for in Chapter 6 of Ed. Psych.:Developing Learners for how to develop the ideas your teaching into concepts that students know and understand is to provide them with opportunities to practice those concepts.  These simulations offer a very cheap, easy way for students to practice the ideas they just learned about in class with some guidance from the onscreen instructions, without forcing them to "jump into the deep end" with the real materials.

Struggles of Implementation
Although these simulations will help students understand what is happening with the two types of experiments, they take time to do.  This means that they would either need to be something that is done at home or in spare time.  Asking that students use the internet at home can be a tricky thing--not everyone has internet at home, and if you are relying on it as a teaching tool, you might be leaving some of the students behind.  Spare time in class can be a rarity, and if you have students who were like me and don't like having to take work home, they'll try to finish homework in class before trying out these simulations.  The availability of computers could also limit the implementation of these--if you don't have  computers available before you do the experiment for real, these simulations won't have the teaching effect that they are meant to have.

Biases, Trade-offs, Limitations
Simulations offer a variety of advantages like the ability to try an experiment over and over again quickly without needing to use the actual materials (which can be expensive), you can see what should happen and which will help you understand the mechanics of the experiment for when you actually run it, and it can help you see where the information you are trying to get comes from.  But, you trade the hands-on quality of an actual experiment for those benefits.  Another limitation would be how much understanding of the mechanics of an experiment you can actually get.  The simulation of the titration allows you to titrate in a drop-wise fashion (one drop at a time) at the click of a button, but operating a stopcock on a burette so that one drop falls and mixes completely before another one falls is completely different.  These simulations are also biased toward the very simplest of experiments.  The electrochemical cell only allows for testing the three most common electrodes, but these aren't always the ones that you'll be asking about so students ability to transfer their knowledge across different experiments plays a large roll in their ability to learn.

Teacher/Student Standards
These types of simulations will help fulfill the INTASC Standards 5 (Application of Content) and 8 (Instructional Strategies).  According to Standard 5, teachers need to  understand how to help students make the connections between ideas and concepts taught in the classroom and how they are applied.  In my own experience, being able to see an experiment has helped me understand the concepts that it relates to from the class lecture--actually seeing how electrolyte solutions work in an electrochemical cell makes understanding the stoichiometric

These simulations also apply to ISTE Standards #1 (Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity), #2 (Digital-Age Learning Experiences/Assessments), and #3(Model Digital-Age Work and Learning).  By utilizing online simulations in the classroom, you are using what you know (you know it's a difficult concept to understand the first time through) so you give your students a tool to facilitate their ability to understand the ideas quicker and easier.  These simulations are inherently a digital-age learning experience.  These types of programs weren't possible before the computers could handle them, which meant that if you wanted to practice something in a lab, it meant you actually had to work in the lab, but now, you are giving your students the ability to practice outside the lab. These simulations would allow me as a teacher to improve upon the practices that are required for the courses that I'd like to teach.  I want to make sure that students will be able to understand what is happening and these activities are one tool that can help make that goal a reality.

According to Mike Stieff at the University of Chicago, students who use these types of visualization/interaction tools will be more likely to understand and use representations of the material that are consistent with what teachers and experts expect (1).  Stieff compared several classrooms that used computer based visualization/interaction activities to several that followed a standard curriculum.  His results show that although the students' achievement on summative assessment is only moderate in classrooms that use these activities, the change in understand from before use to after use is much better than in the class rooms that did not utilize them.

Links:


Simulations:


Titration:  

http://group.chem.iastate.edu/Greenbowe/sections/projectfolder/flashfiles/stoichiometry/acid_base.html

Electrochemical cell:

http://group.chem.iastate.edu/Greenbowe/sections/projectfolder/flashfiles/electroChem/voltaicCell20.html

Article:


Stieff, M., Improving Representation Competence Using Molecular Simulations Embedded in Inquiry Activities. J. of Research in Science Teaching. 3 August 2011.

If you are logged into the Drake Network you can access the full article at:

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tea.20438/pdf