Advanced Science Inquiry Tools for Visual Learners

1. Bringing advanced science inquiry tools in for a soft landing: report of a five year study Oregon Association of Teacher Education Conference Portland, Oregon August 2007 Mike Charles& Bob Kolvoord (Pacific University)& (James Madison University) Research supported by the National Science Foundation And the Tommy Thompson Award Presentation available at http://fg.ed.pacificu.edu/charlesm/presentations.html

2. The promise Scientific visualization tools provide... • Rich use of the computers available in schools • Connections to science/math for visual learners • 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

3. The opportunity • How to get more teachers involved in using visualization tools in their classrooms? • Promising tools that require advanced skills • Extended training in the tools is often too much, too soon...

4. 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 • 3 day follow on workshops-about 20 participants each time held at James Madison (Summer 2003) and Pacific Summer 2004)

5. Tools taught in Project VISM • Image processingNIH Image/Scion Image/Image J • Geospatial AnalysisArcView GIS • Molecular VisualizationRasMol/Chemscape Chime • Systems modelingSTELLA

6. ImageJ (NIH Image/Scion Image) • 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

7. Ability to set scales and measure distances Measure angles as well Measure distances other than straight line Select pixels of a given value and measure Measure area Compare circumference to diameter to approximate Pi Ability to see multiple exposures of the same images IP--a powerful tool for sci inquiry because…

8. ArcView GIS • Available for educators--See the ESRI homepagehttp://www.esri.com/ • Classroom activities available at http://gis2.esri.com/industries/education/arclessons/arclessons.cfm • Plate Tectonics visualized

9. Ability to see information geospatially Make a map…with multiple layers E.g. where’s the most recent earthquake? What patterns do you see in earthquake distribution? Environmental trends Using historical maps to answer questions Mapping where elements come from and researching how they get into everyday objects. GIS--a powerful tool for sci inquiry because… http://www.csc.noaa.gov/mpass/tools_gis.html

10. RASMOL/Chemscape Chime • Public domain software for mol viz • Presented as “molecular storytelling” • Resource page: http://sharepoint.cisat.jmu.edu/isat/klevicca/Web/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)

11. Allows the learner to “see” what is happening at the molecular level E.g. Observing the effects that has a solute has on the boiling point of liquid Molecular visualization--a powerful tool for sci inquiry because… http://sharepoint.cisat.jmu.edu/isat/klevicca/Web/VISM/VISM.htm#example

12. 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

13. Asks students to model mathematically a real event in the world E.g. Research your own endangered species. Determine reasonable rates for reproduction and attrition. Create a STELLA population model that shows this. Grizzly bear System simulation--a powerful tool for sci inquiry because… http://www.nps.gov/akso/ParkWise/Students/PhotoGallery/DENA/wildlife/photoindex.htm

14. The ACOT model of stages of teacher development in using technological tools • Entry level-competent using thetool 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 withthe tool in their teaching practice • Brought in new images from a local zoo of animal hands to add to the activity

15. 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 • Updated in successive years of teaching as instructors gained experience with practicing teachers • 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

16. 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)

17. Data • Follow-up questionnaires filled out online • Follow-up classroom visit/observations and interviews

18. Questionnaires • 35 questionnaires from Summer 2003 and 2004 “reunion” workshop participants • 36 respondents in spring 2006--some duplicates • A little less than half of the participants have responded to at least one follow-on survey

19. Follow-on interviews • 19 interviews, 14 with classroom visits • From Hawaii to New Jersey • 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.

20. Classroom visits • Let me see you using one of the VISM tools in your teaching. • Let me see any examples of VISM projects your students have done • Let’s talk about any other inquiry based projects you’ve done with your students • Revisit rationale, obstacles, and professional development options, plus see projects (both tech and non tech)

21. VISM tools--levels of use summary • 29 of 36 responded • 2 kinds of adopt: • 1 activity • Several activities

22. VISM tools-implementation summary • 2/3rd’s of the responses were GIS or IP • Significant prior IP use in this group

23. Increased abilities with the tools • Teachers developed further skills in 2 of the tools…without formal follow-up • Classroom ready materials using the tools, follow-up courses, reviewing notes from the workshop… • Twice as many responses for more competent or same as there were for less competent

24. How did they get better? • Purchase curriculum support materials • A second workshop, often focused around that tool • Revisit workshop notes

25. Obstacles

26. 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 as it changes-- …negotiating adequate computer time for students to do their work is nonetheless a major challenge for these teachers.

27. Indirect effects • 96.8%-Better equipped to learn and use other technology tools or resources (other than the VISM tools) in your teaching • 71%-Raised your status in your school and/or district as a technology leader

28. Case study examples • In-depth interviews with 19 teachers • 1 day classroom visit with 14 of the 19 • VISM tools in action • Other VISM student projects • Other engaging science projects • Hope to get to 25 classrooms total at the end of this year (6 more in the midwest)

29. Exemplary uses of all four tools by experienced scientific visualization tool users

30. More typical implementations

31. VISM tools not yet “landed” in teaching practice

32. Key predictor--science inquiry projects (without technology)? • Hurricane houses • Richard’s cardboard boats • Argues against the idea that visualization tools support science inquiry?

33. Current professional development literature argues for professional development efforts that are: site-based curriculum-specific with significant on-site follow-up Project VISM was an effective professional development effort that was: university-based with materials that had only general curriculum connections no significant on-site follow-up component. Discussion

34. Staff training Extrinsic motivation Program determined by organizational mission and goals Mandated by the organization Fundamentally constructivist nature of teacher learning Professional Development • Intrinsic motivation • Constructing their own program • Personally constructed

35. An interesting case… Teaching at a K-3 school on the Navajo Reservation

36. Not using any of the VISM tools • “I believe these [VISM tools] are valuable tools for learning. However, my school has prioritized the curriculum to cover reading and arithmetic. Therefore I target those two areas when students come to the computer lab.”

37. What effect did VISM have on your professional development? • Raised comfort level with computers • Greater awareness of the possibilities-go beyond.. • Creativity--“I always remember that phrase—the aha moments—and I try to create that among my students” • “Using the computer as a learning tool.”

38. Summarizing student experiences using multimedia and publishing to the web • Presentation for Vivian Banks Charter School in California, where students shared with their pen pals • Presentation (to be published to the web) in which students write about that experience • Kayla’s photo and article • Why publish to the web?

40. Curriculum collision?

41. AIMS and VISM • AIMS--a computer assisted instructional program keyed to the Arizona testing program • What value does Norm see in the AIMS program?

42. How these come together…technology as a tool for humanizing an increasingly technical learning environment…is less a collision and more of a negotiation that he balances his own sense of what is best for his students and what he can accomplish within a constrained system.

43. Member checks Triangulation of findings auditable data (questionnaires, interview transcripts, interview sound files) Rigor of the study

44. No random sample group design in this type of study Reliance on teacher self report data Observations are brief (one day) Possible investigator bias (as a person who has implemented these tools and an advocate for their use) How clear is the tie to the overall goal?--draw today’s increasingly visual learners into in-depth study of science/math topics Lacking a measure of “in-depth study” and better at simply rating tool implementation Study limitations

45. Roger’s diffusion of innovation theory-A predictable chronology of adoption • Innovators (2-3% of social system) • Early adopters (13-14%) • Early majority (33-44 %) • Late majority (33-44%) • Concerned…(15-16%) • Distinguished by differences in their tolerance for and the time they will dedicate to addressing the uncertainties that come with the innovation • Require different kinds of support

46. Innovators Early adopters Early majority Late majority Concerned Stay out of their way! Publicize their success Focus support here and make it collaborative Develop reliable applications of the innovation Don’t force the innovation Support recommendation… Concern: is the VISM approach only workable for early adopters?

47. Formal & informal learning A look at teacher professional development that better accounts for the interaction between formal & informal learning? http://life-slc.org/

48. Hope & vision… • Vision--a larger view of teacher professional development? • Hope--that inquiry-based learning not be lost in the current push toward “measurable learning gains” as the only valid way to assess student learning

49. For more info • Mike Charles at Pacific University • charlesm@pacificu.edu • Bob Kolvoord, Project Director, at JMU • kolvoora@jmu.edu • Project VISM home page http://www.isat.jmu.edu/common/projects/VISM/