The Role of Digital Libraries in High School Teaching of STEM

1. The Role of Digital Libraries in High School Teaching of STEM Panel Presentation Sarita Nair, Katherine Hanson, Marcia Mardis, Wesley Shumar

2. Agenda • Panel Introductions & Overview • Research Questions • Presentations • The Gender & Science Digital Library • Effective Access • Michigan Teacher Network • Math Forum • Questions & Feedback

3. Introductions & Overview • What is the Role of Digital Libraries in the High School Teaching of STEM? • Sarita Nair – Project Director, GSDL • Katherine Hanson - PD/PI Effective Access & GSDL • Marcia Mardis - Project Director, MTN • Wesley Shumar – Ethnographer, Math Forum

4. Research Questions • How are high school teachers currently using digital resources? What would they like to be doing? • How does collaborative planning (or the lack thereof) affect DL development? • Do K-12 educators care about metadata? • Where does ‘Google’ fit into the development paradigm?

5. The GSDL • For all STEM disciplines • Equitable materials for all students with emphasis on female engagement • Inter-disciplinary examination of the role of gender in teaching and learning • Serving a broad audience • Offering a wide range of content

6. The GSDL • Design considerations for K-12 • Focus group feedback • Results of pilot testing • Usage data • http://www.gsdl.org • Basis for Effective Access research project

7. Effective Access • Web use and textbooks are the two most relied upon resources • Teachers learn about resources from colleagues and professional development • Teachers say there’s not enough time to make effective use of the web • Resources used for background information, not necessarily integrated into the classroom

8. Effective Access • Teachers • http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=26853192055 • Developers • http:// www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=32220185416

9. Michigan Teacher Network • Founded in 1998 for Michigan educators • 17,000+ page views per day • Statewide PD events searching and classroom planning resources • Original collection policy limited to Web sites--now changing to item level • http://www.michiganteacher.net

10. Michigan Teacher Network • What’s consistent in the established literature? • Time is consistently a big factor • Teachers say quality is important but don’t take time to evaluate quality • Teachers consult colleagues (Sutton, 1999) • But, recent research leads elsewhere…

11. Data collected from April 29-May 14, 2003

12. Top Searches 2/19-3/5/2003

13. Top Searches 3/26-4/9/2003

14. Top Searches 4/29-5/14/2003

15. Data collected from April 29-May 14, 2003

16. Conclusions • Many users exhibit “Search Engine Habits” • Search for items beyond scope of collection • Seem to be expecting to search site text, not metadata • Perform searches on browsing categories

17. Conclusions • Most searches occur after school • MTN users seek classroom management help the most • Science is the most searched curriculum area • Users search very broad or very narrow concepts with few terms • Users seem to want objects • Users repeatedly type in the same search

18. Users misunderstand sometimes… • Ozzy Osbourne • Motown Hoe Down • Health priorities in Australia • Bay City Boating and Fishing • Recipes (food) • Spices and herbs • Buying a car • SARS • Mazda rx-8 • Bush declares war

19. Michigan Teacher Network • Citation Analysis • Practitioner literature between 1998 and 2002 • Collection development, working with S&M teachers, working with S&M students advice • Hypothesis: there’s not much out there

20. Michigan Teacher Network • Citation Analysis Conclusions • Not much out there • Collection development focuses on entire Web site, not object level • More than “This is How We Do it Good” • Little authoring collaboration • Need to do same study on S&M practitioner literature for comparison • What does it all mean?

21. The Math Forum - Introduction • Building of the Math Forum site was very ground up-the site evolved based on user interests • The site evolved with the Web • Focus was always in supporting a community that cared about math education • Resources were built out of interactions and collections of gifts • A utopian system of generalized reciprocity

22. The Math Forum - Evaluation • Evaluation at the Math Forum established a process for understanding the possibilities for social interaction and resource development • Community was central to the success of The Math Forum • The Math Forum strategy for building resources gave people “buy-in” as well as creating a “rich site” • Different “teacher types” were supported in different ways

23. The Math Forum - Community • From the beginning the Math Forum saw themselves as a Community • Community gives people a sense of attachment and belonging • The community was supported by f2f and online activities • Active teachers developed a sense of emotional attachment to the site

24. The Math Forum - Teachers • There are three main teacher types using the Math Forum • Novice, Intermediate, Expert • There seem to be some gendered differences in interaction • Leaders who become major contributors to the site are rare but essential

25. Conclusion • Questions for Panelists • Comments on Research Questions Thank you!