Learning Science with ICT

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Learning Science with ICT

• Loretta Jones
• University of Northern Colorado
• Greeley, CO USA

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Technology is having a profound effect on the
learning of science.
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What we teach is changing

• New technologies have changed scientific
  research.
• This changes the science we teach and the skills
  students need.

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The way we teach is changing

• High-powered computers
• Audio and video
• Internet

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We need a new pedagogy for technology

• The function of media
• is not so much to convey
• old knowledge in new
• forms, but rather to
• cultivate new skills.
• Apple Classroom of Tomorrow Research
• Report Number 16

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We can use ICT

• To motivate
• To develop insight
• To build problem-solving strategies

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Technology allows us

• To replace
• Superficial learning.
• Passive learning.
• With
• Challenges and exploration
• Visualization
• Connections

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Challenges and Exploration
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Authentic Science

• Scientists
• Make observations
• Formulate problems
• Search for information
• Design experiments and materials
• Make and check predictions
• Make discoveries

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School Science

• Children
• Solve problems for which the answers are
  already known.
• Report laboratory work by filling in blanks.
• Memorize information.
• Take multiple-choice tests.
• This is not doing science.

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• ICT can help teachers offer students inquiry
  learning experiences.

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One example Comprehensive Chemistry Curriculum

• Children are challenged to experiment.

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Can multimedia challenges help students to learn
science content?

• Comprehensive Chemistry
• 21 college students who did multimedia design
  simulations scored higher on a test than 49
  college students who did a verification
  laboratory.

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Can multimedia challenges prepare students for
practical work?

• Comprehensive Chemistry
• 26 college students designed virtual experiments
  that used a spectrometer simulation.
• 22 college students read the spectrometer manual.
• Later, in the laboratory, the students who had
  designed virtual experiments took less time and
  made 1/3 as many errors as students who read the
  manual. They could use the spectrometer as though
  they had used it before.

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Visualization
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Visualization helps students

• Process large amounts of data.
• Understand concepts that are not normally
  visible.
• Understand change over time.

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Visualization in earth science
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Learning difficulties in earth science

• Visualizing large databases of information
• Visualizing elevation from topographical maps.
• Visualizing the history of a formation as changes
  over time.

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WorldWatcher software A powerful modeling tool
for visualizing large datasets
Free downloads at www.worldwatcher.northwestern.e
du/
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Using shading to visualize elevation from
topographical maps
D. E. Leedy, S. J. Reynolds, C. M. McAuliffe, and
J. K. Johnson
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Using color and rotation to visualize elevation
from topographical maps
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Visualizing relationship between elevation and
flooding patterns

• D. E. Leedy, S. J. Reynolds, C. M. McAuliffe, and
  J. K. Johnson

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Using animation to visualize change over time
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Molecular visualization in chemistry
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Gabel, Samuel, Hunn (1987). J. Chem. Education,
l5, 361-366.

• Students are able to use formulas in equations
  and even balance equations correctly without
  understanding the meaning of the formulas in
  terms of particles that the symbols represent.

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Visualization of complex processes
Melting ice, Jeffrey Madura, DuQuesne University
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Visualization of data from instruments
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Visualization of small molecular structures

• Molecular modeling software (WebLab ViewerPro,
  HyperChem, etc.)

See www.pro3.chem.pitt.edu/workshop/ or link from
my home page
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ChemDiscovery CD-ROM/web hybrid secondary school
chemistry curriculum

• learning through design and construction.
• using databases,modeling programs, and other
  tools.
• taking personal responsibility for the
  environment.

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Students use computer tools to model, predict,
construct.
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Designing chemical equations
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Constructing molecules from atoms and orbitals
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How does a computer-based learning environment
change the classroom?

• ChemDiscovery observations
• Two secondary schools
• Two classes taught by a teacher at each school
• Two experimental (ChemDiscovery)
• Two control (Traditional)
• Two observers one per school
• Observations made every 5 minutes
• Twelve visits to each site

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Classroom Activity
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Using ChemDiscovery (Eufala High School,
Alabama)
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Teachers Role
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Doug Horn, University Lab School, Greeley, CO
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Summary of findings

• Students are more active.
• Teachers spend more time facilitating student
  work and less time lecturing.

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Connections
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Software that connects the visible and molecular
levels

• ChemCom
• American Chemical Society General Chemistry
  software
• Bridging to the Lab
• (available at www.whfreeman.com)

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Bridging to the lab

• Connects visible and molecular levels.

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Some visualization research A study of learning
from molecular animations of salt dissolution

• Resa Kelly, Jennifer Duis, and Loretta Jones
• University of Northern Colorado
• USA

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Background Information

• Many studies have explored how to improve
  students understanding of chemistry at the
  visible, molecular and symbolic levels.
• When teaching focuses on the visible and symbolic
  levels students may not see the relationship to
  the molecular chemistry.
• Animations of macroscopic and molecular processes
  have been developed to supplement instruction.

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Background Information

• Several research studies have shown that students
  who view computer animations of molecular
  processes have better understanding of molecular
  phenomena.
• However, little research has focused on what
  aspects of the animations have helped students to
  change their mental models of chemistry
  concepts---and what aspects hinder learning.

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Purpose

• The purpose of this study was to investigate how
  molecular animations of salt dissolution affect
  beginning chemistry students mental models of
  the concepts.
• The goal was to understand how students use
  animations to learn by looking at the nature of
  their initial mental models and examining how
  their mental models were revised by the use of
  animations.

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The Animations

• Two animations of salt dissolution that
  emphasized different aspects of the same
  dissolution event (NaCl dissolving in water) were
  studied.
• One animation emphasized the charge on the ions
  and the attraction of water to the ions.
• The other animation shows the vibration of the
  ions in the lattice structure.

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NaCl Dissolution Animation

• Prentice Hall http//vig.prenhall.com/

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NaCl Dissolution Animation

• W. H. Freeman (by VisChem) http//vischem.cadre.c
  om.au/

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Research Questions

• How do students visualize chemical phenomena both
  at the macroscopic level and the atomic level?
• How do animations modeling these phenomena affect
  students understanding?
• What features of animations mislead students?

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Methods

• Participants interviewed in small groups
• 7 first-semester, general chemistry students at
  the University of Northern Colorado
• 7 chemistry students at a secondary school
• Two commercially available animations
  illustrating the dissolution of NaCl in water
• W. H. Freeman (created by VisChem)
• Prentice Hall

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Methods

• Students
• watched a demonstration of table salt dissolving
  in water.
• Described in words and pictures what was
  happening and explained their drawings.
• Viewed an animation of the same process and
  explained what the animation was trying to show.
• Viewed a second animation and answered more
  questions.

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Methods
Resa Kelly with some undergraduate participants.
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Results

• Learning Gains
• Some Prior Misconceptions Not Changed by
  Animations
• Misconceptions Possibly Induced by Animations
• Other Findings
• Student Insights

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Results

• Learning Gains
• Students better understood the role of water in
  salt dissolution
• Initial drawings/explanations largely ignored
  waters role in the dissolving process but this
  changed after viewing animations
• Dissolving ? disappear
• I really thought the chloride and sodium ions
  disappeared but really they just mixed and
  separate. HSm2 and echoed by HSm6

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Results

• Some Prior Misconceptions Not Changed by
  Animations
• Salt is being liquefied or melted when it
  dissolves.
• Before animations the water reacted (the salt)
  into a liquid. HSr7
• After All three high school participants in the
  group agreed that the salt had become a liquid.
• Salt is a molecule.
• Some students referred to sodium chloride as a
  molecule both before and after viewing animations

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Results

• Some Prior Misconceptions Not Changed by
  Animations
• NaCl exists only as
• ion pairs.

Drawing made by undergraduate prior to animations
and not corrected after viewing animations.
G1mL
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Results

• Misconceptions Possibly Induced by Animations
• Positive charge gt negative charge
• Referring to the polarity of water the positive
  charge is stronger than the negative charge
• Misconception stems from the different number of
  water molecules drawn around each ion in the
  still image at the end of the Prentice Hall
  animation.

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End illustration from Prentice Hall animation.
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Results

• Misconceptions Possibly Induced by Animations
• Hydrated ion a new molecule
• Before animations salt molecules and water
  molecules arent bonding together, arent forming
  new molecules. HSr8
• After animations it looks like it creates a
  new one. A new molecule. because they are
  attracted to each other instead of them just
  floating all over the place. HSr8

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Results

• Other Findings
• Students seem to take animations literally
• Students focus on speed, ease of ion removal,
  attack movement of water molecules
• Participants comment on how the animation allows
  them to actually see what is happening
• Students use analogies
• Tug of war was used by several students.
• They (the salt cube) remind me of like a small
  little group, and like the (water) (is) like
  trying to invade. HSr13

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Results

• Other Findings
• Some high school students tried to use the
  animations to explain the bubbles seen in the
  demonstration.
• the water does
• pulls the chloride and
• sodium ions apart and
• then brings them
• together somewhere
• else its in the
• bubbles, I think.
• HSm2

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Results

• Other Findings
• The animations stimulated students to ask many
  questions about dissolving.
• Students found it helpful to view different
  animations of the same process and to replay
  animations

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Results

• Student Insights
• Responding to a question about what were the
  important features of the animations
• sometimes I forget about the experiment that we
  did and how its the same thing in the
  animations we just saw like a microscopic look
  Sometimes I forget about thinking about both of
  them at the same time. G2fc

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Results

• Student Insights
• Responding to a question about what new ideas or
  understandings about chemistry were gained from
  the animations
• It just shows that it takes more than one, like,
  idea, because youve got the charges and then
  youve got the energies of all of it, and its
  just more than one concept pulling together. And
  thats what chemistry is a lot of the time. G2fr

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Conclusions

• Animations can help students better understand
  dynamic molecular processes.
• However, viewing and discussing animations may
  not be enough for correct understanding.
• Students take animation features literally and
  hence may misinterpret them.
• If explanations are not provided, students
  attempt to explain what they see by using their
  prior knowledge, which may be flawed or applied
  inappropriately.
• Prior misconceptions may not be affected by
  animations and new misconceptions may develop.

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Some resources
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www.chemistry.org

• American Chemical Society Education Division
  resources for educators and students

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httpserc.carleton.edu
?
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Gordon Research Conferences

• Visualization in Science and Education
• Queens College, Oxford, UK
• July 3-8, 2005
• Chemistry Education Research and Practice
• Connecticut College, Connecticut, US
• June 26-July 1, 2005
• International attendees are welcome and some
  travel funding is available.
• Go to www.grc.org then 2005 Conferences.
• Attendance is limited apply before February.

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Acknowledgments

• U. S. National Science Foundation
• University of Northern Colorado
• IPST
• Dr. Precharn Dechsri
• Dr. Patananya Lekhavat