How Co-Designing Computational Modeling Activities Helped Teachers Implement Responsive Teaching Strategies

In recent years, science education has shifted focus, from content to practice. This is reflected in the NGSS, which advocate learning science concepts through engagement in science and engineering practices. Theory building is a central activity of science and computational modeling is a key practice through which contemporary scientists construct theory. In this paper, we discuss an 8th grade science teacher\u27s implementation of a computational modeling lesson. The teacher had co-designed the computational modeling microworld and lesson with the research team over the preceding summers. We investigate the teacher\u27s activity during a whole-class discussion near the end of the lesson, to understand her responsive teaching strategies and how the co-designed technology supported her in eliciting and responding to student ideas. We examine the transcript from a follow-up interview to understand her experience implementing the co-designed technology and responsive teaching strategies, and to identify foci of future co-design iterations

Didactic Scenarios and ICT: A Good Practice Guide

Abstract. In this paper a 'good practice guide' is presented for creating Didactic Scenarios (D.S.) with the support of ICT. This guide is based on: a) empirical data collected during longitudinal training programs addressed to secondary education teachers, b) observation of the way ICT is used in both levels of education and c) modern didactical theories

Computers for learning : an empirical modelling perspective

In this thesis, we explore the extent to which computers can provide support for domain learning. Computer support for domain learning is prominent in two main areas: in education, through model building and the use of educational software; and in the workplace, where models such as spreadsheets and prototypes are constructed. We shall argue that computerbased learning has only realised a fraction of its full potential due to the limited scope for combining domain learning with conventional computer programming. In this thesis, we identify some of the limitations in the current support that computers offer for learning, and propose Empirical Modelling (EM) as a way of overcoming them. We shall argue that, if computers are to be successfully used for learning, they must support the widest possible range of learning activities. We introduce an Experiential Framework for Learning (EFL) within which to characterise learning activities that range from the private to the public, from the empirical to the theoretical, and from the concrete to the abstract. The term ‘experiential’ reflects a view of knowledge as rooted in personal experience. We discuss the merits of computer-based modelling methods with reference to a broad constructionist perspective on learning that encompasses bricolage and situated learning. We conclude that traditional programming practice is not well-suited to supporting bricolage and situated learning since the principles of program development inhibit the essential cognitive model building activity that informs domain learning. In contrast, the EM approach to model construction directly targets the semantic relation between the computer model and its domain referent and exploits principles that are closely related to the modeller’s emerging understanding or construal. In this way, EM serves as a uniform modelling approach to support and integrate learning activities across the entire spectrum of the EFL. This quality makes EM a particularly suitable approach for computer-based model construction to support domain learning. In the concluding chapters of the thesis, we demonstrate the qualities of EM for educational technology with reference to practical case studies. These include: a range of EM models that have advantages over conventional educational software due to their particularly open-ended and adaptable nature and that serve to illustrate a variety of ways in which learning activities across the EFL can be supported and scaffolded

Computers for learning : an empirical modelling perspective

In this thesis, we explore the extent to which computers can provide support for domain learning. Computer support for domain learning is prominent in two main areas: in education, through model building and the use of educational software; and in the workplace, where models such as spreadsheets and prototypes are constructed. We shall argue that computerbased learning has only realised a fraction of its full potential due to the limited scope for combining domain learning with conventional computer programming. In this thesis, we identify some of the limitations in the current support that computers offer for learning, and propose Empirical Modelling (EM) as a way of overcoming them. We shall argue that, if computers are to be successfully used for learning, they must support the widest possible range of learning activities. We introduce an Experiential Framework for Learning (EFL) within which to characterise learning activities that range from the private to the public, from the empirical to the theoretical, and from the concrete to the abstract. The term ‘experiential’ reflects a view of knowledge as rooted in personal experience. We discuss the merits of computer-based modelling methods with reference to a broad constructionist perspective on learning that encompasses bricolage and situated learning. We conclude that traditional programming practice is not well-suited to supporting bricolage and situated learning since the principles of program development inhibit the essential cognitive model building activity that informs domain learning. In contrast, the EM approach to model construction directly targets the semantic relation between the computer model and its domain referent and exploits principles that are closely related to the modeller’s emerging understanding or construal. In this way, EM serves as a uniform modelling approach to support and integrate learning activities across the entire spectrum of the EFL. This quality makes EM a particularly suitable approach for computer-based model construction to support domain learning. In the concluding chapters of the thesis, we demonstrate the qualities of EM for educational technology with reference to practical case studies. These include: a range of EM models that have advantages over conventional educational software due to their particularly open-ended and adaptable nature and that serve to illustrate a variety of ways in which learning activities across the EFL can be supported and scaffolded.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Evaluation of educational computer programmes as a change agent in science classrooms.

Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.This evaluation started with preliminary research into the situations and problems in science classrooms and computer laboratories. The preliminary research identified teacher-centred lessons, learner and teacher conceptualisations, large numbers of learners per classroom, assessment, and a lack of interest in biology as some of the major problems in South African classrooms. The current research (because it is continuing) uses two Educational Computer Programmes (ECPs); a Computer-Aided Assessment (CAA) programme which is designed to alleviate problems in assessment, and Zadarh (a constructivist adventure game) designed to solve problems in biology classrooms, to further investigate some of the identified problems and find out the learners' and teachers' views on the utility of these two ECPs. The use of these two ECPs had not previously been investigated appropriately, especially in disadvantaged communities where teachers had little knowledge of the use and of evaluating ECPs. Therefore, a major concern for this study is that previous ECP evaluations excluded teachers and were not comprehensive enough especially for deploying ECPs in disadvantaged communities. A review of the methods that had hitherto been used, indicated that quantitative, mostly, behavioural and cognitive, pre-test post-test methods were prominently used, despite the shift in instructional design to constructional design, which embrace qualitative aspects of learning. Also, instructional design has evolved from behavioural models to include constructivist microworlds, which were unfairly evaluated by excluding qualitative benefits. Thus, this study seeks a more comprehensive evaluation strategy, in which teachers play the role of co-evaluators and which captures the qualitative and quantitative changes that software programs impart upon teachers' classroom practices, with sensitivity to the multiple disciplines in a program, as well as to the value systems of teachers. Comprehensive evaluation processes were facilitated during which 26 teachers in 23 schools in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and Mpumalanga Provinces embarked upon the evaluation of the two ECPs. Evaluations were based upon a developmental, constructivist and interpretative approaches, by which teachers took ownership of these evaluations. Comprehensive evaluations revealed benefits from CAA and Zadarh, as well as benefits from direct teacher participations in the evaluations. CAA (Question Mark in this case) instantly provided diagnostic data. However, it was evident that the quality of diagnosis and remediation depended upon the quality of the test items, and the learning as well as the teaching strategies. Factors that could militate against the use and full utilisation of CAA in the schools where the study was done included the cost of software for CAA, teachers' capacity to set diagnostic test items particularly in a multiple-choice format, teachers' ability to interpret data produced by CAA, and teachers' skills in remedying their classroom problems as well as learners' problems. This study found that by playing Zadarh learners were able to construct knowledge through discovery and were attracted to the enjoyable aspects of this educational tool. Learners remembered most of those moments in the game during which they were both stuck and trying to solve problems on their way through Zadarh. Therefore, Zadarh can provide useful learning experiences with fun, and can improve motivation towards learning. Debilitating factors against the use of Zadarh and CAA include school curricula, which do not accommodate innovations, inflexible timetables, and classroom approaches that are teacher-centred. It was clear that the success of using computers in education would depend upon the ability of teachers to evaluate the ECPs, and to integrate ECPs into school curricula. drive these interactions played an important role in the successful integration of ECPs into classroom. One way of achieving such success is to include teachers as evaluators and co-designers of ECPs. Evaluations of ECPs therefore should: i) allow the teachers and learners, through social dialog, to identify how software could solve problems; ii) establish the compatibility of the software with the school curriculum; iii) ascertain the capacity of school computers to execute the software; and iv) provide support to the teachers in the use the software. Evaluations should benefit teachers and learners. The study concluded that a post-modern, developmental, and constructivist evaluation process might be one of the ways of enhancing training teachers in the use of the ECPs, in the concepts that the software deal with, and in evaluation. In that way, a socially contracted evaluation is comprehensive and can serve as a change agent through which teachers reflect and act upon improving their classroom practices

An exploration of multimedia programs in the teaching of photosynthesis

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of two multimedia programs in delivering an understanding of the light - dependent reaction of photosynthesis. One program, Cells and Energy, was adaptive, whilst the other, Photosynthesis Explorer, was interactive (a practical simulation). To inform the value of these different designs an empirical study was conducted. Ten pairs of participants were allocated to use one or other of the programs. During their use and with the researcher's support, members of each pair attempted to learn about the light-dependent reaction. Whilst doing so, audio and visual data were captured to provide information as to participants' and researcher's activities related to this learning process. Each participant's understanding was determined by matched pairs tests - as a pre-test and as immediate and delayed post-tests. The programs generated a highly significant difference (p Photosynthesis Explorer group took about three times as long to deliver this equivalent effect. By employing Laurillard's Discourse Model for evaluating events, which were recorded during the programs' use, this research provided evidence of the importance of feedback as scaffolding and support in delivering knowledge and understanding. The recorded, as well as test, data revealed misconceptions. Their effects on learning were complex as were cognitive conflict episodes arising from them, whose resolution was multifaceted