What "new learning technologies" make possible for science education
- Teaching "science" and scientific perspective not as isolated subject but beginning with and related to questions of general interest to students
- Teaching not as conveying body of "facts" but rather as engaging students in doing meaningful explorations themsleves
- Making available to students usable forms of sophisticated visualization and simulation tools actually used in science
- Making available to students wide variety of materials from which they can "individualize" their education, be able to find things fitting own interests/backgrounds/learning styles
- Giving students and teachers the encouragement/capability to make actual contributions to the scientific observational base and the interpretation/discussion of it.
One example: Time to Think? (see http://serendipstudio.org/playground for others)
Problems:
- On line character means not available in all classrooms
- Too "directive", not appealing to students of all learning styles?
Some additional examples:
For further discussion:
- Are there important learning style differences between females and males?
- Differ in interest in open ended exploration?
- Differ in inclination/willingness to take risk?
- Do existing forms of "new learning technologies" favor particular learning styles?
- How can the reach of new learning technologies be expanded to appeal to all learning styles?
Go to Worshop Prospectus
Go to Workshop Second Session Notes
Go to Workshop Summary