Ninth grade science teachers Tim McElroy and Krista Seanor in Dover, NJ are collaborating to engage their students in a problem-based instructional unit on weather. Dover has a weather station on the roof that provides students with real-time data. IDE consultants are working with teachers in Dover to make use of their portable laptop carts. Our focus is on melding instructional innovation with technology infusion.
About Tim:
This is my first year at Dover HS. I am teaching under the Alterative route program. Before coming to Dover, I worked for eight years at Liberty Science Center, a three floor interactive science museum, most recently as Director of Educational Technologies. I decided to make the move into formal education to have a more sustained impact on students' scientific learning.
About Krista:
This is my 4th year teaching, but my first at Dover High School. I taught for three years in the Cleveland Municipal School District at Glenville High School after completing an alternative licensure program. I wanted to teach at Dover because I enjoy working in an environment that is rich in diversity. I also have enjoyed the very creative teaching that is going on at DHS involving technology.
About the problem-based weather unit:
Tim's and Krista's students are working on a problem-based unit designed to help them understand all the factors that affect weather and climate. The students are investigating the reliability of weather predictions, comparing predictions in various geographic areas of interest to them with the actual weather. The skills work began with a WebQuest to examine the vocabulary and basic concepts involved in weather and weather prediction. Next, the students investigated the features of WeatherBug and used various Web sites to collect weather data from a city of their choice. Once they had data, they worked to create graphs on Excel and then PowerPoint presentations of their data.
The unit requires students to review calculations of central tendency; learn effective web-based searching techniques; be exposed to the range of weather data available on a continuous basis; and experience the uncertainty of weather prediction, even with the most advanced technology available today.
On using wireless notebook computers:
Tim: With access to wireless notebook computers right in our classroom, we were able to seamlessly integrate lesson objectives with technology. The students were not uprooted from the normal classroom and taken to a lab or library setting, which would consume time and involve extra logistics. Throughout the week, students would use the same laptop and could progress on their objectives at their own rate, allowing the teachers to focus on the needs of the students with the least advanced technical skill. Students with greater competence could then assist other students with tasks that they themselves had already accomplished, therefore adding to the collaborative efforts we always try to foster in the classroom.
Krista: The computers also allow us to teach the students multiple skills in the framework of teaching them weather. During this project, in addition to the weather content they mastered, students learned how to search the Internet, create Excel graphs, and make PowerPoint presentations.
On the benefits of this instructional unit:
Tim: A problem-based learning exercise can be of great benefit to the students. Weather in particular is a great choice because it is something that each student is effected by regardless of their interest in science. Everyone worries about what to wear in the morning and what to plan for the day. Taking advantage of this fact allows us to reach students in a way that just cannot be done in a standard lecture and note-taking type of format.
Krista: Problem-based learning, especially with computers, makes learning fun! Students can move at their own pace and the lessons are naturally differentiated. Students with more computer experience can move faster and do more complicated graphs and presentations on their own, while students with less experience tend to work with other students to learn the techniques. Since many students do not have computers at home, they produce a product that is new, exciting, and unique!
On future plans for technology use:
Tim: We plan on using technology on a regular basis both for demonstration purposes as well as student directed exploration of scientific topics across the spectrum of our curriculum, which include physics, chemistry, space science and earth science. Giving students direct access to real-time data with a plan that allows them to use it in a meaningful way is a very powerful learning experience. We hope to have students present their findings to the class in interactive multi-media showcases that tap not just into their science learning but also their creative potential.
Krista: We plan to develop more projects and WebQuests to enhance student learning and provide an alternative to the lecture/discussion format that we currently use to disseminate information. We'd also like to use computers for viewing and interacting with animations and online experiments that we cannot recreate in the classroom.