Educational Challenges Provoking Edelson (2001) to do This Research
The broader challenge provoking the research come from new teaching standards that condemn the traditional emphasis on memorization and recitation in science education. Instead, they call for teachers to foster “deep” and “robust” conceptual understanding that students can draw on to create explanations, make predictions, and argue from evidence (Edelson, 2001) .
The Author’s Theory of Learning
The LfU model is a theory of learning that is intended to provide a framework for design. It builds on fundamental theories of learning with the express aim of supporting designers in the development of learning activities. The model is based on four principles that are shared by many contemporary theories of learning:
- Learning takes place through the construction and modification of knowledge structures.
- Knowledge construction is a goal-directed process that is guided by a combination of conscious and unconscious understanding goals.
- The circumstances in which knowledge is constructed and subsequently used deter- mine its accessibility for future use.
- Knowledge must be constructed in a form that supports use before it can be applied.
(Edelson, 2001)
WorldWatcher Digital Technology and Pedagogical Design Principles
WorldWatcher activities are highly structured and introduce visualization and analysis techniques one at a time in a developmental sequence that starts with learning about the representation and progress through a series of techniques for manipulating data and representations. These structured activities lay the foundation for the open-ended investigations that follow them. As students progress through the project, they move from learning about inquiry techniques to employing them in the service of their project goals (Edelson, 2001). These design principles are created to generate a visual simulated environment that engages students as co-creators of knowledge through inquiry based activities. This differs from more traditional pedagogy in which Freire (2000) calls the “banking model” because it treats the student as an empty vessel to be filled with knowledge, like a piggy bank. However, he argues for pedagogy to treat the learner as a co-creator of knowledge.
Using additional literature from the field of science education, what are several conceptual challenges students might have today with understanding earth science?
Many of the conceptual challenges students have with earth sciences come from the tendency of general science textbooks to oversimplify earth science process and explanations. There is a tremendous article relating to earth science misconceptions in the School Science Review titled “Common Earth science misconceptions in science teaching” (King, 2012). The article has a great table in detail that notes misconceptions found in textbooks as well as misconceptions common in students understanding.
What was of particular interest to me was the topic related to economic geology. There were a number of misconceptions that I too have encountered in science textbooks through the years. The list in the article includes the following ideas found in textbooks. 1. Oil formed from animals , 2. Oil formed millions of years ago , 3. Misunderstanding of ‘ore’ 4. How traps are formed 5. Geothermal energy is renewable.
This article is a great resource for any earth science teacher as they give discussion topics to bring up in an effort to overcome the misconceptions found in textbooks for example to deal with the misconception of oil coming from dead animals the discussion idea is as follows “Oil and some natural gas are formed as microscopic plankton become buried and heated in the Earth’s crust. The oil-producing plankton is mostly microscopic plants. Most natural gas is formed as buried land vegetation becomes coal.”(p.48)
Reference:
King, C. (2012). Common Earth science misconceptions in science teaching. School Science Review, 94(347), 45.
Exploring MyWorld GIS
Using the MyWorld GIS software took some curiosity and exploration before I figured out how to use the program successfully. Once I started experience the activities I could see how using this program could easily apply constructivist learning strategies. This type of learning is defined as “the process of constructing new knowledge structures and forging new connections between knowledge structures in an interconnected web” (Edelson, 2001). The initial activity of loading maps and layer different information overtop of them quickly connected to my understanding and knowledge of using image-editing software like Photoshop. I also needed to apply my knowledge of geography.
I decided to apply the activities I completed in MyWorld GIS by apply the LfU model used in the research paper. (Edelson, 2001)
| Motivate | Experience demandExperience curiosity | MyWorld GIS creates a demand for GIS knowledge by ensuring that learners apply GIS activities and calculations to complete them successfully.Curiosity is experienced through the gap in knowledge of what information the software can calculate and what geographic information it can reveal to the user. |
| Construct | ObserveReceive communication | Observing the relationships between known cities and potentially unknown geographic information.In this case the activities did not provide me with information from other people but information was provided through the use of the software and is shared and communicated through the discussion forum. |
| Refine | ApplyReflect | The walkthrough in Module B of this course was helpful in me acquiring the skills to do my own queries and calculations within MyWorld GIS.By discussing my experience I have been able to make an in-depth reflection on the learning activities. |
I performed 2 separate calculations using MyWorld GIS. The first was regarding World rivers near Detroit MI. The other was regarding World Lakes near Detroit MI. The activities were a great inquiry based learning experience. I was able to add new map layers and see the information visually and then make the calculations and collect the data. The information I collected is posted below.
| Length (computed) | Name | System | Distance from Detroit (m) |
|
1787515.81 |
Ohio | Mississippi |
284718.4688 |
|
59414.30727 |
St. Claire | St. Lawrence |
39282.62891 |
|
46454.08397 |
Niagara | St. Lawrence |
335750.4688 |
| Area (computed) | Perimeter (computed) | Name | Surface Elevation | Depth | Distance to Detroit (meters) |
|
83276218103 |
2427523.417 |
Lake Superior |
600 |
1333 |
463340.5938 |
|
61302572423 |
2368514.352 |
Lake Huron |
577 |
750 |
87852.89063 |
|
57859636636 |
1873046.186 |
Lake Michigan |
577 |
923 |
351254.375 |
|
19653793474 |
1067169.617 |
Lake Ontario |
245 |
802 |
287929.5625 |
|
25981121995 |
1074703.211 |
Lake Erie |
570 |
210 |
8468.75 |
|
1191064137 |
170747.5163 |
Lake St. Claire |
26 |
8117.553223 |
References:
Edelson, D.C. (2001). Learning-for-use: A framework for the design of technology-supported inquiry activities. Journal of Research in Science Teaching,38(3), 355-385.
Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed (30th anniversary ed.). New York: Continuum.
Stylinski, C. & Smith, D. (2006, August). Connecting classrooms to real-world GIS-based watershed investigations. Paper presented at the ESRI Education User Conference, San Diego, CA.