I wanted to create a Venn Diagram that would look nice and embed properly into a webpage.  I tried a new tool called ‘Creately’ to create the Venn Diagram below.  You can to at:  https://creately.com

WISE UP…

In 1996 at the University of California- Berkley a dedicated group of researchers created WISE (Web-based Inquiry Science Environment) in an effort to exploit the affordances of the internet in an effort to foster inquiry learning in Science (Slotta and Lin, in press).  The intention was to capitalize on research into teaching and learning using technology within a technology rich learning interface.  Since this time, the group has partnered with international science organizations, teachers and scientists to improve who have contributed to the design of the WISE modules.  It is a web-based authoring tool that enables teachers around the globe to benefit from the work of others yet affording them the opportunity to alter the WISE or even to create their own using the WISE interface.

WISE promotes knowledge integration:

1. through its technological design in that it:

• Has an intuitive design both for students to use and for teachers to modify
• Is free and available online to anyone, anywhere with internet access
• Employs the use of a variety of multimedia tools for consumption and creation and fosters information technology literacy
• Enables built in feedback to guide students and scaffold their learning
• integrated set of software tool utilizing a project-based framework which emphasizes the use of Web resources (Gobert et all, 2002)

 2. And through its’ curriculum design in that it:

• Enables teachers to customize the design and content thereby meeting their specific curriculum objective requirements
• Is part of epistemic understanding that includes the use of scientific models serving as representations of scientific phenomena (Gobert et al., 2002)
• scaffolded knowledge in a variety of topics in Life Scienec, Physical Sceince, Earth Science and even Chemistry
• based on over 20 years of research and fosters scientific literacy

 3. And through its’ pedagogical design in that it:

• WISE taps into inquiry,  including  prompted  reflection,  electronic  discussions,  evidence  sorting  and  argument mapping,  collaborative  search  for  evidence,  collaborative  design,  and  analysis, and  reporting
• makes science accessible, thinking visible, provdes social support and promotes autonomy
• Increased opportunities for collaboration, peer review and reflection that lead students to a deep conceptual understanding of topics  which is essential to metacognitive function and making meaning                                       (Slotta and Lin, in press)

 In order to increase the learning potential of WISE I wondered if:

“there are opportunities to make it more dynamic and lateral? Could a desginer build in “if you answered …. proceed to ….” type schemata in order to encourage more choice and direction for those who are not understanding certain concepts?”

in one of our Vista discussion threads to which Camillia Matuk responded:

“This is a new feature (just implemented a couple of weeks ago), so it hasn’t yet been tested. But you can still try it out if you go to the Authoring Tool and click on the “Extras” button in the upper right. From the drop-down menu that appears, select “Author Student Navigation Constraints,” which will allow you to apply simple logic to the step sequences.  I think this feature is still undergoing refinements by our tech team, but I’d be interested in your thoughts if you get around to trying it.” 

A Word to the WISE:

I think is a wonderful opportunity for teachers to customize their WISE modules and support their students’ learning while building in more differentiation by choice and increasing the inquiry in the design and I look forward to spending some time exploring this new function and hopefully incorporating that into PD for the teachers in my school.  Overall, my first impression remains- WOW.  What an impressive tool for teachers to use in increase autonomy in their students in a technology rich environment which is underpinned by an inquiry-based constructivst framework.  WISE=WOW!

 References:

Gobert, J., Snyder, J., & Houghton, C. (2002). The influence of students’ understanding of models on model-based reasoning. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New Orleans, Louisiana. Retrieved from http://mtv.concord.org/publications/epistimology_paper.pdf

Linn, M., Clark, D., & Slotta, J. (2003). Wise design for knowledge integration. Science Education, 87(4), 517-538.  http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sce.10086/

Slotta, J. D. & Linn, M. C. (in press).  WISE Science:  Inquiry and the Internet in the Science Classroom (draft). Teachers College Press.

 

De Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats and WISE-

I immediately observed the potential of WISE. I visited a number of different modules and made some changes to the Photosynthesis WISE. I can see that the interface of WISE:

• can enable design of modules that deliver a range of curriculum content,

• fosters some collaboration between students (though many are lacking in this area),

• builds in formative and summative assessment functions,

• incorporates of a variety of multimedia including images, animations and videos,

• uses of a variety of tools including graphs, data tables, diagram drawing

• and includes modelling tools.

This technology can provide the necessary tools and scaffolding required to create an interactive, inquiry based learning experience. I thought I would don my 6 thinking hats to explore this question:

Should WISE be used in the science classroom?

WHITE HAT- What are the facts?

• free interactive science activity available to anyone with access to the internet,

• integrates science with other topics,

• employs idea of anchored instruction providing scaffolding for learning

• pre-post test measures progress as result of WISE

• provides success criteria for some activities and prompts/tips at times

• found at http://wise4.berkeley.edu/webapp/teacher/management/library.html

RED HAT- Feelings?

• Students: wow! This looks cools, the interactivity makes me excited, happy and stimulated.

• ESL Student: Scared! This English is too hard for me.

• Designer: Anxious, how much time is this going to take me to design and is it worth it? I feel worried but excited at the possibilities.

• Teacher: relief, finally something interactive and engaging using technology in science; concern, do I have the time to commit to a WISE? Frustrated- another thing I have to learn that will probably be ‘out’ next year. If I make changes will others change them? Can I permanently customize?

• Parent: happy! Finally I can really see what my child is learning.

BLACK HAT- Negatives?

• so much clicking!, in terms of application of Blooms taxonomy- there is little opportunity for ‘Create’ and ‘Apply’

• attempts to contextualize but does it really?,

• many questions are simple recall questions,

• little (if any) opportunity to co-construct knowledge as they are spoon fed all the required information (how much scaffolding is too much?)- this is too prescriptive

• a lot of Q/A sequences is boring and typing can take some students a very long time- especially in primary

• use of scientific thinking but not enough reference to scientific method ie. Hypothesis/conclusions/observations etc. limited opportunity for students to develop/create an experiment to test a theory or hypothesis

• limited use of graphic organizers and concept maps, even drawing some diagrams is scaffolded- where’e the creativity?

• Do students receive enough feedback along the way? Do they know if they are ‘doing it right’

• Too hard to edit- no html editor and Moodle is better!, not all browsers support the videos, authoring tools are clunky

YELLOW HAT- Positives?

• Free!!!

• initially taps into prior knowledge enabling teachers to support less able students

• uses images, animations and videos to engaging those with visual and auditory learning preferences,

• integrates more than one area of science (ie questions about density in the plate tectonics WISE),

• incorporates higher order thinking questions (ie. Which one is colder water and then they must explain how they know this),

• built in feedback, digestable chunks,

• every image or video or animation has a related activity making the learners accountable

• fosters a deeper understanding of the topic

• opportunities to draw and label

• many opportunities for teachers to assess understanding (formatively) and summatively at the end, also provides them data to use for future differentiation in science

• Extras section enables more options for collaboration (peer review)

GREEN HAT- Creative ideas?

• I could have the students do this as a 2-3 week homework activity and follow it up with a final project at school, good project for those being home-schooled

• Can we get students in older grades to design WISEs for lower grades? Since it is fairly intuitive…

• Can we gain greater parental involvement by using WISE in a blended approach?

• Extension project for fast finishers?

• Support for what is being taught by the teacher

BLUE HAT- Thinking about my thinking?

• Is this true constructivism at work? Do the four guiding principles of WISE as presented by Linn et al. (2003) really make this a constructivist learning experience for students?

1) making thinking visible -achieved by using multi-media and promts/tips

2) making science accessible- accomplished through design- ensuring it is a relevant learning experience with a suitable scope, time commitment and content coverage

3) helping students learn from each other- collaboration involves peer review, discussion and doing the WISE in pairs

4) promoting lifelong learning- some opportunities for authentic scenarios, inquiry learning and scaffolding ensure success rather than frustration

What is the most effective method of proceeding from this position?

Since, I can make changes to the WISE activities I can increase /decrease the length of the module, modify the questions and alter images/videos to better meet the needs of my students and ultimately design the WISE. The questions I use will determine how constructivist the learning experience will be and how collaborative the journey will be. For efficiency, as a teacher I would take the existing modules and adapt them to meet my curriculum requirements and student needs.

 

Final Thoughts:

In terms of designing/altering the design- when I changed a question and added a video to the Photosynthesis I was able to do it quickly. I like the ability to add peer review which will increase the constructivism at work. This is a technology that can make scientific ideas visible to students, as well as making learner’s scientific ides visible to teachers and provides built in support to inquiry activities that stimulate constructivist learning in science. When we employ the use of Bates and Poole’s (2003) SECTIONS model (as Evonne and Dy and others have done) we can see the affordances of WISE in all eight sections:

Students: meets needs of most students (except ESL and those with serious learning disabilities)

Ease of use : Intuitive design, relatively easily modified by teachers/designers

Costs: Free because it is open source

Teaching and learning: includes opportunities for formative assessment, built in feedback, scaffolding, enables learners to check their answers (if this is incl), integration with other subjects and inclusion of higher order questioning and some graphic organizers/diagrams

Interactivity: Students need to read, play out the simulations and input responses (also allow for automatic feedback if an incorrect response is provided)

Organizational Issues: Accessible to anyone with internet, ability to edit by teachers, can be used in class, blended or completely at home, needs one-two per computer max.

Novelty: it would certainly be initially.

Speed of access: quick access, and quick to edit

Further research will be required to examine how tools like WISE do make thinking more visible (lin et al, 2003). This is a powerful approach to learning in science and has exceptional potential to engage learning, build inquiry skills, integrate scientific thinking with technology and ultimately, makes learning fun and meaningful for students.

References:

Bates, A.W. & Poole, G. (2003). Chapter 4: A Framework for Selecting and Using Technology. In Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education: Foundations for Success, pp. 77 -105. San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers.

De Bono, Edward. 6 Thinking Hats. De Bono’s Thinking Systems. Retrived from: http://www.debonothinkingsystems.com/tools/6hats.htm

Gobert, J., Snyder, J., & Houghton, C. (2002). The influence of students’ understanding of models on model-based reasoning. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New Orleans, Louisiana. Retrieved from http://mtv.concord.org/publications/epistimology_paper.pdf

Linn, M., Clark, D., & Slotta, J. (2003). Wise design for knowledge integration. Science Education, 87(4), 517-538. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/sce.10086/

Slotta, J. D. & Linn, M. C. (in press). WISE Science: Inquiry and the Internet in the Science Classroom (draft). Teachers College Press.

The University of Calfornia, Berkeley. (2012). WISE(v4):web-based inquiry science environment. Retrieved fromhttp://wise4.berkeley.edu/webapp/index.html

Williams, M. Linn, M.C. Ammon, P. & Gearhart, M. (2004). Learning to teach inquiry science in a technology-based environment: A case study. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 13(2), 189-206. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=16859055&site=ehost-live

 

A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
~William Shakespeare