The motivation for WISE largely came from the need to incorporate inquiry practices into the science classroom. As Linn et al. (2003) discuss from Becker (1999) and Horizon (2001) “most states and national standards call for inquiry instruction, few science classes include inquiry practices.” Because of this need inside classrooms and for teachers, the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) was created. When the word inquiry is used throughout the WISE projects, this relates to the type of pedagogy “where students design solutions to problems, generate predictions before conducting experiments, use scientific evidence to support theories or conclusions, debate contemporary science issues, and reconcile differences between new and prior scientific ideas” (Williams et al., 2004).
The Scaffolded Knowledge Integration (SKI) framework is utilized throughout WISE projects because of its ability to help promote lifelong learning of scientific concepts (Linn et al., 2003). The SKI framework is structured on four main points: “(1) making thinking visible, (2) making science accessible, (3) helping students learn from each other, and (4) promoting lifelong learning” (p. 524). The beauty of teaching alongside a WISE project is its ability to be tailored to each individual classroom’s needs. WISE utilizes “flexibly adaptive materials” and enables “local adaptations” in order for it to meet the needs of diverse learners and teachers (Linn et al., 2003, p. 518). The development of the WISE projects involves heavy emphasis on the idea of scaffolding in order to support students with steps that are neither too broad, nor too specific (Linn et al., 2003).
There are a number of similarities between the WISE projects and the Jasper series that we discussed in prior weeks. For one, the idea of creating life-long scientific learners is at the core of them. Though they both take on different styles of pedagogy and center on different frameworks, at the heart of these two programs is the desire to keep students interested and engaged in their science classrooms. Multiple approaches are used when implementing the Jasper series, of them, in my opinion, the most similar to the WISE projects would be “structured problem solving” (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt, 1992). Providing students with basic facts alongside their exploration of the tasks given resembles the level of scaffolding designed into the WISE projects.
There are many WISE projects that would work alongside the curriculums I teach at the middle school level. To begin, I think I would choose to use a WISE project for early finishers. These students are typically really interested in the topics being discussed as so would likely be keen to engage and research further. This would also provide me with feedback on the projects as I would be able to engage with students as they work their way through the sections. In the future, I would love to integrate a WISE project into my teaching with a full classroom of students. I would choose to localize the content through the editing features on the WISE platform, making the content more relevant to the area in which I teach and the cultures of students in the classroom. I would also ensure the use of a feature like Google Read&Write was accessible on all devices for all students. The WISE projects provide a great opportunity for students to practice their inquiry skills while also engaging with technology in a motivating and compelling way.
References
Linn, M., Clark, D., & Slotta, J. (2003). Wise design for knowledge integration. Science Education, 87(4), 517-538.
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