Collaborative Inquiry with Technology
in Secondary Science Classrooms:
Professional Learning Community
Development at Work
Delwyn L. Harnisch, University of Nebraska, Lincoln
harnisch@unl.edu
Sharon L. Comstock, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
sharonlcomstock@gmail.com
Bertram C. Bruce, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
chipbruce@mac.com@uiuc.edu
Overview
• Gallery of Inquiry
• Engagement,Integrative &
Collaborative Inquiry
• GK-12 Goals, Context, UIUC
Model
• Research Methods
• Culture of Classrooms
• Themes of Inquiry
• Reflections from Fellows,
Teachers and Students
• Conclusions
Collaborative Inquiry In Classrooms
Scholarship of Engagement
“Connecting the rich resources of the university to
our most pressing social, civic, and ethical
problems…Campuses would be viewed by both
students and professors not as isolated islands, but
as staging grounds for action. At a deeper level…[this
means] not just more programs, but a larger
purpose, a larger sense of mission, a larger charity of
direction in the nation’s life…”
(E. Boyer, 1997, p. 92)
Integrative Learning
•
•
•
Integration of learning
across courses, over time,
and between campus and
community life
Development of ability to
integrate learning
Development of habits of
mind to make informed
judgments in the conduct
of personal, professional,
and civic life. (Huber, et
al., 2007)
Collaborative Inquiry
• Learning takes place everywhere, not
only in the classroom, but also in
many informal settings outside of
school.
• New modes of learning are not only
possible with, but necessary for
developing new media
(teaching/learning resources).
• The key is collaboration across sites
for learning; connections among
schools, universities, libraries,
businesses, etc. (Benson, Harkavy, &
Puckett, 2007).
• The community is the curriculum
(Bruce, 2008).
Overview of GK-12 Partnerships
• National Science Foundation Graduate Teaching
Fellows in K-12 (GK-12) supports teaching
fellowships for graduate students in the sciences,
technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM)
• This is a collaborative effort between participating
K-12 teachers and UIUC.
• Graduate students collaborate with STEM
Education Faculty, and participating K-12 Teachers
to integrate the use of computer-based modeling
and scientific visualization in science and
mathematics education.
Context: NSF GK-12 at UIUC
Objectives:
• Integration of computer-based
modeling, visualization, and informatics
in K-12 classrooms
• Bioinformatics (Biology Student
Workbench), Stella™,
Mathematica™, participatory
designed visualizations; digital
archives, Inquiry Page/iLabs,
ChemViz
• Position Fellows as scientist/domain
experts who leverage institutional
relationships and expand access to
networks and tools
•
NCSA, Inquiry/Community Informatics Initiative
(CII), Mentors
• Professional development for Fellows
and Teachers in education and STEM
UIUC GK-12 Model
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
2001-2002 to 2008-2009 school years
Five to seven middle and high schools per year
across the state of Illinois (suburban, rural,
urban)
Five to seven university Fellows (graduate
students) per year
University faculty mentors to serve as
supports/liaisons for each Fellow
Teacher-Fellow partnerships form the core of
the program; focus on teaming and
collaboration between schools
Weekly meetings and support for Fellows
Workshops designed around Teachers’ needs
Chemistry, physics, biology, social studies,
engineering, mathematics, computer science,
vocational (HVAC), environmental studies, AP,
honors, regular, support, and electives/special
courses were utilized
Fellow Steven Moore with students in lab (top)
Student using Biology Student Workbench in biology
Specialized Goals of GK-12
• Offer research-like experiences for K-12 students
using computational science, modeling,
informatics, and visualizations to do mathematics
and science
• Augment K-12 science and mathematics
curriculum, consistent with national standards, by
utilizing computational science, modeling, and
visualization tools and methods
GK-12 Team Composition
• A graduate student/Fellow (Scientist-in-training)
• A K-12 teacher (or teacher-team)
• A senior faculty university mentor
The GK-12 Partnership Responsibilities
Fellow
Responsibilities:
• Active participation in
classrooms
• Co-teach courses
• Act as resident “subject
expert”
Faculty Responsibilities:
• Mentor graduate student in
teaching
• Mentor participating
teacher(s)
Study Method:
Research Questions
• How does the communication between the university
researcher and the teacher develop and influence the
quality of the instructional environment?
• Does the integration of scientific modeling into the
innovative instructional methods respond to students’
conceptual and procedural understandings?
Methods: Study Design
• Research study used a longitudinal approach to
assess the effectiveness of GK-12
• This study used a mixed methods approach,
including collection and analysis of both
quantitative and qualitative data
• The key process was to understand the unique
environments of each sites and document the
contexts in which each team operated
Methods
•
Mixed-methods
•
•
Situated, case study
•
•
UNL (Del Harnisch) and UIUC (Chip Bruce)
Formative and Summative
•
•
(Bruce et al. 1993; Stake, 1995)
External and internal
•
•
(NSF, 1997, 2002)
Incremental effect
Instrumentation:
• Online Surveys
•
Fellows(3), Teachers(1), Mentors (1)
• Learning Logs
•
•
Site visits
•
•
•
Fellows (Informal, weekly-monthly)
Informal interviews (Fellows, Teachers, Mentors)
Observation: classrooms, GK-12 workshops
Evaluation team personnel:
–
–
Lead (Harnisch) and co-lead (Bruce)
One-two graduate student evaluators per year
•
(Buell, Comstock, Davis, Mehra, Rosu)
Methods:
Data Collection and Analysis
• Data Collection:
– Field observations
– Video
– Interviews
– Mentor and teacher surveys
– Document analysis
– Artifact analysis
• Data Analysis
– Survey data analyze for comparisons between sites
– Qualitative data was analyzed for codes and themes
to provide an understanding of the context of the
sites
Capturing Complexity:
Each Classroom as a Culture
• Triangulation:
• Validity enhanced
• Holistic, in-depth, inductive =
thick data
• Longitudinal elements were
requested early in IRBs to
identify scale of impact and
ultimate sustainable outcomes
• Next steps: Contacting and
interviewing UIUC GK-12
Participant Alumni and school
leaders
GK-12 teacher alumnus Kathy Gabric, who created
curriculum using Biology Student Workbench with
Fellow Steven Moore, has since used her GK-12
relationships to work with Rutgers University; and
recently earned the Illinois Science Teacher
Association Teacher of the Year Award. She has said
GK-12 introduced her to bioinformatics: an area in
which she has since taught other educators.
CREATING A CULTURE OF
COLLABORATIVE ASSESSMENT
Classroom assessments evolved, using
participatory design in instrument development.
Created by Evaluation Team Assessment of
students’ use of bioinformatics genetics
database with Fellow (Moore, S. and Gabric, K.
2002-2003)
Created by Teacher Assessment of students’
perceptions of “science” in chemistry classroom
“One student put it this way: ‘I think the
definition of science is the process of making,
testing, and adjusting theories in order to
explain how things in the world work.’”
(Camasta, S. 2003)
Created by Fellow/Teacher team Assessment of
students ability to understand the use of
neuroscience imaging in a biology classroom
(Whalen, C. and Kirkpatrick, M. 2007-8)
Biology student taking online survey on use of
Biology Student Workbench in the classroom.
These data informed the district’s decision to
incorporate bioinformatics into the curriculum
on a permanent basis and support teacher
development and training.
Themes
Critical scientific literacy in K-12 classrooms (AAAS, 1993) requires
authentic inquiry (NRC, 2000) with a basis in the real world.
Data over eight years indicate:
1. Collaborative teaming influences the degree of sustainable and
transformative change in the classroom.
2. Meaningful inquiry occurs when teachers, scientists, and students feel
supported by their institutions.
3. Integrated technologies have long-term impact when they are utilized to
authentically solve problems, which creates engagement experiences for
both students and teachers.
4. Sustainability and scalability can be achieved at and between institutions
where teaming, tools, and inquiry are allowed to develop.
Overall Themes
• Role and value of embedded formative assessment
(and reframing the teacher role toward that of
“research practitioner”)
• Value of collaborative teaming
• The importance of community building and
extending communities of practice
• The benefits of meaningful technology integration
• Facilitation of inquiry- and problem-based learning
Tools + Teaming = Transformation
Fellow Reflections:
The Power of Narrative and STEM
– I am most often asked, ‘What does this really mean?’ and I proceed to answer
this question by prompting students to use their own knowledge of chemistry
in an effort to break apart problems and piece them together.
– These students seem to have a deeper and more sophisticated grasp of
biology than we did in high school. (I’m partnered with) an excellent teacher,
and I wonder if visualization also makes it possible for them to understand.
– The students seem to be responding very positively to my presence in the
classroom. I receive questions about my research at the University of Illinois
almost every time I'm at (the school), and I feel inspired by their inquisitiveness
and desire for scientific understanding
• Focus for Fellows: Students’ meaning-making, building on students’
content knowledge, humble partnership with teachers, recognizing
teachers’ expertise, willingness to be inspired by students’ curiosity, and
posing new questions regarding more advanced technologies used in new
environments.
Modeling using Stella in Chemistry
“Some of the most fascinating examples of chemical processes are not
addressed in laboratory courses; however, a far greater number of concepts can
be examined if students are given the opportunity to apply what they have
learned in the classroom to the world around them.”
Fellow Michael Kandianis
Visualizations Created in
Classroom Context:
• Fellow Mohan Karulkar’s website
– http://mogk12.2ya.com/
• Teacher Susan Camasta’s website
– http://www.hinsdale86.org/staff/scamasta/
Student Reflections:
The Power of Narrative and STEM
– The technology has greatly helped me understand the concepts, especially in
science. Because technology helps create a visual image of the material, I
learn much quicker with the help of technology.
– It is interesting to see someone who is able to explore things that no one really
has before. He also helped to show how science relates to real life situations.
– The teachers who use technology have a lot more visuals than the teachers
who don't. Also, their classes are a lot more interesting because there is more
hands on work.
– I have become much better and faster at finding things online, and a
background knowledge of computers has helped extensively in this class. I
have also learned how to create a web site and operate machines such as the
DNA fingerprinting machine.
• Focus for Students: understanding, engagement, critical thinking,
increased confidence, discovery, and real-life problem-solving.
Teacher Reflections:
The Power of Narrative and STEM
– We definitely introduced some new instructional technology into the classroom.
While we did that, I think we inspired a grad student towards the education
profession. He learned how reach the minds of kids…New experiences, technology,
information…could not enter the classroom without (this) partnership…I have been
motivated to learn how to use new technology and about new scientific research.
– The project was multi-faceted with work on VMD, student-constructed 3-D models,
and PowerPoint presentation(s). My students and I have profited greatly from
exposure to other software applications, such as VMD. Students know they are
using tools that real scientists use.
– Expert teachers paired with passionate scientists passing the torch onto the
students - doesn't get much better.
• Focus for Teachers: Collaborative community built around the
problem-solving required by using new tools and technologies. The
program became less about the technology itself and more about
the critical and engaged inquiries that evolved from their
introduction in the context of the scientific discipline.
Next Steps:
• Longitudinal analysis of the impact of GK-12 with a
focus on Fellows:
– What has been the experience of the Fellows who have
moved on?
– Analysis of embedded formative assessment tools used
in the process as well as a critique of what
“assessment” means at the local classroom level
• Reflection following program participation
• Reframing the Fellows’ and Teachers’ views of their
positions in the classroom from “practitioner” to
“action researcher”
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
AAAS (1993). Benchmarks for science literacy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Benson, L., Harkavy, I., & Puckett, J. (2007). Dewey's dream: Universities and Democracies in an age of education
reform. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Boyer, E. L. (1997, 2002). Selected speeches 1979-1995. Princeton: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching.
Bruce, B. C. (2008). From Hull House to Paseo Boricua: The theory and practice of community inquiry. In Bogdan Dicher
& Adrian Luduşan (eds.), Philosophy of pragmatism (II): Salient inquiries (pp. 181-198). Cluj-Napoca, Romania: Editura
Fundației pentru Studii Europene (European Studies Foundation Publishing House). http://hdl.handle.net/2142/13166
Camasta, S., Karulkar, M., Comstock, S. L. & Harnisch, D. (2006). Collaborative Inquiry and Participatory Design in High
School Science: A Case Study in Technology Development and Application. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of
Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2006 (pp. 3957-3970).
Chesapeake, VA: AACE.
Comstock, S. (2003). Making the Case for Story: Points on the Qualitative Path. Midwest Qualitative Research
Conference, Minneapolis, MN, June 18-21, 2003.
EDUCAUSE (2009). Challenges 2009: The EDUCAUSE Top Teaching and Learning Challenges.
(http://connect.educause.edu/wiki/TLChallenges09 )(accessed Jan. 20, 2009).
Gabric, K., Hovance, C., Comstock, S. & Harnisch, D. (2006). Scientists in their own classroom: The Use of type II
technology in the science classroom, Computers in the schools. New York: Haworth.
Harnisch, D.L. (2009). Advances in Learning, Teaching and Technology: Professional Learning Community at Work.
Refereed Program of the E-Leader Conference at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, http://www.g-casa.com, ISSN 1935-4819,
Chinese American Scholars Association, New York, New York, USA, January 2009.
References
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Haven, K. (2007). Story proof: The science behind the startling power of story. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Huber, M. T., Brown, C., Hutchings, P., Gale, R., Miller, R., & Breen, M. (2007, January). Integrative learning: Opportunities to
connect. Public Report of the Integrative Learning Project sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and
Universities and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. http://gallery.carnegiefoundation.org/ilp
National Science Foundation (1997, 2002). Mixed methods handbook for evaluations. Frechtling, J. & L. S. Westat, eds.
Division of Research and Evaluation, NSF. Washington, D.C.
International Society for Technology in Education (2008). National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) and
Performance Indicators for
Teachershttp://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf
(accessed January 20, 2009).
Jakobsson, E., & Braatz, R. (2000). GK-12 EdGrid Graduate Teaching Fellowship Program. Proposal to National Science
Foundation (NSF) Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education Program Solicitation (NSF 02-042). Renewal GK-12 Track 2,
Raineri, D. and Bievenue, L. (2005).
National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching. (2000). Before It’s Too Late: A Report to the Nation. Jessup,
MD: U.S. Department of Education.
National Research Council (1995, 1996). National science education standards. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C.
National Research Council (2000). Inquiry and the national science education standards: A guide for teaching and learning.
National Academy Press: Washington, D.C.
Wallace, J.W. & Louden, W. (2000). Teachers’ learning: Stories of science education. Dordrecht: Kluwer (Springer).
Acknowledgements
GK-12 Program participants at the
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign are grateful for the support of
the
National Science Foundation.
The program was administered under Principal Investigator
Dr. Deanna Raineri and Project Coordinator Lisa Bievenue;
past leadership includes
Drs. Eric Jakobsson and Richard Braatz.
Gratitude is expressed to present and past GK-12 teachers, Fellows,
mentors, evaluators, students, and administrators.