Integrating Handheld Computers in a Middle-School Science Curriculum
Jason M. Williams (jmw@cc.gatech.edu)
Georgia Institute of Technology
Motivation: In an inquiry-based science curriculum, learners are expected to develop driving questions which
they try to answer by designing and conducting experiments. Many students unfamiliar with inquiry-based
science will have difficulty designing and conducting a valid experiment as well as with analyzing the results.
Computer tools can be used to provide help. However, desktop computers are not practical to take into “the
field” where the experiment is run. Consider students testing the quality of the water in a local stream or
moving to the hallway to race vehicles that they have designed. Handheld computers have affordances which
make them a great tool for helping students while conducting experiments.
1. Students enter data (e.g. their testing
procedure, experiment / design plan) using
SMILE on a desktop PC.
After initial conversations with teachers and our own evaluations, it seems that
students may need the following help when they are running experiments / design
tests:
1. Constructing and using data tables.
2. Reminders of what procedures they are supposed to follow.
3. Analyzing the results of their experiments in order to draw conclusions about
the results.
Evaluation: Three evaluations have been done over the course of a year
(the third evaluation is still in progress). Each evaluation involved putting
the handhelds in front of middle-school students and seeing where the
software helps them and where it could be improved to help them even
more. After each evaluation there were aspects of the design which had to
be re-examined and the software was modified accordingly. Overall the
results have shown that the software can be used by middle-school
students and that it can help students, assuming it is integrated
appropriately into the classroom activities.
2. After synchronization the plan
data is available on the handheld for
the student while she is running her
experiment. This data reminds her
of the procedure her group planned.
7. Data from the handheld is then uploaded back to SMILE to be
analyzed and then shared with other students.
3. When students are ready to record
experiment data, they create their
data table using a wizard which asks
them to answer questions using
language they understand and
providing hints where students need
them.
4. A data table is created by the
students with the wizard. As many
students at this age-level do not
understand how to create and use a
data table, this screen lends structure
to their data that they would
otherwise not have.
6. Users may view the data as a table or as a bar
graph. In this screenshot the blue bar
represents the average of the data and the black
tick marks represent individual trials. This can
be used, for example, to gain a qualitative
understanding of standard deviation.
5. This measurement detail screen
allows the user to change the value of
the measurement, enter a text note, or
even enter a drawing to be associated
with this measured value.
Solution description: This work is the result of a Master’s Project begun in Spring
2004. The goal has been to design a tool to help middle-school science students
“in the field” when they are conducting experiments. The approach taken has
been to design, develop, and evaluate handheld software which provides students
with the right help and tools at the right time. The handheld platform used is
Microsoft Pocket PC 2003. Development has been done using Microsoft’s C#.NET
with the .NET Compact Framework.