Evaluation Report
Shannan Muskopf
Spring 2002, Q471
Using the Internet to Enhance Science Instruction
Instructional Goals
Terminal Objective:
Science teachers will incorporate authentic technology based learning
tasks into existing curriculum.
1. Teachers will realize the abundance of
science activities and resources located on the world wide web
2. Teachers will develop strategies for finding
appropriate and interactive sites for their students.
3. Teachers will create a lesson or activity
that incorporates the world wide web.
Overview of Instruction
The original plans for instruction included the use of an overhead
projector to give instructions and showcase websites. This plan had to be changed due to the fact that the school’s one
overhead projector could not be checked out as it was already in use. The technology director suggested signing up
for the device at least a month in advance.
Two of the four teachers from the planned audience participated in
the field test. Many of the problems I
encountered during the field trial had to do with timing issues. It was difficult to arrange a time that
agreed with everyone’s schedule. Two
hours were planned for the field test and it occurred in the math/science
computer la. Because of the small audience,
the lack of the overhead projector was not as big of a problem because the two
learners and myself could “huddle” around a single computer in the lab.
During the first phase of the instruction, I showed them various
sites on the web that they had not been familiar with. This part of the instruction was not meant
to take very long, and would serve to motivate the learners and spark
interest. Both teachers in the group
were biology teachers so I focused on the biology and anatomy sites and adjusted
some of my original plan on short notice.
I assumed that biology and anatomy sites would be of more interest, so I
eliminated showcasing the sites that were physics and chemistry oriented. This part of the instruction seemed to be
very effective and I ended up spending a longer time period than planned on
this part. The learners definitely
wanted to see more of the sites chosen, NOVA’s site on evolution, NOVA’s site
on DNA Fingerprinting, and the “Virtual Pig Dissection”.
I chose two different areas of the same web site (PBS) to explain
how the world wide web works and how to navigate within large sites. The learners would understand how url’s work
in general and be able to “back up” an address if they become lost in the
site. Oddly enough, the two learners,
though they had some experience with web browsers did not quite understand how
addresses work and how to use a URL to create a mental map of the site they are
visiting. Again, I veered off my original
plans to explain this and spent a longer period of time in the initial
motivational phase than I originally intended.
Learners were showed a variety of search engines, though I used
Google to demonstrate various ways to search for a topic. At this point, the learners separated and
used their own computer. Their first
task was to explore the three sites given, and then practice searching for
topics of interest to them. A half
hour was allotted for these tasks, though it was obvious the learners wanted to
spend more time exploring this area. I
prompted them with a few ideas while searching to help them narrow their
searches and find those sites that would be geared for their target audience
(teens). The anatomy teacher chose to
look for virtual cat dissections, since he was impressed by the virtual pig
dissection showcased earlier. The
biology teacher chose to search for ecology issues, since this was the area of
the biology curriculum she was currently on with her students. This was eventually narrowed down to search
for resources on recycling and conservation.
Regrouping occurred at the end of the half hour to discuss what was
learned and provide feedback.
Phase two involved another “huddle” to show ways in which internet
sites can be converted into student-centered lessons, like webquests. I used two sites to show examples of a
webquest and an example of a “mini-quest” and explained the difference between
a project-based internet lesson and a lesson that involved students exploring a
site and performing specific low level tasks.
The learners were charged with the task of using one of the sites
they found in the last phase and creating a lesson that could be used in their
classes. During this phase, I spent
the majority of the time speaking to the learners one-on-one about the sites
they found and how to use that site to produce a lesson plan that would be
engaging and useful in their classrooms.
Neither one of the learners were able to complete this part of the
lesson during the two hour time period allotted, but they did save their work
onto the network to work on it later, follow-up would occur in two weeks.
All in all, the learners seemed to enjoy the process and were
engaged. Some of the goals were met,
but they did not leave with a completed lesson plan due to not having enough
time.
Regrouping occurred at the end of the two hours for additional
feedback and for the learners to fill out the attitude survey.
They seemed to have a good attitude regarding the instruction and
expressed that they did learn something, but I wonder if these results are
somewhat questionable. The two learners that participated volunteered in the
first place, so they entered into the instruction with a desire to learn and
participate. The same results may not
occur with the general science department because not all of them “buy into”
technology. Those that had a negative
attitude about technology did not volunteer to give two hours of their time to
help me with this field test.
Summary of
Instruction
|
Based on Attitude Survey (learners) |
Based on Informal Evaluation
(instructor) |
Effectiveness of Instruction |
Learners responded positively. |
Some areas needed clarification, more time is needed to complete
instruction |
Ease of Instruction |
Learners found that the vocabulary and direction was easy to
follow. |
Web quest section was too involved, learners did not want to
deal with that |
Examples |
Learners spent a good deal of time exploring the sites given as
examples, they wanted to spend more time in this area |
General comments of amazement, especially regarding the Nova
site, which has a huge resource of science lessons and interactive activities |
Media Used |
The learners (who are teachers) were not surprised or daunted by
the lack of the overhead projector, they were flexible |
It was difficult to only have one computer to explain, though
with only two learners in the field test, it was manageable |
Handouts |
Learners referred to handouts frequently, attitude survey
suggested that more handouts and web site resources would be useful |
Some revision may be necessary, web quest section not used at
all. (Too much information).
Learners seemed to want to read through entire packet rather than the
area we were on, slowed process. |
Enjoyment |
Learners responded positively |
The learners seemed engaged and motivated, they remarked that
they would like to spend more time and continue the lesson |
Goals |
The learners were given insight into the world wide web and the
things that could be found there.
They did not complete a lesson plan for their students but planned to
finish at a later time |
Searching and browsing abilities were improved, adjustments
could be made on teaching how to write a lesson plan (web quests and mini
quests) – this what too much to include in one two-hour session |
Description of Formative Evaluation Tools
Results of Attitude Survey
The learners felt the lesson was on target with regard to ease of
learning and the vocabulary used. They
felt that the instruction was effective and would recommend it to others. This was definitely a good sign because one
of the learners was the department head, and he would encourage other members
of the department to participate later on.
Both learners felt that they would use the computer lab in the future,
though their comments suggested it would not be during this school year due to
other responsibilities and time constraints.
They both felt that more time was needed for the instruction. The examples used were definitely ueful and
the learners would have liked more time to explore the sites I had given to
them. They felt that the webquest and
mini-quests made available by others on the web were not as useful for them
because they did not coincide with their own teaching styles or were too
lengthy to be practical for their classroom curriculum.
Informal evaluation
During feedback sessions and one-on-one interaction other comments
were notable. There was too much
information and too many sites to explore on the handout, though it was not my
intention that the learners get to every single one of them. They were not
clear on this and thought they had a half hour to look at all these sites.
Though it was not on the handout, prompting the learners to add
words like “interactive” and “tutorial” to topic searches provided results that
were geared to students rather than commercial sites.
They did not understand why they were filling out the “Internet
Attitude Survey” again, because I’d already had them fill it out before the
lesson as a needs assessment. The point
of giving it again was to see if the attitudes had changed, but they felt it
was redundant.
Though the learners had a basic understanding of computer use and
operation, many were confused about how to open two programs (Internet Explorer
and Microsoft Word) so that a lesson could be written while referring back to
the site the lesson would cover. A
better explanation in the handout may have solved this problem, one that
included step by step instructions on how to use a word processing program and
how to move from one window to another using the taskbar on the windows
desktop.
The learners also seemed to have difficulty narrowing the sites
down. Many wanted to know how to save sites that they found so they could come
back later. I didn’t have a good answer
for this because a bookmark on the lab computer wouldn’t transfer to their
classroom computers. I eventually
suggested copying and pasting the urls to a word document and saving them that
way.
The learners were intimidated by webquests. When it came time to write a lesson, both
chose to do a single site and write questions and tasks for the students to do
with that site. They expressed that the
webquest taskonomy (from the Bernie Dodge website) was too involved and would
take too much time to create and to implement in the classroom.
Recommendations for
Revision
Based on the field trial, one thing is obvious, that it is going
to take more time for the learners to absorb all this. I will probably split
the instruction into two sessions. The
first focusing on the internet, what’s out there, and how to search. That lesson alone could take 2 hours. The second session would be another 2 hours
that focus on how to use the things you find to create lessons for
students.
The attitude survey I gave them (not the one on my instruction,
but the one regarding their attitudes toward the internet in general) will
probably be deleted. The learners
didn’t seem like they understood why they were filling it out at the end. It probably will be a good
pre-assessment tool, but a bit of
overkill to also give it to them again at the end.
The learners had a lot of trouble creating the lesson, and I may
need to divide the process into two areas.
A miniquest and a webquest. A
miniquest is the easiest to write and follows a “scavenger hunt” type
format. Learners need only to browse a
site and create questions regarding things that are on the site. A webquest takes a lot more planning. Both
learners did not want to touch the webquest at all. Making webquests will be removed from the instruction (and
handouts) altogether, though it will be mentioned, it was too much to try to
teach them how to do it in the time frame.
An extension instruction to cover webquests alone could be offered instead.
Handouts should not be given as a single packet, but distributed
as single papers to be given at the appropriate sections of instruction. The list of website resources should not be
given at the beginning, as it created timing problems, the learners wanted to
explore, they were impressed with the sites and were not aware that these
resources existed. At least this goal
of the instruction was effective, perhaps too effective since it made moving on
difficult.
Overall, the process needs to be trimmed some and given more
focus. Even trimmed down, the
instruction would still require more time so that the learners could explore
the world wide web and practice searching skills while receiving one-on-one
help from the instructor.