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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 11, Issue 2 ,
Foreword (Dec., 2010) Marcia C. LINN, James D. SLOTTA, Hiroki TERASHIMA, Elisa STONE, & Jacquie MADHOK Designing Science Instruction using the Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE)
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An extensive set of research findings supports the use of the WISE curriculum materials. Each WISE project in the curriculum library has been iteratively refined in classroom trials. These studies investigated the effectiveness of the overall design as well as specific features. The investigations improved the units and also provided insights that informed the knowledge integration framework.
Investigating Mitosis and Meiosis
Elisa Stone investigated the mitosis and meiosis activities for middle and high school. Understanding concepts of cell division and growth is a fundamental topic in biology. When high school students and teachers were asked what concepts in cell biology are particularly challenging, they identified the processes of cell division- mitosis and meiosis- to be among the most difficult topics to learn.
In response, the WISE “Investigating Mitosis and Meiosis,” was designed and piloted in a 10th grade biology classroom. This WISE unit guides high school students to explore web-based animations and cell images, build and analyze their own models, make connections to excellent web resources on cell division, and undertake an internet research project on related human diseases. The goals of this research were to (1) learn more about how students understand concepts of the cell, (2) evaluate the WISE cell division curriculum, and (3) determine how the unit could be revised to improve cell biology instruction. To determine the extent to which students developed a coherent understanding of meiosis and mitosis, knowledge integration scoring rubrics were developed and student work from several different assessments was analyzed. Embedded assessments, student models, pre/post test drawings, multiple choice exam questions, and student reflections were examined.
Different ways that students constructed their understanding of cell division, and a variety of challenges they encountered while learning about cell division in the WISE project, were revealed by evaluating student work from different methods of assessment. For example, analysis of students’ reflection notes, captured as part of the WISE curriculum design, revealed that interpretive questions revealed more about what students had learned than descriptive ones. Analysis of drawings and models suggested that students did not fully understand mitotic spindle function, and revealed a need for more emphasis on this component of cell division. Throughout this evaluation, it was noted that students who did not perform well on some assessments might unexpectedly perform well on another. For instance, several students did not respond fully or accurately in writing but made creative, thoughtful models using the WISE drawing tool. Thus, not only are multiple methods of assessment beneficial for teachers, but they can also be beneficial for students in allowing them to demonstrate their understanding in different ways. These conclusions are consistent with the research literature on alternative approaches to assessment. Using a variety of alternate approaches to assessment benefits learners by giving them varied ways to succeed. In addition, when used as formative assessment, varied outcome measures help teachers improve their practice by providing a nuanced image of student learning.
The first classroom trial of this WISE project showed that the curriculum met its learning goals. Throughout the WISE curriculum unit, students increasingly integrated their understanding of the process of cell division, the events that characterize mitosis and meiosis, the function of cell structures important for cell division, and to modeling of defects that occur in related diseases. A number of revisions were made for the next iteration of this curricular unit that aimed to improve the curriculum and increase the number of students that reach fully integrated understanding of cell division. The revised WISE unit, called “Cell Reproduction & Human Diseases” was taught the next year in a 10th grade biology class and customized for a 12th grade biotechnology class.
The second year of research focused on how students used models to represent their ideas about cell division and cancer. Models were analyzed at three points in the curriculum unit (early, middle and late) with rubrics that determined students' conceptual understanding of the structure and function of cellular components required for cell division, and their ability to reason about causes of diseases. Knowledge integration rubrics were used to measure student models. They were particularly useful for evaluating student drawings by offering an objective way to discern evidence of learning. Data obtained from scoring with these rubrics showed that students progressively integrated their knowledge of cell division from the beginning to the end of the unit. Moreover, students developed a greater understanding of the nature of science by learning to evaluate their own models and to appreciate the purpose of models in general. This study demonstrated that adaptations to the curriculum after its first year resulted in increased learning gains in the second year of its implementation. Additionally, analysis of student data demonstrated areas where students continue to have difficulty in conceptual understanding. These analyses suggested changes in the curriculum for a third year of implementation.
In sum, evidence for the progression of student ideas about cell division was seen in multiple ways. Student explanations of cell division metaphors, cellular models of disease, and drawings of the process of cell division were especially effective in understanding students' ideas about mitosis and meiosis. Using different kinds of assessment throughout the WISE unit revealed which elements of the curriculum were successful in promoting student learning in cell biology.
Investigating Genetic inheritance
Jacquie Madhok explored how students learn in the WISE “genetic inheritance” project. She reports on two research questions:
1. How does the TELS Simple Inheritance project contribute to student knowledge integration compared to a typical curriculum?
2. How effective is the project for high and low performing pretest students, i.e., do both students who score low and students who score high on measures of genetic inheritance at the pretest show progress in their understanding of genetics by the posttest?
While using this unit, students explore the content within a personally relevant context (see Figure 1). Students assume the role of a school newspaper reporter and are guided by the project’s “Managing Editor” to investigate the fictional case of a boy who has cystic fibrosis. Students collect evidence on cystic fibrosis to be used for writing an article about this boy (named “Eric”) in their school newspaper.
Figure 1: Students learn about Eric who has cystic fibrosis, his symptoms
Students then use interactive, dynamic visualizations to develop family trees with online tools (see Figure 2), explore phenotypic outcomes of gene combinations, and change parents’ genotypes to see samples of genotypes for children.
Figure 2: Students use embedded drawing tools to create Eric's family tree.
To measure the impact of this week-long WISE curriculum unit, pre- and posttests were given to the students, and a delayed posttest was given 6 months later. Figure 3, below, shows some sample assessment items.
Figure 3. Sample assessment questions for genetic inheritance.
To answer the question “How does the Simple Inheritance module contribute to knowledge integration, compared with a typical curriculum?”, comparisons were made between students for one teacher, Lisa, who employed the WISE curriculum in year 1 and year 2 and the typical curriculum in year 4. The 300 students who had used WISE were compared with the 113 students who had experienced the typical curriculum. There was a significant difference in the yearly benchmark test scores across these two groups, with F (1, 639) = 26.05, p <.0001. Specifically, the students who used WISE achieved much higher scores on the inheritance measures than the students who had studied without the WISE module (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. Students who studied with the module (TELS [n = 300]) significantly outperformed those students who studied without the module (Typical [n = 113])
To answer the second question, “How effective is the module for high and low performing pretest students?” progress in the understanding of inheritance at pre- and post-module were analyzed using test results from three teachers. The Simple Inheritance module resulted in significant gains in measures of the students’ understanding of inheritance for both students’ with low pretest scores, F (1, 78) = 100.61, p < .0001 and the students’ with high pretest scores, F (1, 60) = 46.74, p < .0001 (see Figure 5).
Figure 5. Both students who scored low on the pretest [n = 79] and those who scored high on the pretest [n = 61] made significant gains from pretest to posttest.
In summary, the combination of visualizations, reflection, and connections to a personally relevant story help to make WISE curriculum units effective. Wider use of such research-based units in classrooms has strong implications for improving science education results.
Copyright (C) 2010 HKIEd APFSLT. Volume 11, Issue 2 , Foreword (Dec., 2010). All Rights Reserved.
