AERA SIG: Education Science and Technology: Implementing "Real Science" through Microcomputers and Telecommunications in Project-Based Elementary Classrooms

• Published in: Journal of science education and technology Vol. 3; no. 1; pp. 17 - 26
• Main Authors: Jackson, David F., Doster, Elizabeth C., Tippins, Deborah J., Rutledge, Michael L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Plenum Publishing Corporation 01-03-1994
• Subjects: Art teachers; Computer technology; Computers in education; Environmental technology; Microcomputers; Science education; Science learning; Science teachers; Teachers; Telecommunications
• ISSN: 1059-0145; 1573-1839

This is a study of an ongoing collaborative project in which science education faculty and upper elementary school teachers investigate the potential of a project-based, technologyrich, environmentally oriented approach to science education in an urban school serving a racially diverse population. Major conclusions based on the experience of participants in this study include: (1) teachers describe their instructional roles in terms highly consistent with student-centered, project-based, experiential learning; (2) teachers believe that what makes science "real" for students is the feeling that they are working on a truly current problem that is also being investigated by others outside their classroom. This is achieved by KidsNet, a microcomputer- and telecommunications-mediated curriculum, in a way that would not be possible without this technology; (3) teachers describe the actual and possible role of computer technology in terms which, while insightful and generally positive, are not clearly related to its flexible use in project-based learning; and (4) while teachers recognize meaningful connections between "off-line" science activities and the use of computer and telecommunications technologies, their students often do not.