Technology in the Classroom: Quick Looks - Type of use

Simulation

• Steve Ackerman, a meteorology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been using java applets (available for free download) with great success in his Introduction to Weather and Climate course.
  Summary
  Full Story:
  - First, these simulations are visual and I have a lot of visual learners; second, they present the concept without complex mathematics...
  - If I don't spend time explaining the applet features, students quickly get lost. Students need guidance in how to use the different parameters appropriately.
  - 82% "believed" or "somewhat believed" that the applets helped them to master skills and concepts more quickly than with traditional methods.
  

• Sam Donovan, a visiting professor at Beloit College, finds ways to take the tools biologists use in the real world and fits them into the classroom.
  Summary
  Full Story:
  - I'm concerned about finding a balance between wet lab and computer based experiences.
  - I try to put students into situations where they need to make sense of data and apply theoretical models to explain phenomena
  - The nonmajors had little computer experience and were apprehensive
  

• Jim Kaput, a mathematics professor at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, with his SimCalc Project, has developed software simulations and curricular activities for students from the third grade through college calculus with an emphasis towards students typically without access to these tools.
  Summary
  Full Story:
  - The SimCalc team came together to democratize access to the core ideas of calculus, the mathematics of change and variation.
  - I had this notion of using motion simulations to make calculus ideas more learnable, in particular, using things like velocity and position graphs hot-linked to motion simulations.
  - Student learning data are quite impressive, particularly among disadvantaged younger students who would otherwise rarely be given the opportunity to encounter these ideas.
  

• Frank Lee, an engineering professor from Bellevue Community College, uses Working Model 2D as a tool in class to visually verify with simulations the calculations the students are doing by hand.
  Summary
  Full Story:
  - But students can't do much wondering when they're just trying to do the calculations. And if they can't visualize how an object is moving, then solving the equations that describe how it's moving is going to be even tougher.
  - They do the number crunching and they get a result. I tell them, "As engineers, you'd be asking, 'Is this result correct? Did I make any mistakes?'"
  - The software, whiz-bang, is great. But just because you can make the software run doesn't mean you know the concepts. Helping them learn the concepts is what we're going for.
  

• Bob Mathieu is an astronomy professor from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He describes the journey he embarked on to change the way he taught his astronomy course; how he succeeded in developing his computer-enhanced course and the technology he created and uses; and eloquently articulates the learning goals he has for his students.
  Summary
  Full Story:
  - Doing science doesn't require technology - much can be accomplished with just a ruler. However, technology allows a level of simulation and access to forefront data that make this exploration more modern, diverse, and fun, for both the students and me.
  - Ultimately, I want my students to leave my class knowing how science really works.
  - The highlights are when one student teaches her partner something, teaches it correctly, and her partner gets it.
  

• Frederick Moore, a physics professor at Whitman College, uses Workshop Physics: an activity-based learning approach to teach introductory physics in which everything takes place in the lab.
  Summary
  Full Story:
  - Why did I turn to learning technology? Because - flat out - the students were not learning.
  - Students do real physics, take measurements, make predictions, and evaluate data.
  - When covering Newton's Laws, we ask students to design a handicapped-accessible ramp...
  

• Muriel Poston, associate professor at Howard University, wanted to bring evolution alive for her students by using computer simulations to solve problems in a laboratory-like setting.
  Summary
  Full Story:
  - I'm concerned about finding a balance between wet lab and computer based experiences.
  - My students access the data and create graphs that chart the changes in the genetic constitution of the population
  - Doing this project was a catalyst for bringing technology in - we had absolutely no learning technology before this
  

• Chris Rogers, an engineering professor at Tufts University, has his students use LEGOs® in their Mechanical Engineering courses to build and program devices that have real world applications.
  Summary
  Full Story:
  - Because it's fun.
  - I was looking for a cheap way to do experimentation that a lot of students could do as homework assignments.
  - The students spend a lot more time analyzing results and a lot less time trying to screw things together.
  

• Gabriele Wienhausen, a biology professor at the University of California, San Diego along with Barbara Sawrey developed a web-based chemistry lab instruction manual. They've also developed an on-line course with enriched digitalized lectures, and now use some lecture time for student collaborative work.
  Summary
  Full Story:
  - Students see pictures and read descriptions about using an Erlenmeyer flask or a spectral photometer, but that's not enough.
  - What we really learned is that this kind of work requires a unique team to do it in a reasonable amount of time.
  - The students are really excited about the Web-based courses, but we do get mixed messages.