Program
All sessions will be held at the National Academy of Sciences Building,
2101 Constitution Avenue N.W., Washington, DC (enter on C Street with photo ID)
Wednesday, May 24
- 5:00-5:30 pm
- Opening Reception and Appetizers (Rotunda & Members' Room)
- 5:30-7:00 pm
- Introductions Download Opening Presentation (Acrobat (PDF) 8.9MB Jun8 06)
"Evidence of Learning" kick-off activity (Lecture Room):- Diane Ebert-May, Michigan State University
There is a broad collection of course and curricular materials designed to promote active-learning instruction that engages students in the process of science. Missing from the majority of these materials is substantive evidence to back the claim that "new" materials and approaches promote student learning better than "traditional" materials and approaches. Many faculty remain unconvinced of the need to change, and in part, their skepticism is derived from the nature of educational research -- it doesn't fit their paradigm of scientific research. We will explore these claims further by assessing our own thinking about questions such as: (1) How do people learn? (2) What kind of evidence will we accept that indicates students are learning? (3) What is the evidence that certain materials have a positive impact on learning? (4) How do we systematically gather that evidence if we don't already have it? (5) Once we have evidence of "what works," how do we disseminate it? Our discussion about these questions will provide a common platform for departure during the remainder of the meeting. Download Presentation (PowerPoint 9.8MB Jun3 06)
- Joe Redish, University of Maryland Working dinner in the Lecture Room. Topical table seating with catalytic speakers and issues for discussion at each table. Download Discussion Summaries (Acrobat (PDF) 249kB Jun3 06)
Thursday, May 25
- 7:45-8:30 am
- Coffee, light breakfast, poster and participant bio viewing in the Lecture Room
- 8:30-9:45 am
- Wednesday Summary & Thursday Goals Download Convener Remarks (Acrobat (PDF) 1.2MB Jun8 06)
Panel #1 (Lecture Room): The Current State of Learning Resources
- Tanya Atwater, Professor of Earth Science, University of California Santa Barbara The teaching and learning of many scientific topics can be greatly enhanced with electronic visualization tools, especially those that clarify three-dimensional spatial relationships and evolution through time, and that allow/facilitate changes in spatial and temporal scales. Computer animations are proving to be particularly useful for these purposes. Future "textbooks" must include moving imagery. While some modes of information transfer, such as reading and writing, require many years of training to be effectively used, imagery, and especially moving imagery, are innately understood. Thus, a single, well-designed animation can be effective over a very broad range of age and experience, and can deliver information from the simplest to the most sophisticated. Animal brains (like ours) are particularly tuned to notice and analyze moving objects. Animations deliver information through this so-far under-utilized pathway. An exciting aspect of the internet is the possibility of localizing content. This is particularly important for the Earth Sciences since each neighborhood offers a unique subset of phenomena. (One location might be dominated by beach processes, while another has a flood plain, and another has a backyard volcano or a rich fossil bed.) The "textbook" for each school district should begin with familiar, local objects and phenomena, and then could follow the connections from these into the larger body of information.
Thomas Banchoff, Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence (Mathematics), Brown UniversityMy presentation will be about communication and visualization software that will ultimately stand alone, independent of a textbook except insofar as there has to be a source of "standard problems," more easily handled by a customizable data bank. The emphasis is on dealing with phenomena, with many examples, all with multiple parameters, allowing for exploration by individual students and groups and the entire class. The end result for each course is a collection of shared documents, including personalized interactive demonstrations, assembled in a "Tensor." A new class starts the process over again. It works. We have the data. Download Presentation (PowerPoint 2.1MB Jun3 06)
Cathie Norris, Professor of Educational Technology, University of North TexasWatching computer-based animations and simulations is a powerful learning opportunity. However, having children create their own animations and simulations may well be even more beneficial for learning. In support of that hypothesis, I will describe our experiences in K-12 classrooms with students using learner-centered software running on mobile, handheld computers and designed at the University of Michigan/University of North Texas' joint Center for Highly-Interactive Computing in Education (HI-CE). For example, recent findings from a two-year, quasi-experimental study of almost 400 students in 7th grade science in Detroit, demonstrate that students using handheld computers score significantly higher on science tests than do students who have not had the opportunity to use handheld computers. In contrast to the paper-and-pencil-using students, handheld-using students routinely create, revise, and share dynamic documents (e.g., animations). Download Presentation (PowerPoint 2.4MB Jun3 06)
Elliot Soloway, Professor of Computer Science, University of MichiganBased on a range of empirical studies, in 2001, the ratio of students to computers was 5 to 1, with the Internet having very limited availability in K-12 classrooms. In 2006, it is our opinion that the ratio of students to computers has changed only minimally and reliable, universal Internet access in K-12 classrooms, especially in urban schools, has also only changed minimally. Unless K-12 moves to low-cost, but powerful handheld computers, not much will change through 2011. Indeed, the types of learning activities that 24/7-availability, mobile, handheld computers afford are different in kind than those enabled by desktop or even laptop computers. In my presentation, I will describe these differences in public and private learning opportunities. Download Presentation (PowerPoint 3MB Jun3 06)
- Tanya Atwater, Professor of Earth Science, University of California Santa Barbara
- 9:45-10:00 am
- Break with coffee and snacks, poster viewing in the Lecture Room
- 10:00-11:30 am
- Breakout Session #1 (Lecture Room, Members' Room, and Rooms 146, 148 and 150): The Current State of Learning Resources
We will break into groups of 5-6 people who represent disparate disciplines/expertise. Please discuss and summarize the group's response to each of the topics below.
(1) What teaching materials/learning resources are you currently using with your students?
(2) What do you know about your students' use of these learning resources and materials?
(3) What is the current interplay between modern pedagogy and existing learning resources/teaching materials?
(4) What roles do textbooks play in student learning?
(5) How are publishers and educators using what we know about student learning to design effective resources/teaching materials? Download Group Discussion Notes (Acrobat (PDF) 401kB Jun3 06)
Each participant should write answers to the questions on the back of the breakout sheet. Please hand in this sheet before lunch.
Each group should return from the breakout session with a WORD document presenting their answers to each question. Please place this document on your thumb drive.
Each group should generate a list of TESTABLE HYPOTHESES and/or RESEARCHABLE QUESTIONS arising from your discussion. Please place this list on your group's thumb drive.
Each group should prepare to report out for 3 minutes with one Power Point slide that summarizes answers to the questions and presents what they consider to be their group's most important testable hypothesis. Please place this slide on your group's thumb drive.
- 11:30 am -12:30 pm
- Report Out and Group Summary #1 in the Lecture Room: The Current State of Learning Resources Download Group Summaries (Acrobat (PDF) 306kB Jun3 06)
- Convener's Thursday Morning Summary Download Convener's Summary (Acrobat (PDF) 19kB Jun8 06)
- 12:30-1:30 pm
- Lunch: NAS Cafeteria (Refectory on lower level). Please complete "check in" survey before leaving for lunch. Make sure that you have a lunch ticket!
- 1:30-2:45 pm
- Panel #2 (Lecture Room): Pathways to Future Learning Resources
Kurt Squire, Assistant Professor of Educational Communications and Technology, University of Wisconsin-MadisonWe live in a rapidly changing world. Information and communication technologies are changing the way we work, play, and perhaps eventually, learn. Handheld PCs -- often in the form of cellphones - now include GPS, bluetooth, and wireless making not just information, but social networks available at our fingertips. The paradigm of the textbook, which is based on experts packaging content in a form easily digestible by students is looking increasingly outdated in a world where students can access libraries, databases, even experts themselves with the click of a button. How learning institutions will react remains to be seen, but it seems inevitable that 5, 10, or maybe even 20 years down the line they will need to evolve in response to these pressures. This talk investigates what kinds of learning systems are indigenous to the digital age, arguing that we can look at video games and gaming cultures for insight into how learning systems will need to be organized for the 21st century. It overviews design-based research projects that are investigating the potential of games to dramatically reshape the role of the textbook in learning. Download Presentation (PowerPoint 8MB Jun3 06)
Marcia Kuszmaul, Group Manager, Education Products, Microsoft CorporationFrom the early writing systems to Gutenberg's print technology, reading is now in a third disruptive wave of digital reading and experiences. The focus is on the creation, delivery and consumption of written content and integrated audio and video in digital format. While this wave has been 20 years in the making, it is still far from complete, but its momentum is unstoppable. What does it mean when the computer screen is the final target, not just a production tool; when content can be read on a range of devices; when content takes on new attributes of currency and adaptability; when publishers lose absolute control over content and access? With a look at the lessons learned from early ebook work, we'll look at the pieces that are falling into place to move this revolutionary third wave forward. Download Presentation (PowerPoint 6.4MB Jun3 06)
Dan Clancy, Engineering Director, GoogleGoogle Book Search was initiatiated by Google as part of its broader vision to support the user's need to search and access information. Digital access to information has already changed the way students interact with textbooks and more generally with the entire learning environment. As more content becomes digitally accessible, we need to ensure that students are not biased in their selection of sources based purely upon accessibility. In this talk, I will discuss the broader vision of Google's interest in the digital distribution of information and will discuss how Google can adapt to the evolution of the textbook as it has traditionally been defined. Download Presentation (PowerPoint 3.9MB Jun3 06)
Angelica Stacy, Professor of Chemistry, University of California-BerkeleyTextbooks have been designed and written mostly from the perspectives of authors, teachers, and publishers. But what do students understand from textbooks? How do they use them? Do they use them? Our goal is to design a textbook that builds upon and enhances the benefits of guided-inquiry instruction. Our thesis is this: Student learning in a guided-inquiry chemistry curriculum will improve with the addition of readings that (1) model the reasoning process of inquiry without sacrificing the crucial expository role of a textbook; (2) use familiar macroscopic contexts as pedagogical frames without displacing or diluting content; and (3) provide illustrations to bridge the cognitive gulf between the concrete world of macroscopic experience and the abstract ideas in science. Examples of textbook prototypes and results from a study on how students use these prototypes will be presented. Download Presentation (PowerPoint 19.3MB Jun3 06)
- 2:45-3:00 pm
- Break with coffee and snacks, poster viewing in the Lecture Room
- 3:00-4:30 pm
- Breakout Session #2 (Lecture Room, Members' Room, and Rooms 146, 148 and 150): Pathways to Future Learning Resources
We will break into groups of 5-6 people who represent disparate disciplines/expertise. Please discuss and summarize the group's response to each of the topics below.
(1) How do we create, support, and assess learning resources/teaching materials that focus on student learning and are student accessible?
(2) Will there be textbooks in the future and what will they be like?
(3) What are the future roles of faculty, publishers, and technology companies as authors, users, and disseminators of new learning resources/teaching materials?
(4) How will instructors and instructing need to change to adapt to the learning resources of the future? Download Group Discussion Notes (Acrobat (PDF) 224kB Jun9 06)
Each participant should write answers to the questions on the back of the breakout sheet. Please hand in this sheet before leaving for the day.
Each group should return from the breakout session with a WORD document presenting their answers to each question. Please place this document on your thumb drive.
Each group should generate a list of TESTABLE HYPOTHESES and/or RESEARCHABLE QUESTIONS arising from your discussion. Please place this list on your group's thumb drive.
Each group should prepare to report out for 3 minutes with one Power Point slide that summarizes answers to the questions and presents what they consider to be their group's most important testable hypothesis. Please place this slide on your group's thumb drive.
- 4:30-5:30 pm
- Report Out and Group Summary #2 in the Lecture Room: Pathways to Future Learning Resources Download Group Summaries (Acrobat (PDF) 587kB Jun9 06)
- Convener's Thursday Afternoon Summary Download Convener's Summary (Acrobat (PDF) 47kB Jun9 06)
- 7:00 pm
- Group dinner on the town at a wonderful place very conducive to informal discussion. All costs except alchohol will be covered. Asia Nora, 2213 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037, (202) 797-4860
See the website:- http://www.noras.com/
Dinner is a 10-15 minute walk from the hotel or a short cab ride. There are vegetarian options. For directions, click here:- http://noras.com/hours-directions/
Friday, May 26
We will break into smaller groups of allied disciplines to produce the following documents and make the following decisions:
(1) Write short summaries of the meeting for submission to discipline-specific newsletters and pick a person to spear-head the publication effort. (2) Brainstorm about the content and venues for technical sessions at disciplinary and interdisciplinary meetings. (3) Select a total 5 representatives who will be funded to travel to meetings and lead such sessions.
Here are some groupings that seem to make sense given the workshop roster:Engineering
Earth science
Math and Computer Science
Biosciences
Physics
Chemistry
Astronomy/Astrophysics
Each group will return from the breakout session with DRAFT summaries (in WORD), information about proposed technical sessions, and nomination of people to run these sessions.