Welcome to the guided instruction research and evaluation project. Kaleidoscope seemed an appropriate name for this activity as it reflects the variety of tools and approaches to developing guided instruction or scaffolded learning learning activities.
DRAFT Project Plan: Guided Inquiry
Statement of the Problem:
Academic Computing and CECI engagements with several MIT faculty have indicated a use for computer-based tools to facilitate the guided inquiry process for students in Mathematics (Miller), Physics (Belcher), Aero-Astro (Willcox), Mechanical Engineering (Hunter), and, potentially, Biology (Walker).
Background:
Professors Miller and Belcher have developed a series of applets and simulations to explain different mathematical and physical concepts, but would like to provide a larger framework for these individual activities. While students can use the applets and simulations to experiment with different data sets, they do not necessarily develop an understanding of what the simulations mean in a larger context, or of when to apply a particular equation in a different setting. Students are learning pieces of problem-solving technique, but not the procedural knowledge of how and when to apply the pieces.
Professor Willcox has attempted to address this issue for AeroAstro students by creating a textual guide on applying mathematical principles to engineering problems. To date the guide exists only as a document, so interactive practice opportunities are not available to students. Prof. Willcox has been in contact with Prof Miller, however, and is open to the idea of creating a flexible computer-based framework to support this effort.
Phil - description of Hunter work? Should Walker be mentioned at this stage?
Deliverables:
- Review of Existing Projects - summarize current work in this area, identifiying their goals, design strategy, strengths and weaknesses
- Design Criteria Important to MIT Faculty - specifiy esign criteria MIT faculty require for a system create useful guiding learning activities.
- Create common workspace (wiki) to organize, share, and support guided inquiry investigation.
Guided Learning Tools to Consider:
- Pedagogica, (http://pedagogica.concord.org/
) - "Pedagogica is a software environment that converts tools and models into hypermodels. These are inquiry-based lessons that provide guidance to students as they use the software. Pedagogica tailors the appearance of the tools and the available options, presenting only those that are relevant to the activity. The interface is also used to assess student progress. It reports feedback, in real-time over the Internet, as students work through a series of activities." - LAMS (http://www.lamsinternational.com/) - LAMS manages and delivers online collaborative learning activities
by providing teachers with a highly intuitive visual authoring environment for creating sequences of learning activities. These activities can include a range of individual tasks, small group work and whole class activities based on both content and collaboration. - .exe (http://exe.cfdl.auckland.ac.nz/) - An off-line authoring environment to assist teachers and academics in the publishing of web content without the need to become proficient in HTML or XML markup.
- Simple Sequencing (http://www.icodeon.com/product.do) -
- Connexions (http://cnx.rice.edu) -
- Learn eXact (http://www.learnexact.com)
- Concept Tutor & Query Image (http://engage.doit.wisc.edu)
Timeline: By June 1st we hope to have completed initial review of existing systems plus a list of design criteria to discuss at our next meeting.
Participants:
Phil Long, Katie L. Vale (Academic Computing), Andrew McKinney (CECI)