Nature-LKT∗ A Trial Experience in Nature Science Learning

GENERAL ARTICLE Nature-LKT∗ A Trial Experience in Nature Science Learning Rosal´ıa Romero Tena, Juan Jes´us Guti´errez Castillo and Mar´ıa Puig Guti´errez Rosal´ıa Romero Tena is Professor of Education at the Department of Teaching and Organization of Education, University of Seville. She is a member of the GID Research Group. Seville, Spain. Juan Jes ´us Guti´errez-Castillo is a Faculty of Education at the Department of Teaching and Organization of Education, University of Seville and a member of the GID Research Group. Seville, Spain. Mar´ıa Puig Guti´errez is a Professor at the Department of Didactics of Experimental and Social Sciences at the University of Seville. Teaching ‘Nature Science’ poses a great challenge to education professionals. In a search for alternatives that can facilitate student’s learning and attract their interest, a trial experience is described that was conducted in the class of BA Degree in Pedagogy at the University of Seville. It was based on the creation of motivational and attractive – Learning and Knowledge Technology (LKT) – materials in the discipline of Nature Science. The results show the advantages that prospective teachers find in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for teaching and learning, in this case, Nature Science. 1. Introduction The difficulties associated with learning Nature Science are a shared concern both for researchers in the field of science education (teaching) and for teachers at different levels of education. In this regard, at both secondary school and university levels, there arise such problems as high repetition and drop-out rates, poor learner performance, difficulties associated with reading comprehension and oral and written expression, etc. All this results from the failure to use methodological approaches that can contribute to meaningful learning as against those that leads to mechanical rote learning. It is, therefore, necessary to focus on the use of strategies that contribute to the real knowledge of the processes (cognitive and metacognitive) involved, rather than just the products or results. This line of work was discussed by Dibar Ure and Cappannini [1] at the 7th Symposium on Research in Educa- ∗DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-019-0800-x RESONANCE |April 2019 491 GENERAL ARTICLE tion in Physics where they described studies showing that science teaching is still predominantly transmissive based on blackboard explanations, textbooks, and solving closed problems. The need Keywords Production and evaluation of media and materials, emergent technologies, curricular integration of ICTs, science education, higher education, primary education. for this methodological change in the teaching and dissemination of science is presented by Oliva and Acevedo [2] in their study published in the journal Eureka. We cannot precisely state the reasons behind this situation. Some are related to the teachers’ training and professional motivation, while some to the overload of content in the official curricula. Some are related to the enormous difficulties involved in attending to diversity in the laboratory. Sometimes it occur while trying to reconcile innovative approaches with the requirements of some external evaluation. In short, there are many reasons yet to be studied. In In the last few decades, the world has changed, and the State’s education administration has decided to ‘fill’ classrooms with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): digital whiteboards, computers, video projectors, and, perhaps most extraordinary, laptops with Internet connection in the students’ backpacks. the last few decades, the world has changed, and the State’s education administration has decided to ”fill” classrooms with ICTs: digital whiteboards, computers, video projectors, and, perhaps most extraordinary, laptops with Internet connection in the pupils’ backpacks. The intention behind all these changes is to prepare students for a new type of society – the information society – and train them in using ICTs as effective learning tools (see Table 1). But teachers’ attitude to all these changes so loaded with innovative connotations has been very different. The 2011 report on the TICSE 2.0 project [3] concludes that: “Traditional teaching materials (such as textbooks and blackboards) are still the most used resources in the ‘School 2.0’ classrooms despite the abundance of digital technology and the indication of most teachers that the greater part of the activities done in class with ICTs could be framed within a didactic paradigm that we could consider classic.” The idea that there exists an ‘emerging pedagogy’ following in dialogue with, the latest generation of ICTs. This pedagogy is impregnated with the ideas of great pedagogues of the 20th century, but goes beyond them in certain aspects. This is reflected in 492 RESONANCE |April 2019 GENERAL ARTICLE Table 1. Classification of ICTs in the framework of scientific practice. Scientific Type of ICT Specific Tools Dimension Inquiry ICTs for data Digital cameras, digital magnifying (real world) collection and glasses and microscopes, experimental peripheral sensors, mobile analysis of real phone internal sensors, phenomena remote labs, video analysis programs (like Tracker), audio analysis programs (like Audacity), streamed remote cameras, etc. Inquiry ICTs for displaying Java animations, simulations and (virtual world) and experimental physlets, molecular viewers, virtual analysis of virtual laboratories, scientific video games, phenomena virtual micro-worlds of physics (Interactive Physics, Physion, Algodoo) virtual environments like Virtual or chemistry (ChemLab), GreenHouse, QuestAtlantis, WISE, GasLab, or ElectroCity, etc. Modeling ICTs for the Tactile devices for the expression of graphical presentation of models models with digital (tablet, IWB, etc.), concept map support editors, programs designed for computational modeling (Modellus, VnR, Stella, NetLogo, etc.), programming languages (like Scratch or Alice). Argumentation ICTs for Tools for collaborative work argumentation and (like Drive, Wikis, Patlet, etc.), communication in social networks, digital the science whiteboards connected to classroom personal devices, specific ineraction apps, online voting systems, etc. RESONANCE |April 2019 493 GENERAL ARTICLE the innovative practices undertaken by intuitive teachers who are sensitive to the changes that our society is experiencing and the possibilities offered by technology. This idea is captured in the book Tecnolog´ıas Emergentes Pedagog´ıas Emergentes? [Emerging Technologies: Emerging Pedagogies? by Adell and Casta´neda [4]. In the work A Definition of Emerging Technologies for Education by Veletsianos [5], a specific definition of ‘emergent technologies’ is proposed for education. Emerging technologies are tools, concepts, innovations, and advances used in diverse educational contexts to serve diverse purposes related to education. This will be the definition that we shall work with. However, one One should not confuse emerging with new. Although many emerging technologies are new, the mere fact of being new does not automatically make a technology emergent. should not confuse emerging with new. Although many ‘emerging’ technologies are ‘new’, the mere fact of being new does not automatically make a technology emergent. Thus, emerging technologies in education may be new technological developments or applications of known technologies to promote education. To avoid any questions on the need of using ICT-centred educational innovations in classrooms and in various subjects, we shall rely on the book on virtual psychology by Coll and Monereo [6] which proposes a third way. According to this, innovations are not to be considered innovative per se, nor just as another factor in the process. “The incorporation of ICTs into education neither transforms nor automatically improves educational processes, but does instead substantially change the context in which these processes take place, the relationships between their agents and between them and the tasks and content to be learnt, thus opening the way to the possibility of an eventual in-depth transformation of those processes, and which may or may not turn out to be an effective improvement depending on the specific uses made of the technology.” Blanca and Rodr´ıguez [7] published in Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Educativos the case of a secondary school biology 494 RESONANCE |April 2019 GENERAL ARTICLE teacher which showed how the interactive nature of technological tools facilitates pupils’ access to information, and development of scientific procedures, and competencies, while fostering their interest in learning science. Webb [8], in the International Journal of Science Education, notes four main possible effects deriving from the use of ICTs in science teaching: “promoting cognitive acceleration; enabling a wider range of experience so that students can relate science to their own and other real-world experiences; increasing students’ selfmanagement; and facilitating data collection and presentation.” According to Romero and Quesada [9], in their article published in Revista Ense˜nanza de las Ciencias on new technologies and meaningful science learning, simulations, modeling, and virtual laboratories allow misconceptions to be detected and help in the understanding and application of scientific theories. In addition, images make abstract models and theories more visible, making it easier for the students to assimilate them and establish connections between the macroscopic or physical and the microscopic or theoretical. From this perspective, it is interesting to present the classification of ICTs in the framework of scientific practice that was recently put forward by L´opez Sim´oet al. [10] during the 10th International Congress on Research in Science Didactics. The frame work makes it possible to identify the kinds of ICT tools that facilitate the development of certain dimensions of scientific practice. As indicated before, there have been numerous studies highlighting the advantages of incorporating ICTs with respect to the content of different scientific disciplines. In chemistry, There have been numerous studies highlighting the advantages of incorporating ICTs with respect to the content of different scientific disciplines. for example, Da Rocha and De Mellado [11] observes that simulations, games, animations, and experiments that appear in the digital resources accompanying textbooks benefit learning, being better than the latter because they allow for exploration and, therefore, understanding. In this same event, Vin´ıcius [12] highlights the benefits of mobile devices in the teaching and RESONANCE |April 2019 495 GENERAL ARTICLE learning process, and Silva and Carneiro [13] argue for the use of WebQuests, showing that these formats contribute to making the teaching and learning process more attractive, comprehensive, and exact. In environmental sciences, the article published by Carey and Darner Gougis [14] in the Journal of Science Education and Technology entitled ‘Simulation modeling of lakes in undergraduate and graduate classrooms increases comprehension of climate change concepts and experience with computational tools’ found that the “use of computational modeling to explore the effects of climate change may be a new instructional strategy that can stimulate learning and improved comprehension of complex topics that are difficult to understand from static datasets”. Returning to the experiences presented at the 10th International Congress on Research in Science Didactics, Zanotello et al. [15] presented an interesting study on students using various ICT tools for the construction of a website on a specific topic in the field of nature sciences. They highlighted that while working with ICTs, the students took in and used scientific terms, exercised their capacity to choose, participated actively in the learning process, enjoyed the benefits of interdisciplinarity, and improved in their self-esteem, autonomous and critical thinking, and sense of responsibility. Finally, the aforementioned work of Romero and Quesada [9] collects together various investigations that support the effectiveness of technologies in improving skills related to solving quantitative problems, to the concepts and procedures concerning the measurement of physical variables, to the spatial skills of geography and astronomy, and to understanding key concepts of physics and chemistry. They highlight the need, through successive cycles of application, evaluation, and revision, to continue refining and improving different ICT tools used for teaching and learning sciences. They also refer to the important part teachers play in the use of ICTs, and the need to advance their training so as to improve the integration of ICTs in teaching nature sciences. 496 RESONANCE |April 2019 GENERAL ARTICLE It was on the basis of these conceptions and with the intention of contributing to the use of ICTs in teaching nature sciences that the experiment described below was carried out. We believe that using innovative ideas in which the students can actively participate, creating their own knowledge, is one way to implement emergent technological practices in education. The activities mentioned below were designed with the belief that experiences based on constructivism can strengthen collaborative learning. Every time a new technology (cinema, radio, TV, computers, tablets, blogs, wikis, etc.) has burst into our lives, it has been received as an opportunity to improve education. In terms of their histories, technologies and educational changes have always gone hand in hand. 2. Development of the Trial Experience We shall now describe the trial experience that we conducted in the academic year 2015–2016 at the Faculty of Education Sciences (University of Seville, Spain) as part of the analysis and design of curricular materials and assessment in social and experimental sciences, corresponding to the 4th year Bachelor’s degree course in Pedagogy. The The objective of the trial experience described herewastodesignand develop curricular materials as an alternative to the textbook for teaching and learning Nature Science. objective was to design and develop curricular materials as an alternative to textbooks for teaching and learning Nature Science. We planned a trial experience in which our students were required to design and construct play-type Learning and Knowledge Technology (LKT) materials for learning the subject. The exercises were meant to help the students develop a set of competencies formally entitled ‘E05: Design, development, management, and evaluation of plans, projects, programs, resources, and materials for educational and/or formative action in diverse spheres and contexts’ in their plan of studies. A total of 57 students 1Official syllabus of the 6th year of primary education (Royal Decree 1262014, February 28, establishing the basic curriculum of primary education [16]. participated in the trial. They chose a particular topic from the curricular content of Nature Science1and designed teaching and learning materials for 12-year-old students using one of the following emerging technologies: Wiki, web page, or interactive whiteboard (IWB). RESONANCE |April 2019 497 GENERAL ARTICLE Once the groups had been set up, and the curricular content and technology with which to design the materials selected, the trial experience was implemented in three phases: Phase 1. Planning and Organizing the Task. This first phase laid the foundations as described by Cabero [17] for the procedure to follow in the design, production, post-production, and evaluation of the ICTs as LKT teaching media. In short, with the LKTs, we wanted our students to use technology in both teaching and learning processes, ensuring their acquisition of the basic competencies so that they can improve their teaching qualitatively and quantitatively (Espuny, Gisbert, Gonz´alez, & Coiduras) [18]. We also addressed the two types of designs our material should respond to – communicative design and the learning design – as established by Bartolom´e [19]. In the former case, the students were required to respond to such questions as: What kind of information do we want to convey with our material? Which is the most appropriate medium? How will the user interact with the material? and so on. In the latter, they focussed on actual learning, setting out the objectives and the competencies to work towards, the content going to be addressed, etc. Phase 2. Preparing the Materials Prior to the design phase, various class seminars were held discussing the technology to use (e.g., Wiki design on the Wikispaces server, web page design with Wix.com) and design of the material for the smart board IWB. The most basic aspects regarding the use of each of these technologies were dealt with. Our students were encouraged to use multimedia tools which would allow their future 6th year primary education students to interact with the material. In particular, manipulating, viewing, touching, and browsing the content should foster pupils’ motivation for Nature Science, leading to it having a more personal meaning for them. The materials designed by each group was later be evaluated by the instructor and by the rest of their classmates. Boxes 498 RESONANCE |April 2019 GENERAL ARTICLE Box 1. Website on the Theme ‘Ecosystems’ Designed Using Wix.com Nature Science help us to understand the world we live in, our environment and the contributions that scientific and technological advances have made to our everyday life. This example presents teaching material designed with Wix.com on ecosystems, as part of ‘Block 3: Living Beings’ of the primary education curriculum. The curriculum elements worked on are: •Content: The relationships between living beings, food chains, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Characteristics and components of an ecosystem. Ecosystems such as grassland, pond, woodland, coastline, and city and living beings. •Evaluation Criteria: Know the characteristics and components of an ecosystem. •Learning Standard: Identifies and explains the relationships among living beings, food chains, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Identifies and explains some of the causes of species extinction. Observes and identifies the main features and components of an ecosystem. Recognizes and explains some ecosystems: grassland, pond, woodland, coastline, and city, and the living beings inhabiting them. Observes and identifies different habitats of living beings. Figure A. Web page on ecosystems designed using Wix.com. RESONANCE |April 2019 499 GENERAL ARTICLE de las Ciencias, No. Extra pp.1649–1653, 2017. [12] T Vin´ıcius, Mobile learning e o ensino de qu´ımica: uma interpretac¸˜ao controversa? Ense˜nanza de las Ciencias, No.Extra pp.1555–1559, 2017. [13] B Silva and M Carneiro, Considec¸˜oes sobre Webquests e flexquests No ensino de qu´ımica, Ense˜nanza de las Ciencias, No.Extra pp.1585–1590, 2017. [14] C Carey R and Darner, Simulation Modeling of Lakes in Undergraduate and Graduate Classrooms Increases Comprehension of Climate Change Concepts and Experience with Computational Tools, Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol.26, No.1, pp.1–11, 2017. [15] M Zanotello et al. (2017). Tic e Ensino de Ciencias na Educac¸˜ao b´asica: a construc¸˜ao de um site sobre o sistema reprodutor humano, Ense˜nanza de las Ciencias, No. Extra pp.1135–1140, 2017. [16] Royal Decree 126/2014, February 28th, Curriculum of Primary Education. BOE No 52, March 1st, 2014. https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2014/03/01/pdfs/BOE-A-2014-2222.pdf [17] J Cabero, Tecnolog´ıa Educativa: Dise˜no y Utilizaci´on de Medios en la Ense˜nanza,Paid´os Ib´erica. 2001. [18] C Espuny, M Gisbert, J Gonz´alez and JL Coiduras, Los seminarios TAC: Un reto de formaci´on para asegurar la dinamizaci´on de las TAC en las escuelas. Edutec: Revista electr´onica de tecnolog´ıa educativa, No.34, 2010. http://edutec.rediris.es/revelec2/revelec34/ Address for Correspondence Rosal´ıa Romero Tena Email: [email protected] Juan Jes´us Guti´errez Castillo Email: [email protected] Mar´a Puig Gutie´errez Email: [email protected] Facultad de Ciencias de la Educaci´on Departamento Did´actica y Organizaci´on Educativa c/ Pirotenia s/n Sevilla 41013 – ESPA ˜ NA [19] AR Bartolom´e, El dise˜no y la producci´on de medios para la ense˜nanza. In J. Cabero Almenara (Ed.), Tecnolog´ıa Educativa, pp.71–86. Madrid: S´ıntesis, 1999. [20] J Cabero and JJ Guti´errez, La utilizaci´on de las TIC para la evaluaci´on de las competencias de los estudiantes: La producci´on de TIC por estudiantes, Aula de encuentro, Vol.17, No.2, pp.5–32, 2015. [21] J Barroso and JJ Guti´errez, Dise˜no de materiales para el desarrollo de la competencia digital y comunicativa de los estudiantes universitarios.InA.G´omez, La alfabetizaci´on multimodal: nuevas formas de leer y de escribir en el entorno digital, pp.107–120. Madrid: S´ıntesis, 2016. 506 RESONANCE |April 2019