DOCUMENT RESUME ED 443 659 SE 063 639 AUTHOR Wright, Ann F.; Dickinson, Valarie L. Integrating Technology into the Science Classroom. TITLE PUB DATE 1999-00-00 NOTE 47p. PUB TYPE Reports - Research (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Chemistry; Constructivism (Learning); Grade 8; Integrated Activities; *Integrated Curriculum; *Internet; Middle Schools; *Multimedia Instruction; Physical Sciences; *Science Instruction National Science Education Standards; Periodic Table; IDENTIFIERS Vygotsky (Lev S) ABSTRACT This study focuses on the integration of technology into middle school science classrooms. It concerns building interest among students in science and technology and understanding the impacts of technology in student learning. Three questions are posed: (1) How does using the Internet influence student performance in science? (2) How does using the Internet influence student interest in and understanding of science and technology? and (3) How does using the Internet influence girls' interest in science and technology? One researcher's experience with integrating technology into an eighth-grade physical science class is described. A list of Web addresses for periodic tables on the Internet and the pilot and actual student interest survey questions are included. (Contains 25 references.) (YDS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY INTO THE SCIENCE CLASSROOM Ann F. Wright, Washington State University Valarie L. Dickinson, Washington State University One of the biggest challenges facing teachers today is to find ways to use technology to enhance academic achievement. In the Washington State Essential Academic Learning Requirements Technical Manual for Science, Social Studies, Arts, and Health and Fitness, the Commission on Student Learning (1996) writes: Technology and other forces are rapidly transforming the ways we live and work. The forces of change are also re-shaping what it means to have the knowledge and skills necessary to lead a successful life now and in the 21st Century. (p. 2) One technological force re-shaping life today is the Internet. This powerful technology is also a tool that teachers can bring into the classroom to enhance teaching and learning. As a requirement of my Master In Teaching (MIT) Program at Washington State University Tri-Cities, I conducted an action research project that involved the integration of technology, primarily the Internet, into a middle school science classroom. Through this study I hoped to build student interest in science and technology and to understand how using technology impacts students. I also wanted to evaluate my success at integrating technologies such as the Internet into the science classroom. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS CENTER (ERIC) BEEN GRANTED BY This document has been reproduced as BEST COPY AVAILABLE ed from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of view or opinions stated in this 2 INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Problem Statement The Washington State Commission on Student Learning (1996) and the National . Research Council (1996) have recognized the important role of technology in the area of science with specific requirements. For example, the Essential Academic Learning Requirements in Science state that the student will "understand the connections between science and technology" (Washington State Commission on Student Learning, 1996, p. 32). Similarly, the National Science Education Standards call for students in grades five to eight to develop "understandings about science and technology" (National Research Council, 1996, p. 161). In addition, the Washington State Technology Plan (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1997) calls for funds to integrate technology into the curriculum and to train prospective teachers how to incorporate new technology-based instructional strategies into the curriculum. To be prepared for the global world of the 21st century all students must become comfortable with using technology. In order to facilitate this, teachers must learn how to use the technologies available to them, including the Internet. They must learn how to utilize these technologies to the benefit of their students. In other words, all teachers must decide what to do with the Internet in their classrooms. Theoretical Background Technology has affected society for centuries. For example, in 1450 only about 30,000 books existed in all of continental Europe (Gates, 1996). That year Johan Gutenberg introduced 3 the first printing press to Europe. By 1500, there were more than 9 million books, on many topics, not to mention other types of printed matter such as handbills, available in continental Europe. For the first time, the common person had access to written information. Now there was a reason to learn to read and write. People became interested in learning what was going on in other parts of the continent and in recording what was happening in their part of the world. As Bill Gates (1996) writes in The Road Ahead, "Books gave literacy critical mass, so you can almost say that the printing press taught us to read. The information highway will transform our culture as dramatically as Gutenberg's press did the Middle Ages" (p. 27). Already it is difficult to interact in the world today without seeing some reference to the Internet. Web addresses are everywhere, in magazines, on books, and even on commercials. And, as Ray Schneider (1997) wrote, "Incredible as the Internet already is, it is only a shadow of things to come" (p. 14). In the October 27, 1997 U.S. News & World Report, 11 of the careers listed in "20 Hot Job Tracks" required science and/or technology backgrounds. Collins and Collins (1996) pointed out that in order for "our students to compete in the current global educators embrace and use [the Internet] in our teaching" community, it is imperative that .. . (p.101). 4 Besides the reform requirements at state and national levels there is increasing pressure from the business community and federal agencies to teach our students to learn how to use technology. According to the Tri-City Herald ("Going High-Tech," 1997) the Information Technology industry has now emerged as the country's largest manufacturer and accounts for $866 billion in revenue per year. In addition, last year the high-tech sector accounted for 6.2% of our nation's output of goods and services and employed almost 4.3 million people. This sector the grew by 7.2% in the 1990's. Furthermore, high-technology workers earn wages 73% above general private sector rate. "The role of education in providing the skilled workers that 'high- tech' requires is central to any community strategy involving the industry" (Going High-Tech, 1997, p. A6). Today most communities are doing everything possible to attract high revenue industries like Information Technology, including examining how they educate future workers. In response to the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 the U.S. Department of Education wrote a national long range technology plan, Getting America's Students Ready for the 21st Century: Meeting the Technology Literacy Challenge. A Report to the Nation on Technology and Education (1996). At the heart of the plan is the President's Technology Literacy Challenge, which urges that the nation's students be technologically literate by early in the 21st century. In a letter to Congress opening this plan, Richard Riley, Secretary of Education, (U.S. Department of Education, 1996) wrote: Computers are the 'new basic' of American education, and the Internet is the .I strongly believe that if we help all of our children to blackboard of the future. . . 5 become technologically literate, we will give a generation of young people the skills they need to enter this new knowledge- and information-driven economy. (P. 3) These sources provide evidence that there is a reason for students to learn how to use technology, but does it have any benefits or pitfalls for them? Can the use of the Internet help students develop other skills needed in the workplace, not just make them technologically literate? Results of a project on the Internet and literacy (Wright, 1997) suggest that Internet use has a positive affect on students in regard to literacy, but do these effects extend to the areas of science and technology? Through coursework at Washington State University I know that the work of L. S. Vygotsky and others (Biehler & Snowman, 1993) demonstrated that a constructivist approach was more beneficial to students. My own experiences as a student suggest that it also makes learning more interesting and thus increases the desire to learn and improves student performance. In writing about the potential of using technology in a constructivist classroom Strommen (1995) points out that students raised in a technology-driven world with video games, remote controls, and the like are used to an environment where they control the flow and access of information. He believes that these students are naturally more interested and involved in a classroom with technology. A previous study of equity issues showed a potential for technology use to introduce another gender-related bias to the classroom. Do boys and girls both experience a positive 6 influence when technology is included in the curriculum? And finally, how do teachers feel about their experiences using technology in the classroom? To find answers to some of these questions I turned to past research on the impact of technology use in the classroom. In two related research projects Goodwin (1996) and Rogan (1996) collected data from rural teachers with no prior Internet experience who integrated it into their curriculum. Their data sources included questionnaires, interviews, discussions and teacher journals. All teachers involved in the study had an interest in the teaching of math and science. The teachers in Goodwin's study were also trained in changing the way they teach science based on theories and strategies of reform in science education. Both Goodwin and Rogan found that teachers' were frustrated while learning to use the Internet, but that they also experienced an end to feelings of isolation. Both teachers' and students' enthusiasm increased and classroom practices changed to a more student-centered approach. Goodwin also found that teachers reported improvement in students' overall performance. Jane Hollis, in a 1995 action research project, had her students do multimedia presentations for an Oceanography project. The students shared their final presentations with the class. Based on data collected by surveys and observations, Hollis reported an increase in student interest. For example, in the month before the project there were 14 tardies while during the project there were no tardies. Students also asked to stay and work on their presentations after 7 school several times, a rare event before the study. Hollis also reported that she felt the excitement return to her teaching. While Wilcox and Jensen (1997) expressed concern that girls' (and minority groups') interest and achievement has been shown to decrease with increased computer use in the classroom, Walker and Rodger's 1996 research study showed the opposite. Walker and Rodger implemented the PipeLINK program to attract and retain women and girls in computer science careers. Subjects either were assigned mentors or acted as mentors, participated in labs on using the Internet, and used e-mail, bulletin boards and chat rooms. Data collected by questionnaires found that girls' interest in computers increased with more exposure. Walker and Rodger concluded that one key factor in girls' increased interest may have been the communication aspect of the Internet. The United States Department of Education in its 1996 publication Teaching and Learning with Educational Technology: Myths and Facts reported that: [S]tudents with more extensive access to technology are more likely to learn how to organize complex information, recognize patterns, draw inferences and it is these students who exhibit superior organization communicate findings . . . and problem-solving skills, compared to students in more traditional school programs. (p. 1) Finally, the Department of Education also reported a dramatic example of how technology can impact students' achievement in their national long-range technology plan (1996). In the late 1980's students at Christopher Columbus Middle School in Union City, New 8 Jersey had state tests scores that were very low, and a high absentee and dropout rate. In 1992 Bell Atlantic offered to work with the school district to demonstrate that technology could improve students' performance. Computers were installed all over the school and in students' homes. Two years after the initial installation of the computers, dropouts and absentees were near zero and students were scoring 30 points higher than the New Jersey inner city school average on standardized tests. On New Jersey's Early Warning Test students' scores were more than 10 points above the statewide average. In addition, Columbus now held the district's best attendance record for both students and faculty and the transfer rate had dropped significantly. Students were proud of their work and eager to learn. They even lined up to get in before the formal school day began. Overall, my review of the research and literature on using technology suggested that: 1. Technology fosters interactive, self-directed learning (Goodwin, 1996; Swain, Bridges & Hresko, 1996; Wellburn, 1996) and higher order thinking skills (Goodwin, 1996; Rogan, 1996; Wellburn, 1996). 2. Technology increases student-centered learning (Goodwin, 1996; Rogan, 1996). 3. Technology improves overall student performance (Goodwin, 1996; U.S. Department of Education, 1996) and increases student interest (Hollis, 1995; Goodwin, 1996; Rogan, 1996; Strommen, 1995). 4. Technology may influence girls either by increasing their interest (Walker & Rodger, 1996), 9 or inhibiting their interest (Wilcox & Jensen, 1997). 5. Technology decreases teachers' feelings of isolation (Rogan, 1996; Swain, Bridges & Hresko, 1996) and increases their interest in teaching (Hollis, 1995). Research Questions The research questions that guided my study were: 1. How does using the Internet influence student performance in science? 2. How does using the Internet influence student interest in and understanding of science and technology? 3. How does using the Internet influence girls' interest in science and technology? As a corollary to these questions I wanted to determine how using the Internet influenced my teaching. Context and Participants I integrated technology in the classroom for the first time during my internship experience in an eighth grade physical science class at a Southeast Washington suburban middle school. Research occurred primarily during the seven weeks (out of 13) that I had full responsibility for classroom activities. Class periods were 47 minutes long four days per week and 37 minutes long on Wednesday. Although this project was actually implemented during all six class periods, data were collected primarily from the students in the third and fourth hour 10