An approach to the integration of high-tech related science and mathematics content into the science educator pathway

Project Description

This project proposes to develop a high school biology focused content module that connects required standards based biology subject material to the science and mathematics related to bio-technologies that impact students and their parents. Funds are requested:

  • to develop a multimedia educational module, "The Cell", to connect biology concepts taught in the high school classroom to related technologies that need those principles.
  • to adapt or develop appropriate instruments to assess module's awareness impact.
  • to develop and provide to in-service teaching professionals a Module User Guide (MUG) for optimal use of the extensive materials available from this new module.
  • to develop a model for introducing module materials into the course of study of students seeking teaching certificates and/or teaching focused baccalaureate degrees.

Motivating Rationale

The National Science Education Standards suggest that "any presentation of science without developing an understanding of technology would portray an inaccurate picture of science." It further notes; "High school students do not distinguish between the roles of science and technology". Today’s high school students are exposed to an ever-increasing amount of high technology that impacts their everyday lives. Still, the number of students that possess knowledge or understanding of the underlying principles, or interest in the development and/or manufacturing background of these technologies is small 1. This lack of knowledge and interest has contributed to U.S. firms in the U.S. high-technology sector looking outside the country in order to find workers with the right skills 2. With these factors in mind, the High School Technology Initiative (HSTI) project was launched and a proposal was submitted and funded (DUE 02-02373) by NSF-ATE.

Project funds support the construction of three High School Technology Initiative (HSTI) modules. Two of the three modules, "The Problem Solving" Module and "The Atom" Module are completed, beta tested, and in use in schools in eight states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Oregon, Texas, and New Mexico). The third module, "Fields and Waves", is on schedule for completion by June 2004.

HSTI modules have proven to be an effective way for teachers to deliver science and math related content. They also present technology content lessons within the time frame allocated by the instructors’ selected presentation format. The modules provide teachers multimedia presentation options for each lesson. Each module contains presentations, work sheets, in or outside class activities, as well as quizzes and tests. In summary, each HSTI module offers high school science and mathematics teachers curriculum content material that emphasizes technology as it relates to science and mathematics as well as providing technology based multimedia options as delivery vehicles.

A HSTI module is developed not only with the high school science educator presentation in mind but with the science and mathematics content created as the high school curriculum has dictated. The HSTI development team consists of high school science teachers, university and community college professors, engineering Ph.D. students, and multimedia professionals. The typical mode of operation for the team is to review with the high school teachers the topics currently presented. These discussions lead to the module's science and mathematics content as well as identification of the science, mathematics and/or technology standard that material addresses. Ultimately, the science and mathematics objectives are blended with technology and engineering related examples to produce a module that integrates technology with the specific science principles and mathematics skills required of the lesson plan the module is to support.

Goals

The HSTI team believes that a Biology module using the HSTI format will

  • be an instructional module that can be used to engender an interest in pursuing technology, engineering, or science related careers by providing students with connections between technology and its underlying science as part of their normal state mandated science instruction.
  • augment the high school science curriculum with technology content material that is standards based, has a positive impact on students, is attractive to the science and mathematics teacher, and is an effective, efficient and appropriate approach to connect technology to fundamental science concepts and mathematics principles.

Therefore, the goals for this HSTI formatted biology content module are to:

1) Facilitate the teaching of fundamental science and math skills through high

technology applications and presentation techniques.

2)Increase both the teacher's and the students' awareness and appreciation of the

interdependence among science, mathematics, technology, and society.

3)demonstrate a pathway for the insertion of this and other HSTI modules into the

education pathway of students seeking education certificates and/or related

baccalaureate degrees.

Objectives

The HSTI team plans to use the requested funds to attain its goals by developing a biology based educational module that meet the following objectives

1)Provide instructional materials to the high school teacher on the biology topics

they currently teach packaged in the context of high technology examples that

are relevant to their students’ everyday lives.

2)Make the materials easy to use by providing teachers with detailed instructions

and suggestions for how to use the curriculum materials as well as background

materials about the engineering and technology included in the module.

3)Provide the curriculum materials in a “high-tech”, computer based presentation

format so the lessons will grab the student’s interest and hold their attention.

4)Make a single set of instructional materials that can be repeatedly employed in

all of the high school sciences courses so students may ultimately see the same

materials several times during their high school studies but from different

perspectives and to different depths and detail.

5)Provide suggested lesson plans for use of the modules and identify science,

mathematics and ITEA standards that are addressed by these lessons.

6)Provide instructional workshops on module material use as well as background

information on the technical content of these module materials.

7)Provide a model for presenting HSTI modules to students in mathematics and

science education related baccalaureate programs.

Proposal

The University of South Florida's, (USF), College of Engineering together with Florida's NSF-ATE Regional Center for Manufacturing Education (FL-ATE) recognize the need to have high school science and mathematics teachers make concrete connections between their science and mathematics content material and related technologies. This project will demonstrate the integration of high technology related science and mathematics content into the science educator pathway. The project will use the HSTI delivery format to accomplish the connections among standards dictated high school biology content and the bio-related technologies. It will also develop all the support elements needed to insert this and other HSTI modules directly into the pathway of pre-service and/or in service high school science educator. Therefore, funds are specifically requested:

  • to develop a multimedia educational module, "The Cell", to connect biology concepts taught in the high school classroom to related technologies that need those principles.
  • to adapt or develop appropriate instruments to assess the awareness impact of all four HSTI modules.
  • to develop and present the Module User Guide (MUG) materials for this new module.
  • to develop a model for introducing HSTI materials into the course of study of future high school teachers in education focused baccalaureate programs.

The genesis for this proposal is the original NSF-ATE HSTI project (DUE 02-02373) module development effort that utilizes information acquired during workshops conducted for high school teachers on teacher professional days. Workshops were initially sponsored in part by NSF-ATE grant, DUE 99-50106, that created an electronics workforce development system for the semiconductor industry in Florida3. This current project proposal stems from teacher inquiry and interest in implementing the HSTI strategy in biology, molecular biology, and biotechnology related courses currently presented in the high school curriculum as well as the HSTI team's desire to close the loop by inserting HSTI materials directly into the education pathway of future teachers.

Deliverables

At the completion of the HSTI grant period, the following deliverables will be included in the final report. (Bold print items indicate timeline assignment)

1) A "beta" tested HSTI module, "The Cell", (M3) as a separate CD-ROM package with

supplementary VHS tape.

2) Addition of this module to the HSTI product line relational database (B1).

3) A set of assessment instruments, The HSTI Rating Profiles, for evaluation of HSTI modules with respect to project goals. (A1)

4) A "beta" tested version of the HSTI Rating Profiles assessment instruments. (A2)

5)A "teacher in training" model developed for presenting HSTI materials to students in baccalaureate teacher programs. (T1)

6) A "beta" tested "teacher in training" model used with 150 student teachers.(T2)

7)At least one module workshop offering in a region outside the southeastern US.

8) Table Top presentation at annual NSF-ATE P.I. meeting.

9) A copy of publications and presentations from conferences such as ASEE and ASTEM that indicate project findings and module contents, (GR).

Results from Current NSF Support

This proposed project capitalizes on the technology based content production skills developed in a current NSF-ATE project (DUE 02-02373). Details about the "Problem Solving Module " and the "Atom" have been published4,5 and presented 6,7,8,9. HSTI Module characteristics, organization, and structure are provided in this proposal's Special Information and Supplementary Documentation section.

The proposed project is also intended to capitalize on hidden benefits that resulted from an existing NSF-ATE project. Teacher interaction activities funded through the current HSTI module development project (DUE 02-02373) have revealed two interesting observations:

  • HSTI module materials are of interest and value to community college instructors involved in the first year chemistry, physics and technology introductory courses.
  • Participants also repeatedly asked about the possibility of a HSTI module to specifically augment content in the biology course.

Although, the quality of existing modules as a teacher resource is apparent, the revealing aspect of the teachers' biology focused request was the fact that these teachers wish to insert reasonably sophisticated biotechnology, molecular biology, and/or biomedical technology elements into their existing biology syllabus. The proposed new HSTI module, the "Cell", would address this high school biology content extension activity.

Module Development

The HSTI approach is based on the premise that modules are to be used by high school science and mathematics faculty that do not have the leeway to introduce individually created new materials into their already crowded workday schedule. Thus, the high school academic community has been integrated into the HSTI project in a somewhat novel manner. Rather than go to the teachers with surveys and questions, HSTI offers technology content workshops to high school teachers that allow direct interactions with high school science faculty as part of their professional in-service days. Feedback from these science and mathematics teacher workshop attendees identified technology components of the workshops that are useful to teachers. It also indicates technology content areas that require further development. In addition to this feedback, teachers that represent different aspects of the school science curriculum have been recruited from these workshops to join the HSTI team and work directly with the USF and FL-ATE personnel to develop HSTI modules.

The HSTI module series architecture and curriculum delivery approaches are now well established. Modules use high tech content examples delivered in a technologically advanced format. Four delivery options, "no-tech", "low-tech", "mid-tech", and "high tech", are defined and available to module users.

HSTI Module Structure


The module structure of HSTI modules has evolved via an engineering design modeled iteration process. This process incorporates feedback from the HSTI high school teachers and other high school curriculum content experts. The architecture of a HSTI module interface, the module organization chart, and the content for "The Atom" are provided in the proposal's Special Information and Supplementary Documentation section II.

The HSTI product line has a distinctive format that includes attractive Jewel case artwork that enforces HSTI brand recognition. The CD labels that are individualized to indicate the technology reflected in the module content. Examples are shown below.

Module users are initially presented with the HSTI module interactive screen shown to the right. The two "sides" of a HSTI module are accessed via a mouse-over and then click on one of two interactive globes. One of these major module options, the HSTI globe in the left section of the screen, takes the teacher to the introduction "side" of the module. This "side" represents an overview of the module architecture and hints for its use. At this point, the module provides seven button links that lead to the teacher resources identified as: Module Structure, Instructional Components, Lesson Plans, Assessment, Standards, Module Site Map, and Feedback & Contact Information.

Aside from background information, the most important information available from the module's introduction "side" is the lesson plans options. Understanding that a HSTI module will never meet its educational objectives if teachers do not use it, these lesson plans suggest how the teacher can integrate the units into their science curriculum. They were developed by the teachers who "beta" tested the module, and reflect those in-class trials.

The Standards page is also a significant component of the introduction "side" of a HSTI module. This page is accessed via the "Standards" link button and offers a science and/or mathematics standards option. The page has a checklist of which Florida educational math and science standards, 9-12 Sunshine State Standards, are addressed by each unit of the module4. The complete 9-12 Sunshine State Standards set is also provided.

Selecting the color globe on the right portion of the selection screen shown above takes the teacher to the module instruction "side" and the content selection wheel as shown on the right. As with all HSTI modules, the content selection wheel shows all the content units within the module. For "The Cell", these units will be Cellular Structure, Heredity, Cellular History, Matter and Energy, Applied Mathematics. Also in common with the other HSTI modules the content units labels indicate the science areas covered in the module with the technology connections showing up within the HSTI content materials within each content units. The mouse click selection of one of the "wedges" on the content section wheel takes the teacher to that specific instructional content portion of the module. Teachers can arrange specific content topic selections in grouped, VIEWs, to meet classroom presentation needs. Content selections might represent an entire class presentation or a shorter time period to reinforce previously presented concepts.


A Visual Instructional Element Window, VIEW, represents a specialized lesson built around a module technology topic. The video or a video segment is a VIEW's keystone element (see review for video in "The Atom" module reprinted in Table 1) with additional visual reinforcement obtained from appropriate PowerPoint's. A HSTI VIEW provides a window of opportunity for the teacher to present a HSTI content lesson in a multimedia format. Videos use live and computer-generated content and strive to connect the student to the science and technology behind the high-tech devices used in every day life while teaching basic science, mathematics and problem solving skills. VIEW's can be shown in whole or in part during a class period. Each VIEW is complemented with Student Handouts, Student Activities, Worksheets, Templates, Interactive Applets, "Hands-on" activities, Quizzes, Worksheet Keys, Unit Quizzes, and Quiz Keys. The Special Information and Supplementary Documents Section Table S-III.2 provides an example VIEW from "The ATOM" module.

Although HSTI modules are designed for multimedia presentations, the HSTI team is cognizant of the equipment limitations that many high school teachers face in the classroom. Thus PowerPoint presentations use color for visual pattern recognition and content emphasis but not as background decoration. Presentation slides are primarily "white space" entities. They can be easily printed to produce crisp high contrast and easy to view overhead transparencies. The other module materials are presented as portable document format (PDF) files. This facilitates the printing of notes, worksheets, templates, and quizzes by teachers using either PC or Macintosh based systems. HSTI modules are housed on a duel platform CD and the PDF format facilitates the printing of notes, worksheets, templates, and quizzes by teachers using either PC or Macintosh based systems.

Assessment & Evaluation

Evaluation and assessment of HSTI modules is a three tiered. One evaluation and assessment perspective is if or how the teachers use a HSTI module as well as their like (dislike) of a module and/or a module unit. Another perspective relates to student appreciation of the connection that technology in today's society has among the science and mathematics course content presented in the classroom. The third assessment and evaluation aspect is the "in-house" and "beta" testing performed by the HSTI team as a module moves through production to a final product. This third aspect is discussed first.