ATTENTION
(STEM) Education
CAUCUS STAFFERS:
March 2007 News
Briefs on STEM Education
In this Issue:
4.
Op-Ed: Connectivity: Linking institutions and students to teach
science and engineering
7.
Newly introduced STEM Education Legislation
1. Intel Science Talent
Search Finalists Announced (1/31)
When it comes to
teaching science, animation seems like a natural fit. What better way to convey
how a bicycle pump works or the functions of the human respiratory system? Yet research
has turned up relatively little evidence that students learn more from a moving
image on a computer screen than they would from a still picture or a physical model.
The National Governors Association's meeting ended with a call for a national commitment
to STEM Education and the release of a report titled, "Building a STEM Agenda":
http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0702INNOVATIONSTEM.PDF
Hard work and academic merit alone are rarely enough to pave the way
for talented, low-income minorities into science and engineering careers. Beating
the odds also hinges on intervention almost every step of the way.
CNN Headline News
recently highlighted a short video linking STEM education to high-paying jobs in
Manufacturing. To view "Manufacturing - Backbone of the Economy"
please visit:
www.nam.org/manufacturinginstitutevideo
6. 2005 NAEP 12th Grade Assessments Released
(2/22)
Results of the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2005 twelfth-grade reading and mathematics
assessments and the 2005 NAEP High School Transcript Study (HSTS) were just released,
and are available at: http://nationsreportcard.gov.
Recently Introduced
STEM Legislation
This is a record of recently introduced legislation
related to STEM Ed. but does not represent Caucus endorsement of any legislation
H.CON.RES.76 Title: Honoring the 50th Anniversary
of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) and its past contributions to space
research, and looking forward to future accomplishments.
Sponsor:
Rep Udall, Mark [D-CO-2] (introduced 3/1/2007)
Cosponsors:
3
Committees: House Science and Technology
Latest Major Action: 3/1/2007 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Science and Technology.
H.R.828 Title: Math and Science Incentive Act of
2007
Sponsor:
Rep Wolf, Frank R. [R-VA-10] (introduced 2/5/2007)
Cosponsors:
1
Committees: House Education and Labor
Latest Major Action: 2/5/2007 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
H.R.1051 Title: National STEM Scholarship Database
Act
Sponsor:
Rep Holt, Rush D. [D-NJ-12] (introduced 2/14/2007)
Cosponsors:
30
Committees: House Education and Labor
Latest Major Action: 2/14/2007 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
S.639 Title: ED 1.0 Act
Sponsor:
Sen Pryor, Mark L. [D-AR] (introduced 2/15/2007)
Cosponsors: (none)
Committees: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Latest Major Action: 2/15/2007 Referred to Senate committee.
Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
H.R.872 Title: National Endowment for Workforce Education
in Renewables and Agriculture Act of 2007
Sponsor:
Rep Braley, Bruce L. [D-IA-1] (introduced 2/7/2007)
Cosponsors:
1
Committees: House Education and Labor
Latest Major Action: 2/7/2007 Referred to House committee.
Status: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
The Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Education Caucus' primary mission
is to promote all areas of STEM Education including K-12, higher education and workforce
issues in Congress. At its core, the caucus functions to increase the visibility
and importance of STEM Education and educate Members of Congress and their staffs
on the technical issues and public-policy options surrounding STEM education.
The Caucus serves as an information source and a catalyst for improving STEM education.
If you would like
to join the Caucus, please contact Julia Jester (x53831) in Mr. Ehlers' office or
Wendy Adams (x52161) in Mr. Mark Udall's office.
When
it comes to teaching science, animation seems like a natural fit. What better way
to convey how a bicycle pump works or the functions of the human respiratory system?
Yet
research has turned up relatively little evidence that students learn more from
a moving image on a computer screen than they would from a still picture or a physical
model.
"We
now have the hardware and software to build really beautiful instructional programs,"
said Richard E. Mayer, a psychology professor at the
Still,
an increasing number of researchers have been giving it their best shot. Their work
is yielding important clues on new ways to use animation and simulation to deepen
students' understanding of scientific phenomena.
"We
have a few stunning successes and lots of failures," said Marcia C. Linn, a professor
of education in mathematics, science, and technology at the
To
educators and researchers, the potential that animation holds for science teaching
is enormous. Constructed properly, they say, moving illustrations can engage and
motivate students, make unseen worlds visible, and impart an intuitive feel for
abstract concepts.
"I
think it can really change the way science and engineering is taught," said Robert
F. Tinker, the president of the Concord Consortium Inc., a Concord, Mass.-based
nonprofit organization that develops innovative, interactive applications of technology
for science education.
One
reason that efforts to harness animation's learning potential have largely failed
so far is that the images often move too fast for people to take in all the information
they convey, said Barbara Tversky, a professor of psychology and education at Teachers
College, Columbia University, and a Stanford University professor emerita. A sequence
of pictures or diagrams, in comparison, can be studied and revisited.
Making Animation
Work
Through
years of laboratory-based testing with college students and children at the
* Prune extraneous words and pictures.
* Include on-screen organizational cues or signals to help direct
learners' attention.
* Synchronize narration so that students hear and see words simultaneously.
* Use spoken narration in a conversational, rather than formal,
style.
* Place text levels close to the image they are intended to describe.
Animations
can also mislead learners or distract them with color, sound, or extraneous movement,
Ms. Tversky said.
"They
come out really cool, and they look great, and the chemist will say, "See?' " she
said. "I'll say 'No, I don't see. I don't know where my eyes should be going.' They
don't understand that, for a novice, it's meaningless."
For
example, if a simulation includes text, people have to split their attention between
the picture and the words, according to Mr. Mayer. Yet, without text or graphic
signals, learners have a hard time figuring out what is most important to glean
from the images before them.
Mindful
of potential pitfalls, experts in recent years have begun to embed simulations in
carefully designed computer-based instructional models that allow students to interact
with animations, stop them in time, control them, and even create them. The Technology-Enhanced
Learning in
With
funding from the National Science Foundation, Ms. Linn and her research partners
have produced dozens of computer-based instructional models that employ animations
and simulations to teach students about cell division, chemical reactions, thermal
conductivity, electrostatic processes, and other scientific concepts.
A
psychologist by training, Ms. Linn also designs the programs to reflect research
from cognitive science on how people learn.
For
example, in a TELS unit on chemical reactions that is geared for high school classes,
students can get a microscopic view of moving molecules in greenhouse gases and
test factors that influence the formation and dispersion of those gases. The program
provides cues to help students articulate and test their ideas and then critique
one another's views.
A
report summing up studies of 10 TELS curriculum units, which was published in August
in the journal Science, suggests
that Ms. Linn's laboratory is having some success.
For
the study, Ms. Linn and her research partners recruited teachers from 16 schools
in five states and tested their 6th through 12th grade students at the start and
close of a school year. The tests measured the students' knowledge of the basic
science concepts taught in those courses.
After
training, the same teachers taught the same classes again the next year to a new
group of students. This time, the teachers embedded at least six of the computer-based
units into their lessons. Tests were given to that group, and the researchers compared
the results for both cohorts.
As
measured by multiple-choice tests, the TELS students and their counterparts appeared
to learn just as much science over the course of the academic year, the results
showed. The TELS group excelled, however, on written tests that asked them to explain
scientific ideas and link them to other concepts.
On
a hypothetical 100-point test, Ms. Linn figured, the average difference would translate
roughly to a 30-point edge for the experimental group.
The
ability to make those connections, Ms. Linn contended, is a "much better predictor
of future performance than whether they can remember a bunch of isolated ideas."
But she acknowledged that it is also hard to disentangle which factors led to the
improvement. For instance, all of the units embed scientific lessons in real-life
problems.
Students
might have to figure out the best way to address high rates of asthma in an imaginary
neighborhood, for example. Or they might be asked to interpret global-warming claims
or select an energy-efficient car or an effective cancer treatment.
"I
think the personally relevant problems are probably even more compelling than the
animations," said Ms. Linn.
Others
documenting some success with embedded animations include World Watchers, a middle
school program that combines animations with Geographical Information Systems data
developed by researchers at
The
consortium, with money from the NSF, has developed more than 200 interactive units
that employ moving images in the teaching of science, some of which are also incorporated
in TELS and other cutting-edge research projects. Educators can download the models
for free at the consortium's Web site,
www.concord.org.
At
the
Initial
studies suggested that the program, called Chemation, was no more effective than
physical models, using balls and sticks or gumdrops and toothpicks, at conveying
key chemistry concepts.
But
a deeper probe suggested that the lukewarm showing may have been due to a small
program glitch.
"We
saw kids with the animation tools model a reaction, and one end product would be
a gas. There would be a single atom left over, and they would just scratch it out,"
said Chris Quintana, an assistant professor of learning technologies at the university.
"With the physical model, it was just more apparent that you should end up with
same number of balls that you started with."
Those
studies also showed, though, that the Chemation students were more adept than a
comparison group of students at recalling chemical terminology-possibly because
they had to label their creations.
"Animations
have the potential to really help kids understand some challenging concepts," said
Joseph S. Krajcik, a professor of science education at the
"Do
we have a lot of strong evidence for that? Probably not," he continued. "But it's
hard for me to think there wouldn't be a learner who wouldn't benefit."