The impact of simulator-based instruction on the diagramming of the interaction of light and matter
We examine the conceptual development resulting from an instructional experiment with an interactive learning environment in geometrical optics for introductory high school physics. How did teaching-learning processes come to change the ways in which students depicted various everyday optical situations in paper and pencil graphical representations? We view conceptual development as a process resulting in part from increasingly aligning one's practices to a target community by means of participa
The Collaborative Visualization Project: Shared-technology learning environments for science learnin
Project-enhanced science learning (PESL) provides students with opportunities for "cognitive apprenticeships" in authentic scientific inquiry using computers for data-collection and analysis. Student teams work on projects with teacher guidance to develop and apply their understanding of science concepts and skills. We are applying advanced computing and communications technologies to augment and transform PESL at-a-distance (beyond the boundaries of the individual school), which is limited toda
Functional analysis
As taught in 2006-2007 and 2007-2008.
Functional analysis begins with a marriage of linear algebra and metric topology. These work together in a highly effective way to elucidate problems arising from differential equations. Solutions are sought in an infinite dimensional space of functions.
This module paves the way by establishing the principal theorems (all due in part to the great Polish mathematician Stefan Banach) and exploring their diverse consequences. Topics to be covered will inclu
A Grid Services Implementation for a Virtual Research Environment
In the past, virtual learning and research environments have typically been implemented as monolithic systems. Current research focuses on creating such environments from selected Grid and Web services.
In this paper we describe the Virtual Orthopaedic European University, which was created to support Higher Surgical Trainees to provide evidence for their learning contracts by carrying out experiments and publishing the results.
We use this environment as a case study for the re-implementation
Atmospheric Pressure
Did you know that air has weight? This illustrated essay from the NOVA Web site explores conditions that affect air density and atmospheric pressure.
Fiscal Policy
The function of the budget. To summarize, Fiscal Policy is an important element in the management of a modern economy.
Competence-based Knowledge Structures for Personalised Learning
The ELeGI project focuses on integrating technology-enhanced learning methodologies into a pedagogy-driven and service-oriented architecture based on Grid technology. It aims at a system that is capable of realising personalised, adaptive, and experiential learning.
This requires to have available a framework that, on the one hand, allows for representing existing domain knowledge, and, on the other hand, provides a representation of the learner's current state of knowledge. It is shown that a
Towards On-Line Services Based on a Holistic Analysis of Human Activities
Very often computer scientists view computerization of services in terms of the logistics of human-machine interaction, including establishing a contract, accessing records, and of course designing an interface. But this analysis often moves too quickly to tactical details, failing to frame the entire service in human terms, and not recognizing the mutual learning required to define and relate goals, constraints, and the personalized value of available services. In particular, on-line services t
Open Learning Service Scenarios on GRIDs
The position paper focuses on the concepts of Service Elicitation and Evaluation/Exploitation Scenarios (SEES) and, in particular, on experimental protocols for justifying, motivating, implementing and exploiting Learning GRID's services for very large numbers of potential users.
Studying participation networks in collaboration using mixed methods
This paper describes the application of a mixed-evaluation method, published elsewhere, to three different learning scenarios. The method defines how to combine social network analysis with qualitative and quantitative analysis in order to study participatory aspects of learning in CSCL contexts. The three case studies include a course-long, blended learning experience evaluated as the course develops; a course-long, distance learning experience evaluated at the end of the course; and a synchron
Teaching Teachers to Use ICT to Teach History: WWF meets ICT in the classroom
In this paper the authors explore the purpose and potential of using ICT to enhance the teaching of some aspects of the history National Curriculum in England and Wales. The focus is on the ways in which learning takes place in the context of historical knowledge and how the appropriate use of computers is able to engage pupils in the process of their own learning. The paper includes many examples and teaching ideas drawn from current classroom practice and training materials for initial teach
The Leaning Tower: Where It Stands Today
Will the Leaning Tower of Pisa give way to gravity? In this interview from the NOVA Web site, engineer John Burland relates the difficult job of saving the tower.
The Grand Canyon: Ancient Mountains
This video segment adapted from NOVA features the twisted and melted forms of the Grand Canyon's oldest rocks, the 1.7-billion-year-old Vishnu Schist.
A Mule Spinner Tells the U.S. Senate about Late 19th century Unemployment
Fall River, Massachusetts, mill worker Thomas O'Donnell (who had immigrated to the U.S. from England eleven years earlier) appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Education and Labor on October 18, 1883, to answer the panel's questions about working-class economic conditions. An unemployed mule spinner for more than half of the year, he described the introduction of new production methods at the Fall River, Massachusetts, textile factory where he worked as a mule spinner (a worker who tende
Miriam McClendon
In this oral history from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Miriam McClendon recalls her arrest and jailing for participation in the Children's Crusade of 1963.
An analysis of the SRL potential
of TD-SSIS 2005
a Technology Enhanced Learning Environment based on
This report presents an analysis of the potential support to Self-Regulated Learning granted by a CSCL environment set up for a teacher traing course on Educational Technology. The analysis is made by applying a check-list developed within the European project TELEPEERS.,Research report
From usage analysis to automatic diagnosis: The case of the learning of algebra
User modelling is a significant part of usage analysis. We present a case
study in the field of the learning of algebra that aims at producing automatic
diagnosis rules, based on the analysis of tracks of students solving algebra exercises
within the Aplusix learning environment. We present two experiments that were
conducted among 8th and 9th grade students. Manual analyses performed on the data
made it possible to contribute to the construction of a library of rules aiming at
modelling student
Just Passing Through
This lesson helps students explore the functions of the kidney and its place in the urinary system. Students learn how engineers design instruments to help people when kidneys are not functioning properly or when environmental conditions change, such as kidney function in space.
ARCADE Assessment Framework
The boom in development of learning management tools in recent years stimulates creation of relevant standards, while
acceptance of such standards helps system interoperability worldwide. The paper aims in presenting an assessment
framework based on the recent IMS standards and built into ARCADE - Architecture for Reusable Courseware
Authoring and DElivery. The information model of the assessment tool has been designed with a view to efficient test
authoring, management and evaluation of student
How Clean is that Water?
This lesson plan helps students understand the factors that affect water quality and the conditions that allow for different animals and plants to survive. Students will look at the effects of water quality on various water-related activities and describe water as an environmental, economic and social resource. The students will also learn how engineers use water quality information to make decisions about stream modifications.
