Cell Biology Improvement Drive
Wikiversity participants with an interest in Cell biology can participate in the "Cell biology improvement drive". This Learning Project is a service-oriented Wikiversity project devoted to improvement of Cell biology articles at Wikipedia and development of the Wikibooks textbook about Cell biology. Participants in the project can become involved in the construction of new Wikiversity pages that are concerned with Cell biology. This "Cell biology improvement drive" also includes improvement of
Virtual Maths, Shapes, Space and Measure, Sine, Cosine, and Tangent
Interactive simulation, formulae for sine, cosine and tangent
Conception d'une ingénierie didactique pour l'introduction d'éléments d'algorithmique et de progr
Il y a entre les mathématiques et l'informatique une solidarité fondamentale qui repose sur l'histoire et sur les pratiques actuelles de ces disciplines. Une preuve en est le recours constant aux algorithmes dans les résolutions de problèmes mathématiques fondamentaux et l'existence de l'algorithmique comme domaine constitutif de l'informatique aux côtés d'autres, la théorie des langages, la théorie des automates, etc. Nous présentons[1] ici partiellement les premiers résultats d'un
Rapport de fin de projet de l'ACI : Ecole et Sciences Cognitives - Modélisation cognitive d'élève
Le projet porte sur l'apprentissage de l'algèbre dans un contexte technologique. Le contexte est apporté par le logiciel Aplusix , un micromonde algébrique, réalisé par l'équipe Did@TIC, avec lequel l'élève développe les calculs de son choix, comme dans le contexte papier-crayon, grâce à un éditeur avancé d'expressions algébriques et de raisonnements. En mode « exercice », le logiciel apporte les rétroactions fondamentales : il indique à l'élève si les calculs sont corrects o
Vers des aides logicielles à la compréhension de textes documentaires scientifiques pour les élè
La compréhension d'un texte documentaire par cent vingt élèves du CM2 (5e année primaire) a été évaluée dans quatre conditions expérimentales, en faisant varier d'une part le type de notes d'aide (notes explicitant la « base de texte » vs. notes aidant à construire le « modèle de situation »), d'autre part le support (présentation sur papier vs. présentation hypertextuelle sur ordinateur). La condition où des notes « modèle de situation » sont proposées sur écran d'ordinat
Essential Science for Teachers: Life Science: Session 3. Animal Life Cycles
One characteristic of all life forms is a life cycle—from reproduction in one generation to reproduction in the next. This session introduces life cycles by focusing on continuity of life in the Animal Kingdom. In addition to considering what aspects of life cycles can be observed directly, the underlying role of DNA as the hereditary material is explored.,Students are asked what existed before a bird becomes a bird? Students explain their ideas about eggs and birds. They present interesting a
Book Writing and Wall Writing from the course History of Information
This course explores the history of information and associated technologies, uncovering why we think of ours as 'the information age.' We will select moments in the evolution of production, recording, and storage from the earliest writing systems to the world of Short Message Service (SMS) and blogs. In every instance, we'll be concerned with both what and when and how and why, and we will keep returning to the question of technological determinism: how do technological developments affect socie
Looking at Learning...Again, Part 1: Workshop 8. The International Picture
This workshop offers an opportunity to investigate various aspects of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), other than the test scores themselves. Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology William Schmidt presents differences in curricula, textbooks, and teaching practices around the world, and a group of community members discuss how the TIMSS results reflect societal and cultural values.,This segment concerns "tracking" and sets the stage through educator dialo
Knowledge Convergence in Computer-Supported
Collaborative Learning: The Role of External Representat
This study investigates how two types of graphical representation tools influence the way in which learners use knowledge resources in two different collaboration conditions. In
addition, the study explores the extent to which learners share knowledge with respect to
individual outcomes under these different conditions. The study also analyzes the relationship between the use of knowledge resources and different types of knowledge.
The type of external representation (content-specific vs. conten
Epistemic and Social Scripts in Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning
Collaborative learning in computer-supported learning environments typically means that learners work on tasks together, discussing their individual perspectives via text-based media or videoconferencing, and consequently acquire knowledge. Collaborative learning, however, is often sub-optimal with respect to how learners work on the concepts that are supposed to be learned and how learners interact with each other. One possibility to improve collaborative learning environments is to conceptuali
Private Universe Project in Mathematics: Workshop 1. Following Children's Ideas in Mathematics
An unprecedented long-term study conducted by researchers at Rutgers University followed the development of mathematical thinking in a randomly selected group of students for 12 years—from first grade through high school—with surprising results. In an overview of the study, we look at some of the conditions that made the students’ math achievement possible.,5 min. Mathematics in Free Play? Prof. Herbert Ginsburg, a psychologist at Columbia University Teachers College, finds that when you exam
Private Universe in Project in Mathematics: Workshop 6: "Possibilities of Real Life Problems"
Students come up with a surprising array of strategies and representations to build their understanding of a real-life calculus problem—before they have ever taken calculus.,In a voluntary two-week summer workshop, high school seniors from Kenilworth and New Brunswick work on a real-life problem ("The Catwalk") based on Eduard Muybridge's sequence of 24 photographs of a cat in motion. The question, “How fast is the cat moving in frame 10 and frame 20?,” deals with some of the fundamental idea
The CoVis Project: Building a Large-Scale Science Education Testbed
This paper describes the construction and research program of the Learning Through Collaborative Visualization (CoVis) Project. a testbed for exploring science education reform with telecommunications technology. The CoVis testbed is contrasted with other forms of cducational research in an "ecolo~yo f paradigms." which argues that testbeds are in fact a new setting for research with different requirements and challenges for the researcher. Two extended examples of telecommunications research ar
Using the World Wide Web to Build Learning Communities in K- 12
Social accounts of learning and human knowledge have led to attempts to reorganize schools as learning communities. This paper examines the utility of World Wide Web (WWW) for aiding in the construction of school-based and work-based learning communities An ordered list of interactions is provided to characterize the depth of students entry into new learning communities. Current offerings on the WWW are then surveyed in terms of these categories. Finally, proposals are advanced for enhancing the
Augmenting the Discourse of Learning with Computer-Based Learning Environments
Computer tools for learning are often thought of as providing practice in working with symbolic representations. We exemplify a different perspective in which the technology augments the kinds of learning conversations that can take place. Research from the Optics Dynagrams Project illusmates contributions from this perspective. I will describe pre-intervention learning environment characteristics and student learning, our design strategy for new activities and technologies to address problems w
Global University System with Globally Collaborative Environmental Peace Gaming Project
The Global University System (GUS) [1] [Utsumi, et al, 2003] is a worldwide initiative to create advanced telecommunications infrastructure for access to educational resources across national and cultural boundaries for global peace. GUS aims to create a worldwide consortium of universities to provide the underdeveloped world with access to 21st Century education via broadband Internet technologies. The aim is to achieve “education and healthcare for all,” anywhere, anytime and at any pace.
Beyond Amplification: Using the Computer to Reorganize Mental Functioning
Computers are classically viewed as amplifiers of cognition. An alternative conceptualization is offered of computer as reorganizer of mental functioning. Software analyses illuminate the advantages of the latter approach for new visions of the potential cognitive benefits of computers. A new result emerges: Because the cognitive technologies we invent serve as instruments of cultural redefinition (shaping who we are by changing, not just amplifying, what we do), defining educational values beco
On the cognitive effects of learning computer programming
This paper critically examines current thinking about whether learning computer programming promotes the development of general higher mental functions. We show how the available evidence, and the underlying assumptions about the process of learning to program, fail to address this issue adequately. Our analysis is based on a developmental cognitive science perspective on learning program, incorporating developmental and cognitive science considerations of the mental activities involved in progr
The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig
This lesson plan focuses on a English Language Arts objectives: similarity and difference. Students compare the story "The Three Little Pigs" and "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig" by Eugene Trivizas.
The Complexity of Distributed Collaborative Learning: Unit of Analysis
The problem area of this paper is manifested in the new conditions that characterise distributed collaborative learning. The core argument is that distributed collaborative learning implies an interconnected complexity that can only be properly understood by extending the unit of analysis from technology and pedagogy themselves to real-life social contexts in which networked computers are being used. Experiments and small-scale field trials are only steps towards a deeper understanding of how co
