1. Web & Web 2.0 Applications for Enhancing Science Education
Anthony Carpi
John Jay College, The City University of New York
STEMtech Orlando, Fl. November 2, 2010

2. Background John Jay College – Largest HSI in Northeast
Late 1990s - NSC 107: Introduction to Science in Society
Required, core interdisciplinary science course
Enrollments = 1400 – 1700 per year
High withdrawal & failure rates (~20%)

3. Barriers to Student Success
Technical language of course
(homogeneous, accelerate, orbital, …)
Textbook lacking:
“The nation's curriculums, textbooks, and teaching continue to lack focus and to emphasize quantity over quality. …the approach to science education is a mile wide and an inch deep.”
- AAAS report Science Literacy for All

4. Project History 1998: 1st series of web tutorials launched
Digital Divide: >50% of students report no computer access at home
Yet 82% use site in 1st semester
“I think that the Web site should replace the book! I have the book, but I don't have a computer. However, I have visited the Web site more times than I have opened the book.”

5. Project Development National Science Foundation Funding
Visionlearning launched in 2000

6. Visionlearning

7. Science Library

8. Modules

9. Visionlearning Users by Age

10. Visionlearning Users by Language

11. MyClassroom
The MyClassroom feature allows teachers to build private classrooms, viewable only by those they grant permission to. MyClassrooms are a space for grouping class-related modules, syllabi, quizzes, and for communicating with the class as a whole.

12. Visionlearning Website Usage (January 1, 2009 – September 30, 2010)

13. Visionlearning Website Usage cont’d (March 1, 2010 – present)
Usage is up an average of 157% from last year
86.29% of weekly users, on average, are new
Bounce rate ~80%
Time on site ~1.5 minutes

14. Facebook

15. Facebook Usage

16. Facebook Users by Age and Gender

17. Facebook Usage cont’d
All updates to the website and entries to the blog are posted on FB
Provides a forum for comment and discussion on what we are offering
Fans and usage of our FB page have been steadily increasing, with interest highest on quirky posts

18. Visionlearning Blog

19. Quirky Blog Topics?

20. Visionlearning Blog Usage (by week; created March 1, 2010)

21. Visionlearning Blog Usage cont’d
Blog entries tend to center on STEM related topics that can be used in the classroom
Many posts link to research that is freely available on the web
Tracking options allow us to know what topics specifically interest our readers

22. Glossary Application for iDevices

23. Visionlearning Glossary App (updated July 4, 2010)

24. Upcoming/continuing projects
To aid user access, we are testing downloadable module podcasts for mobile devices
We are exploring the use of an interactive quiz app for mobile devices
We are consistently adding new definitions to our Glossary
In December 2010, all active quizzes on the Visionlearning website will be updated

25. Site Content Assessment
28 modules incorporated as core readings in NSC 107
Side-by-side assessment with textbook
Standardized quiz scores compared

26. Quantitative Evaluation
Mean Assessment Quiz Scores in 8 sections of NSC107  (n = 454)
Group 1:  Sections Using Visionlearning
Group 2: Sections Using Prior Web & Text
Group 3: Section Using Textbook Only
Quiz Score by Section ± 95% CI
77 ± 3 76 ± 4 78 ± 3
62 ± 5 61 ± 3 66 ± 5 63 ± 4
55 ± 6
Mean
77 ± 2
63 ± 2
Carpi, 2001, J. Coll. Sci. Teach.

27. Quantitative Evaluation
Mean Quiz Scores Categorized by Web Site Use
Site Use
Often:  >1x/week
Occasional: 1-2x/month
Seldom: 1-2x
Never
Mean Score ± 95% CI
76 ± 2
68 ± 5
64 ± 4
61 ± 2
Carpi, 2001, J. Coll. Sci. Teach.

28. Acknowledgements
Funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education FIPSE program