1. 1 Enhancing Inquiry, Understanding, and Achievement in an Astronomy Multimedia Learning Environment Taasoobshirazi, G., Zuiker, S. J., Anderson, K. T., & Hickey, D. T. (2006). Enhancing inquiry, understanding, and achievement in an astronomy multimedia learning environment. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 15(5-6), 383-395. 指導教授： Chen Ming-Puu 報 告 者： Chen Hsiu-Ju 報告日期： 2007.07.04

2. 2 Background Literature  Researchers have amassed substantial evidence showing that inquiry-oriented instruction helps students learn scientific reasoning (e.g., Barab et al., 2000; Gobert and Pallant, 2004; Klahr et al., 2000; Lehrer and Schuable, 1998).

3. 3 Curricular context  Astronomy Village (AV) is an inquiry-based educational software program designed by the NASA-sponsored Classroom of the Future.  The software places students in a virtual observatory where they conduct inquiry into celestial science.  Once students select an investigation, a visual mentor guides them through a path diagram (Figure 1) containing activities for that particular investigation.

4. 4 Fig.1.  Students go through each of the five phases of the path diagram, completing activities that allow them to develop the background knowledge needed in order to collect, analyze, interpret, and present their data effectively.

5. 5 Design-based research  Design-based approaches emphasize the creation of practical theory within iterative cycles of refinement.  Curriculum and assessments implemented in a single classroom during the first year of the implementation, the learning outcomes obtained, and the formal refinements made for the second year implementations.

6. 6 Methods (1/2)  Curriculum and Assessments the AV curriculum, we identified 13 of Georgia ’ s state science standards (Quality Core Curriculum standards, or ‘‘ QCC ’ s ’’ ) that were aligned to the various investigations in the AV software. A four week/20-hour 13 standards, consisted of four (of the 10) AV investigations each of the four investigations included 11 – 23 possible activities; that was identified as most relevant to the curriculum base on  Their application to the investigation topic.  ability to be completed in four 50-minute class periods  their alignment to the standards.

7. 7 Methods (2/2)  Central to the project were three ‘‘ levels ’’ of assessment developed for this curriculum. activity-oriented quizzes curriculum-oriented exam standards-oriented test

8. 8 Activity-Oriented Quizzes and Discursive Formative Feedback (1/3)  Encourage students to modify their learning process so that they would complete activities with the goal of understanding the overall objective of the investigation, a skill critical for effective inquiry (Sandoval and Daniszewski, 2004). (See fig.2.)

9. 9 Activity-Oriented Quizzes and Discursive Formative Feedback (2/3)  The feedback conversations were structured around a four-step review routine that was communicated to the students (Figure 3).

10. 10 Activity-Oriented Quizzes and Discursive Formative Feedback (3/3)  answer explanations (Figure 4) were used alongside the four-step review routine.  It was expected that the quizzes and feedback conversations would not only provide students with the opportunity to engage in meaningful inquiry (Singer et al., 2000).

11. 11 Curriculum-Oriented Exam  The exam was designed with the goal of assessing the broader content targeted by the entire set of activities and quizzes.  This allowed for a highly sensitive measure of gains in student understanding of the target concepts.

12. 12 Standards-Oriented Test  An astronomy content-item pool of over 100 multiple choice questions was created by aligning an average of six astronomy questions from various public domains to the 13 state standards that would be covered during the four-week implementation.  In all, the test consisted of a total of 29 questions.  The only information the teacher received about the test was the students ’ overall test scores (as is the case with standardized assessments).

13. 13 Year one implementation  Participants :The classroom was made up of 15 11th and 12th grade students.  Learning Gains Of the 11 items on the test, the 12 students who took both administrations of the exam received an average score of 7.17 (SD = 2.04) on the pre-exam and 9.42 (SD = 1.78) on the post- exam, a gain of 2.25 that was significant [F(1,11) = 18.43, p < 0.05] based on the criterion p < 0.05. There is clear evidence that learning occurred during the implementation that transferred to more conventional outcome measures. Of the 29 items on the test, the 14 students who took both administrations of the test received an average score of 15.29 (SD=3.36) on the pretest and 16.14 (SD = 2.65) on the posttest, a gain of 0.85 that was non-significant [F(1,13) = 3.21, p > 0.05]. This shows that our curriculum had limited impact on high- stakes achievement in the first implementation.

14. 14 Formal Refinements (1/4)  Improving Student Discourse One of the greatest difficulties in engaging students in discussion is the hardship teachers face when trying to support discussion in their classrooms (Simon et al.,2002).  These teacher facilitation guidelines instruct the teacher to first listen and observe students ’ discussions based on: argumentation: if students are participating in quality scientific argumentation (e.g. using data and backings to warrant claims, using rebuttals to refine claims) and if they are using the review routine steps and answer explanations to support and structure their arguments engagement: how long the students maintain engaged in the discussion turn taking: if every student in the group is listening to and contributing to the discussion.

15. 15 Formal Refinements (2/4)  We revised the four-step review routine for the students to help incorporate the terminology of argumentation (Figure 5).

16. 16 Formal Refinements (3/4)  Along with the revised four-step review routine, ‘‘ now it ’ s time to really talk like scientists ’’ instructions (Figure 6).  These new instructions were designed to encourage students to use backings, rebuttals, and qualifiers in their arguments.

17. 17 Formal Refinements (4/4)  How a scientific discussion should be enacted, both the teacher and students would likely still have difficulty picturing what an effective feedback conversation should look like.  Therefore, an animated video using Macromedia Flash Animation was created for the second year implementations (Figure 7).

18. 18 Group Configuration  The teacher suggested putting students in smaller groups for the activities and larger groups for the feedback conversations.  Group sizes anywhere from three to six students (McClelland, 1983; Slavin, 1995).

19. 19 Year two implementation  Participants: The first implementation classroom was made up of 22 11th and 12th grade students from a high school. The second implementation classroom was comprised of 11 11th and 12th grade students from a different suburban community.

20. 20 Learning Gains (1/2)  In the first implementation classroom The 20 students who took both administrations of the 17- item exam received an average score of 10.55 (SD = 2.63) on the pre-exam and 14.00 (SD = 1.69) on the post-exam, a gain of 3.45 that was significant [F(1,19) = 43.93, p < 0.05]. the 35 items on the test, the 21 students who took both administrations of the test received an average score of 18.00 (SD = 3.21) on the pretest and 20.19 (SD = 3.50) on the post-test, a gain of 2.19 that was significant [F(1,20) = 13.15, p < 0.05].

21. 21 Learning Gains (2/2)  In the second implementation classroom These 10 students received an average pre-exam score of 8.00 (SD = 2.49) and post-exam score of 12.00 (SD = 2.87). This average gain of 4.00 items resulted in a gain that was significant [F(1,9)=240, p<0.05]. These 9 students received an average score of 16.22(SD=3.80) on the pre-test and 20.00 (SD=4.12) on the post-test. Therefore, the students ’ test score increased by an average of 3.78 questions, a gain that was also significant [F(1,8) = 27.36, p < 0.05].

22. 22 Additional Informal Refinements  Both of the second year teachers were strongly encouraged to search for ways to improve the enactment of the curriculum.  Student discussion over the quizzes were longer in duration during the second year implementations.

23. 23 CONCLUSION  We can indeed raise high-stakes achievement scores while supporting the kind of inquiry-oriented learning environments encouraged by most science educators.  This study illustrates that what is often viewed as incompatible goals of inquiry-oriented learning and gains on high-stakes tests can be accomplished in concord.  Inquiry-oriented science curricula might be similarly enhanced with our assessment framework and suggest that a large-scale effort to do so might have a lasting impact on science education and curricular innovation.

24. 24 The End Thank you!