Karen Elinich - Action Research Project
RESEARCH QUESTION
If I involve K-12 teachers in the development of online resources using primary sources, will we find better ways for museum educators to make primary source documents from the history of science and technology useful for classroom learning?
LITERATURE REVIEW
First Draft | December 1, 2004
The History and Nature of Science
The history of science exists at the crossroads of human curiosity, the physical world, the natural environment, and social interaction. Those who dare to stand at that crossroads are the scientists and inventors—like Edison, Einstein, and Wright—who change the world. Using the Web, K-12 educators can introduce their students to the inspirational role models who populate both the history of science and its current vanguard. Students can come to understand the challenges and rewards of the scientific and technological enterprise, and of the lives of the people who undertake it. (Schamel, 1998) Through reflection upon the scientific achievements of the past and an understanding of the science of today, students can develop readiness for the transformative impact of today’s research on tomorrow’s world.
The technologies that pervade society today have roots in the work of Thomas Edison, Guglielmo Marconi, Orville Wright, C.Francis Jenkins, and Alexander Graham Bell, to name just a few. By providing perspective on the past, students can enhance their understanding of scientific pursuits and the continuity of current technology with the seminal inventions of the past.
The National Science Education Standards call for K-12 students to develop an understanding of the nature of science. (National Committee on Science Education Standards, 1996; Olson, 2000) Few K-12 teachers are ready to answer this call. In many cases, teachers have a naïve understanding of professional science. (McComas, 2004; Abd, 2000) By providing access to the real artifacts of the history of science, teachers can be comfortably engaged with a consideration of what it truly means to “do science.” (McKinney, 2004) Only then can they begin to engage their students in meaningful ways with a conceptualization of the nature of science and to develop the intellectual curiosity that leads to deeper investigation of the world around them. (Otten, 1998)
The stories of science across the generations illustrate the nature of scientific life, yet science textbooks and resource materials present lifeless, sanitized accounts of dramatic events. (Lederman, 2004; Clough, 2004) The real unfiltered history of science can humanize the scientific process and address common student misconceptions. (Rudge, 2004; Matthews, 1994) Using primary sources, students can touch the lives of the people who populate the history of science. (Schamel, 1998)
Documented use of primary sources in K-6 lacks depth. (Otten, 2000) Evidence exists, however, to suggest that the use of primary sources in grades 9-12 is burdened by a need to overcome false notions about the nature of science. (Tao, 2003) Early intervention, therefore, is likely to be impactful.
Technology can be a particularly effective tool for achieving this educational goal; (Kelley, 2002; Becker, 2000a, 2000b; Brown, 2000) Museums cannot allow K-12 student examination of the real artifacts. Through the Web, students can work with primary sources without risk. Of course, students need structures to help them understand how to use the primary sources and how to draw conclusions from them. Research suggests that scaffolding models that have been successful in classroom learning can be applied to technology-supported learning environments. (McLoughlin, 1999; Lee, 2004; Bereiter, 1993)
The research literature highlights the importance of addressing teachers’ misconceptions about the nature of science before they can engage students. (Abd, 2000) Professional development of this kind is a very large challenge, one that museums can help accomplish. However, museum education efforts in this realm remain unfocused and undocumented.
Science Museum Collections Online
Museums around the world hold a vast collection of primary source documents from the history of science and technology. The Franklin Institute, for example, holds a collection of thousands of documentary case files related to pioneering individuals. (McMahon, 1977) Only rarely do museums make their documents accessible to the K-12 educational community, although museum digitization efforts are making them more available than ever. However, the purpose of digitization is not primarily educational. In a recent survey, museums ranked their primary goals for digitization. Serving students and teachers ranked third behind preservation and professional access. (IMLS, 2002) Despite the museum community’s enthusiastic embrace of Schoen’s “reflective practitioner” concept, many museum educators stop short of developing a vision for the use of primary sources in K-12 education. (Silverman, 2004)
As more of these primary source materials are digitized and made accessible online, the need increases for teachers to develop an understanding of their value and use for K-12 science education. Some museums have established models for helping teachers develop strategies for using primary sources in their classroom practice. (Bennett, 2000, 2002a, 2002b; Sayre, 2002; Schamel, 1998) However, these initiatives keep the teachers distanced from the real artifacts. A need remains to investigate the efficacy of direct, hands-on teacher use of primary sources. Teachers will develop their own understanding of the nature of science through work with primary sources. By developing online scaffolds for student use of those primary sources, teachers will then bring their students into direct encounters with the history of science. The research literature related to this proposed model appears ungrounded. This project, therefore, represents an opportunity to contribute foundational data for the national science and museum education communities.
REFERENCES
Abd-El-Khalick, F., & Lederman, N.G. (2000). Improving science teachers' conceptions of the nature of science: A critical review of the literature. International Journal of Science Education, 22:7, p.665-701. (EJ610437)
Becker, H.J. (2000a). Findings from the Teaching, Learning, and Computing
survey: Is Larry Cuban right? Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8(51).
Retrieved November 2004, from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v8n51/
Becker, H.J. (2000b). Pedagogical motivations for student computer use that
lead to student engagement. Educational Technology,
September/October.
Retrieved November 2004, from http://www.crito.uci.edu/TLC/FINDINGS/spec_rpt_pedegogical/
Bennett, N.A., Sandore, B., Grunden, A.M., & Miller, P.L. (2000). Integration of Primary Resource Materials into Elementary School Curricula, Proc. Museums and the Web 2000, Minneapolis, MN, pp. 31-38.
Bennett, N.A., Sandore, B., & Pianfetti, E. (2002a). Illinois Digital Cultural Heritage Community - Collaborative Interactions Among Libraries, Museums and Elementary Schools. D-Lib Magazine, 8:1.
Retrieved November 2004, from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january02/bennett/01bennett.html
Bennett, N., & Trofanenko, B. (2002b). Digital Primary Source Materials in the Classroom. Museums and the Web 2002.
Retrieved November 2004, from http://www.archimuse.com/mw2002/papers/bennett/bennett.html
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing Ourselves - An Inquiry into the Nature & Implications of Expertise. Peru, Illinois: Open Court Publishing Company.
Brown, J.S. (2000). Growing Up Digital: How the Web Changes Work, Education, and the Ways People Learn. Change, April: p.11-20.
Retrieved November 2004, from http://www.aahe.org/change/digital.pdf
Clough, M.P., & Olson, J.K. (2004). The Nature of Science - Always Part of the Story. The Science Teacher, 71:9, p.28-31.
Institute of Museum and Library Services. (2002). Status of Technology and Digitization in the Nation's Museums and Libraries. 2002 Report. Washington, DC: IMLS.
Kelley, L., & Ringstaff, C. (2002). The Learning Return on Our Educational Technology Investment: A Review of Findings from Research. San Francisco: WestEd.
Retrieved November 2004, from https://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/619
Lederman, N.G., & Lederman, J.S. (2004). Revising Instruction to Teach Nature of Science. The Science Teacher, 71:9, p.36-39.
Lee, J.K., & Calandra, B. (2004). Can Embedded Annotations Help High-School Students Perform Problem Solving Tasks Using A Web-Based Historical Document? Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 37:1, 65-84.
McComas, W.F. (2004). Keys to Teaching the Nature of Science. The Science Teacher, 71:9, 24-27.
McKinney, D., & Michalovic, M. (2004). Teaching the Stories of Scientists and Their Discoveries. The Science Teacher, 71:9, 46-51.
McLoughlin, C. (1999). Scaffolding: Applications to learning in technology supported environments. In EDMEDIA 1999: World Conference on Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia & World Conference on Educational Telecommunications. Proceedings. (11th, Seattle, Washington, June 19-24, 1999.) (ED446740)
McMahon, A.M., & Morris, S. (1977). Technology in Industrial America. Philadelphia: The Franklin Institute.
National Committee on Science Education Standards. (1996). National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC: National Research Council.
Retrieved November 2004, from http://books.nap.edu/html/nses
Olson, S., & Loucks-Horsley, S. (2000). Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A Guide for Teaching and Learning. Washington, DC: National Research Council.
Otten, E.H. (1998). Using Primary Sources in the Primary Grades. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
Retrieved November 2004, from http://www.ericdigests.org/1999-1/primary.html
Rudge, D.W., & Howe, E.M. (2004). Incorporating History into the Science Classroom. The Science Teacher, 71:9, 52-57.
Sayre, S., & Wetterlund, K. (2002). Pyramid Power: A Train-the-Trainer Model to Increase Teacher Usage of the ArtsConnectEd On-line Resource. Museums and the Web 2002.
Retrieved November 2004, from http://www.archimuse.com/mw2002/papers/sayre/sayre.html
Schamel, W.B. (1998). Teaching with Documents: Using Primary Sources from the National Archives. Volume 2. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration. (ED429915)
Silverman, L., & O'Neill, M. (2004). Change and Complexity in the 21st-Century Museum. Museum News, Nov/Dec, 37-43.
Tao, P.K. (2003). Eliciting and Developing Junior Secondary Students' Understanding of the Nature of Science through a Peer Collaboration Instruction in Science Stories. International Journal of Science Education, 25:2, 147-72. (EJ661882)