Learning Science by Design

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9632695 Kafai Future workplaces require that schools prepare students to become technologically fluent and informationally and scientifically literate. The new National Science Standard (1995) demand that students know not only the facts but also how to reason scientifically. The growing infusion of information technologies into the home and work place demands that students know not only how to access and retrieve information on the Internet, but also how to use it discriminantly in their learning. Technologically competent students know not only the facts but also how to express their knowledge and ideas with these tools. These are challenging tasks for schools and teachers which need to be addressed beginning at an early age when students' attitudes about science and technology are still open and project-based activities are easier to integrate into the curriculum. The proposed research addresses these challenges by developing an integrative year-long curriculum consisting of a rich fabric of instructional techniques materials, and technology use in elementary school science. Learning Science by Design builds on young students' informal science knowledge and asks them to program, i.e., design, interactive multimedia resources to teach science concepts in either physics (magnetism/electricity) or life sciences (ocean habitats) to younger students. Students' programming process provides the driving force for their science investigations, Internet information searching, and design of instructional interventions. This approach uses proogramming as a tool for students' knowledge reformulation and personal expression by engaging them in key scientific practices: fostering information inquiry, constructing representations and visualizations of scientific processes, explaining and defending ideas, and managing of their projects. Two questions will be addressed in the proposed research: (1) What is the efficacy of such a comprehensive learning environment for y oung students? (2) What kind of skill and knowledge transfer can we observe? Research will be conducted in several public elementary classrooms in implementing the year-long curriculum that comprises two distinct design experiences, thus facilitating the assessment of transfer of programming, project and information management skills, and science knowledge. The evaluation is divided into three phases: Phase I builds the model case and assessment tools, Phase II conducts the experimental and comparative assessment, and Phase III examines the applicability of the model to different school sites and classrooms. The principles that I am developing in my research will also be directly applied to my teaching activities. My teaching plan emphasizes the integration of education and information studies and will create a set of courses that provide both graduate and undergraduate students with an introduction and experience of the new information and learning media, their theoretical underpinnings, and meaningful applications in formal and informal educational settings. The findings of the proposed research will be disseminated to resarchers and to teachers. I anticipate that the approach provides a model for implementations of advanced technologies in elementary school classrooms, also applicable to other grades and school levels. Furthermore, the proposed integration of information and education fields will lead to an improved understanding of educational theory and practice and the disign of future learning and information technologies. ***