Using Diverse Multi-Media Strategies to Promote Meaningful Learning in Physics, Geology, and Biology for Prospective Elementary Teachers

在圣地亚哥州立大学，每年约有450名职前小学教师参加一门或多门专门设计的本科课程，课程包括物理、地质学或生物学。这些课程包括广泛的课堂讨论、动手实验、协作学习和以创造性的方式使用计算机。在国家科学基金会的支持下获得的计算机设备使课程教师能够开发和整合更先进的多媒体，以许多新的和令人兴奋的方式增强学生的科学学习体验。物理课程使用另一个项目开发的功能强大的新软件的新计算机来帮助学生构建物理各个领域的概念模型。这一新软件为构建知识和模拟物理现象提供了工具。小组工作的学生通过使用想法容器、电子期刊、公告栏和万维网资源来促进有意义的对话，作为学习的一部分，从而建立对物理的理解。他们对实验结果进行预测，并用实际仪器和计算机模拟来验证他们的预测。地质学课程通过加强和进一步开发名为TREES(地球科学教育教学资源)的万维网网页，进一步将实践合作学习与多媒体和万维网资源相结合。光盘被用来探索地球科学，学生的实地考察经验被用来创建可在网上获得的虚拟实地旅行。生物课程通过让学生利用他们的经验知识来构建语义网络来促进有意义的学习。使用新的多媒体工具和最新版本的软件SemNet，学生能够建立网络，将图像、QuickTime电影和Web资源全部存储在CD上并在Web上提供。所有三门课程的发展成果都通过许多渠道广泛传播，包括网页、其他教师培训项目以及专业会议和出版物。加州州立大学将做出特别努力，与加州州立大学系统的其他教员共享资源，该系统每年毕业近3000名未来的K-6教师。

At San Diego State University, about 450 preservice elementary teachers take one or more specially designed undergraduate courses in either physics, geology or biology each year. These courses incorporate extensive class discussion, hands-on experimentation, collaborative learning and the use of computers in creative ways. The computer equipment obtained with NSF support are enabling the course instructors to develop and integrate more advanced multimedia to enhance the science learning experiences of the students in many new and exciting ways. The physics courseis using the new computers with powerful new software developed on another project to help students construct conceptual models in various domains of physics. This new software provides tools for knowledge construction and simulations of physics phenomena. Students working in groups build physics understanding by using idea containers, electronic journals, bulletin boards and World Wide Web resources to promote meaningful conversations as part of learning. They make predictions about experimental outcomes and test their predictions with both actual apparatus and computer simulations. The geology course is furthering integration of hands-on collaborative learning with multimedia and World Wide Web resources through enhancement and further development of the World Wide Web page called TREES (Teaching Resources for Education in Earth Science). CD-ROMs are being used to explore Earth Science, and student field experiences are being used to create virtual field trips that are available on the Web. The biology course is promoting meaningful learning by engaging students in using their experiential knowledge to construct semantic networks. Using new multimedia tools and the latest version of the software SemNet, students are able to build networks that incorporate images, QuickTime movies and Web resources all stored on CD and made available on the Web. Results of development efforts in all three courses are being disseminated widely through many channels, including Web pages, other teacher enhancement projects, and professional meetings and publications. A particular effort will be made to share resources with other faculty in the California State University system, which graduates nearly 3,000 future K-6 teachers every year.