CAREER: Embedded Computing and Authentic Inquiry in Middle School Science

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Since its inception, scientific inquiry has been based on the materials, tools, and equipment that scientists procure and develop for their research. Beginning in the 1980s with microcomputer-based laboratories, schools have introduced such equipment. This new technology, however, has often been employed in the fashion of much school science laboratory work, where students perform measurement-confirmation experiments rather than deep inquiry-based investigations. Over the last ten years, the use of classroom robotics has become prevalent across the K-12 grade levels. Much of this robotics work exhibits the characteristics of inquiry-based science: students are highly engaged as they frame problems, experiment, debug problems, and pursue solutions. Why is classroom robotics successful in inspiring students to take charge of their work, while classroom science has trouble getting students' attention?The key is that agency is in the hands of students. Providing capable, extensible and inviting technology to teachers and students is also important. This project will use and extend research technology - the Handy Cricket microcontroller - with the goal of characterizing and then providing materials that can be readily assimilated into authentic inquiry-based work by teachers and students. The project includes research and development components. The PI will investigate how beginning and practicing middle school science teachers perform their own inquiry-based science experiments, reflect on and make sense of their own experiences, and then bring these approaches to their students. Subsequently, how these teachers' students practice science inquiry using Crickets and what they learn will be studied, and compared with the practices and learning of students in control classrooms. The project will create deep linkages between computing science and middle school science content, and develop improved technology for widespread classroom use.The PI will collaborate closely with faculty and staff of his university's graduate school of education, and will co-teach sections of science methods courses required of the student-teachers in its program. These individuals and other teachers who participate in professional development workshops will be invited to be involved in classroom trials using project materials and approaches. The development plan includes an international component, extending the PI's previous collaborations with leading educator/researchers in Ireland and Germany. The project's intellectual merit stems from its goal of understanding and promoting authentic science inquiry by teachers and students, and creating deep connections between computing and middle school science. Its potential for broader impact is based on its practical, classroom-based approach, which will ensure materials and pedagogical strategies that can be employed widely.