Development and Evaluation of a Multimedia Instructional Package for Astronomy

天文学（11）该项目正在开发一个原型并评估交互式天文学，这是一个多媒体教学包，用于广泛教授的本科科学课程：非科学专业天文学入门。这门课程服务于大量的大学生，包括许多未来的教师，并有很大的潜力，提高他们的科学技能和影响他们的理解和欣赏科学。该套多媒体教材包括一套软件，其中包含两项创新元素：资讯科技对教学的革命性改进，以及以探究为本的学习模式。利用计算机所带来的高度互动性，学生们可以自己去发现事物，而不是被动地学习。利用计算机使之成为可能的动态模拟，学生可以生活在科学的世界里，产生一个生动的经验，它通常是抽象的世界。该软件包的两个重要组成部分是指导发现，这是广泛的，高度互动的教学练习，设计时仔细注意教学问题;和智能导师，根据对学生学习需求的评估定制其教学策略。其中七个发现的设计已经完成。在这个项目中，三个正在全面实施，然后进行了概念测试的证明，他们对学生学习的影响。这种形成性评估（秋季在格林菲尔德社区学院和阿默斯特学院进行，春季在马萨诸塞州大学进行）与进一步的软件开发并行进行，并与之交互。

Astronomy (11) The project is developing a prototype and evaluating Interactive Astronomy, a multimedia instructional package for a widely taught undergraduate science course: Introductory Astronomy for Non-Science Majors. This course serves a great number of college students, including many future teachers, and has great potential for improving their science skills and influencing their understanding of and appreciation for science. The multimedia package includes software which incorporates two innovative elements: the revolutionary improvements in instruction offered by information technology, and the emerging paradigm of inquiry-based learning. Utilizing the high degree of interactivity which computers make possible, students are led to discover things for themselves, as opposed to learning them passively. Utilizing the dynamical simulations which computers make possible, students can live in the world of science, yielding a vivid experience of its normally abstract world. Two important elements of the package are Guided Discoveries, which are extensive, highly interactive instructional exercises, designed with careful attention to pedagogical issues; and Intelligent Tutors, which customize their instructional strategies, based on an assessment of the student's learning needs. Design of seven of the Discoveries has already been completed. In this project, three are beingfully implemented, and then a proof of concept test is conducted of their effect on student learning. This formative evaluation (to be conducted in the Fall at Greenfield Community College and Amherst College, and in the Spring at the University of Massachusetts) runs parallel to, and be interactive with, further software development.