Transformations
- results of the research
In the STTIS, framework the UK
team chose to investigate
the use of computer modelling and simulation in the teaching of science
in secondary schools. Eight teacher case studies were carried
out.
The case studies were concerned to investigate how teachers incorporate
these tools in the curriculum. A summary of the research undertaken can
be found in Briefing Sheet 3
‘The STTIS research
into computer simulation and modelling’.
The teachers in our
case studies were selected
by their willingness to participate and to attempt to make serious use
of computer modelling and/or simulation in their science
classrooms.
The choice of modelling software as well as the context of its use were
left to be made by the teachers. Examples of the case studies can be
found
in Activity Resource 1 ‘Computer
modelling: case
studies’, with further discussion in Briefing
Sheet 5 ‘Computer modelling: case study commentary’.
A key difference
between the case studies was
in the way the teachers handled the tension between subject matter and
computer experience. Some teachers were more interested in
using
the computer to deliver the science content, while some focused more on
the experience the pupils would have with the informatic tool. The
research
identified some factors which may influence the take-up of computer
tools
in science lessons, and provided some indications about what may affect
the successful use of a computer tool.
Key features which
emerged from the research as
a whole can be found in Activity
Resource 2: ‘Transformations
of curriculum innovation: dimensions of analysis’, and
details of how
this applies to the research on computer modelling are given in Briefing
Sheet 6 ‘Dimensions of analysis’. An overview of key findings
is in
Briefing Sheet 7 ‘Summary
of research on teachers’
transformations’.
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Teaching with computer models