Educational Technology

Situated assessment using virtual environments for science content and inquiry (Ketelhut, Nelson, Schifter)

Author/Presenter

Diane Ketelhut

Brian Nelson

Catherine Schifter

Year
2009
Short Description

In this session, the presenters discuss findings and experiences regarding technology-embedded assessment and how to support teachers in using it effectively.

Research on Student Understanding of Data Organization

Author/Presenter

Cliff Konold

Vishakha Parvate

William Finzer

Year
2010
Short Description

As part of the Data Games project, we are researching how students record and organize multivariate data. This research is informing the design of new software interfaces for Fathom and TinkerPlots that will allow students to explore and understand data that live in other than "flat" data structures — the structures that most software tools currently limit themselves to.
We have designed the Traffic Problem to explore the following questions:
1. What methods do novices and experts use to sytematically record data with multiple attributes?
2. In recording data, do students employ a recognizable notion of “case?"

Designing Powerful Digital Environments for Professional Development (Fosnot)

Author/Presenter

Catherine Fosnot

Year
2009
Short Description

Professional development environments that include digital video allow for the examination of children at work, opportunities to look at students over time, and analysis of the teacher’s decision making. This observation begs the question of how best to shape mathematics education courses that build on the use of digital environments. This session examines some possibilities for developing both content and pedagogical knowledge.

Designing Digital Experiences for Positive Youth Development: From Playpen to Playground

With the advent of the digital age, research on the psychological impact of youth engagement with technology has surged. New technologies have often taken the blame for promoting negative (and potentially dangerous) youth experiences, such as cyber-bullying, sexual predation, privacy invasion, addiction to videogames, and exposure to violence. For many children and adolescents, however, digital media and technology provide positive ways to express identity, communicate with peers, and engage in civic activities across communities.

Author/Presenter

Bers, Marina

Year
2012

Designing Digital Experiences for Positive Youth Development: From Playpen to Playground

With the advent of the digital age, research on the psychological impact of youth engagement with technology has surged. New technologies have often taken the blame for promoting negative (and potentially dangerous) youth experiences, such as cyber-bullying, sexual predation, privacy invasion, addiction to videogames, and exposure to violence. For many children and adolescents, however, digital media and technology provide positive ways to express identity, communicate with peers, and engage in civic activities across communities.

Author/Presenter

Bers, Marina

Year
2012

Change Thinking for Global Science: Fostering and Evaluating Inquiry Thinking About the Ecological Impacts of Climate Change

Project Summary

During the lifetimes of our current middle and high school students, it is likely that our planet will undergo more anthropogenic change than it has during all of human history to date. The project is utilizing a learning progression approach for the systematic design of coordinated curriculum, tool, and assessment products focused on climate change biology. This work will provide an empirical and theoretical basis for critical concept development about the impacts of climate change on living systems.

Research Questions

Author/Presenter

Nancy Butler Songer

Philip Myers

James H. Beach

Vanessa L. Peters

Year
2010