Using IT in Science Education

Seminar for the UNIFY projectTim Brosnan

Institute of Education University of London

Part 2

Thoughts on how - present and future

Main parts

Summary of the present situation

Outline of some options for the future

Recommendations

Present situation and options for the future

PeopleIntegration of IT and scienceHardwareSoftware Systems

People - present situation (1)

The Unify team members are keen to develop the use of IT for both personal and professional purposes

The Unify students are keen to develop their use of IT

Despite considerable efforts the course has been unable to appoint a specialist IT lecturer

People - present situation (2)

The lack of a suitable person to co-ordinate and lead the IT aspects of the course is one of the two main factors hindering the integration of IT with the rest of the Unify curriculum

People - options (1)

Keep trying to appoint an IT lecturer little chance of success not necessarily the best option even if

available - could widen the gap between IT and science

person appointed would need to develop an understanding of the main concepts taught in the science/maths courses

People - options (2)

Appoint a science specialist with a knowledge of IT not many appropriate candidates

(although potentially more than option 1) would need time to extend areas of IT

expertise but… would help the integration of IT

and science perhaps more than an IT specialst would

People - options (3)

Appoint an additional science lecturer to allow a member of the existing staff to develop the necessary IT expertise longer ‘lead-in’ time than other options not clear that any member of the team

would wish to take this role but… it could be seen as staff development and… more likelihood of a successful

appointment than previous options

Integration of IT and science - present situation

At present there is no real integration of IT and science courses

Because of the absence of an IT lecturer, the current IT course does not have course materials, booklet and planned, session by session learning objectives as exist for the other sections of Unify

It is also rather ‘computer’ orientated

Integration of IT and science - options (1)

Distinct course only - discrete modelFully integrated into subject sudies -

cross-curricular modelBoth distinct course and used in

subject studies - hybrid modelA short, initial course in basic IT skills

followed by cross-curricular use - kick-start model

Integration of IT and science - options (2)

Discrete model Advantages

easiest model to organiseeasiest model within which to co-ordinate the

development of IT skills

Disadvantagesdivorced from the rest of the courseIT teaching/learning decontextualiseddoes not help students’ learning of scientific

ideas

Integration of IT and science - options (3)

Cross-curricular model Advantages

all IT teaching takes place in an appropriate context

Disadvantageshardest model to organisescience/maths lecturers may feel it is not

their role to teach ‘basic’ IT skills - and not a good use of the subject time

Integration of IT and science - options (4)

Hybrid model Advantages

allows the advantages of both the discrete and cross-curricular models

Disadvantagesmost time consuming modelstill a need to provide an appropriate

context for the content of the IT coursemay not be a need for an IT course

throughout the year

Integration of IT and science - options (5)

Kick-start model Advantages

allows the teaching of basic IT skills in the discrete course and then their application and development within the context of science/mathematics

economical use of time

Disadvantagesrequires a change of timetable during the year how much of a ‘kick-start’ is needed will vary

with student intake - no way to know in advance

Hardware - present situation

The course is well resourced in terms of computers the machine are fast enough for most uses the student/machine ratio is excellent

The course does not have reliable access to the Internet

The course has no simple way to transfer large files from machine to machine

Software - present situation

The course has a modern and stable version of Microsoft Office

the course has software/hardware for datalogging

The course has little in the way of ‘subject-specific’ software - e.g. CD-Roms

Systems - present situation(1)

The current organisation of the computer system is the second major deterrent to the successful use of IT in the science courses

Systems - present situation(2)

there is no system of ‘shared-files’ staff cannot put material on ‘the

system’ for all students to use - e.g. the material I have brought is only accessible on machine 28

Systems - present situation(3)

All students log-in as the administrator this invites chaos - e.g. any student is free

to delete everything I have put on machine 28

the students cannot save their files to their own work area - they do not have one - so all material must be saved to floppy disc or to the hard drive on a specific machine

machines are accumulating lots of ‘rubbish’ files and students lose work more easily

Recommendations

PeopleIntegration of IT and scienceHardwareSoftware Systems

People - recommendation

I suggest that the course team considers appointing an IT co-ordinator rather than a specialist - i.e. someone to co-ordinate the link between science and IT rather than someone to ‘teach IT’

My suggestion therefore is that the course team considers options 2 and 3 rather than 1

Integration of IT and science - recommendation (1)

I suggest that the course team consider the relative advantages of options 3 and 4

It is necessary for a named individual (cf committee) to have oversight of and resonsibility for, the integration of IT (however organised) with the other sections of the Unify course

Integration of IT and science - recommendation (2)

The IT course (of whatever form) be redesigned the better to match the needs, content and contexts of the science and mathematics sections of the Unify course, reducing the ‘computer’ aspects

Course materials be produced for the new IT course of a quality and quantity comparable to those of the other sections

Hardware - recommendation

As and when external funding can be found, priority be given to the upgrading of the Unify Internet link. Establishing a stable, fast link would be a huge advantage to the course.

A second priority be the purchase of a portable CD-portable writer, allowing staff to copy and move large files

Software - recommendation

No recommendations. The existing software provides a good basis for development, and the course team has ideas for augmenting this with a judicious selection of subject-specific material.

Systems - recommendation(1)

The log-in system be reorganised so that Every student and member of staff is

given their own log-in No student be allowed to install (or save)

anything to any local hard discWithout these changes the system is

neither secure or sustainable

Systems - recommendation(2)

The Unify server be re-configured so that A ‘shared files’ area is established on the Unify

server to which staff (and not students) have write privileges

Every student has their own (secure) area on the server to which they may save their files

Withouth these changes course materials will be neither distributable or useable

Final thoughts

The issues raised here are not just an ‘IT’ problem but affect the teaching of every member of the Unify team - and the learning of every student

When the computer systems are altered, the enthusiasm and ideas I have seen will be allowed to develop, strengthening the leadership position of the Unify course