ERIC Number: ED361212
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1993-Apr
Pages: 29
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
A Case Study of the Introduction of RISC-based Computing and a Telecommunications Link to a Suburban High School.
Hakerem, Gita; And Others
This study reports the efforts of the Water and Molecular Networks Project (WAMNet), a program in which high school chemistry students use computer simulations developed at Boston University (Massachusetts) to model the three-dimensional structure of molecules and the hydrogen bond network that holds water molecules together. This case study examined the changes of a chemistry teacher in one 10th grade (n=17) and one 11th grade (n=16) chemistry class that were using the WAMNet computer simulations. Results are discussed concerning changes in teaching strategies, student learning and motivation, changes in the classroom, and logistical issues in getting the computers and the network set up in the school. The study concludes that: (1) teaching models used in the class changed from teacher-centered to more student-centered; (2) students were on task for most of the time they used the computers; (3) students used e-mail to contact friends rather than enter into mentoring relationships with the graduate student programmers at the university; and (4) it takes considerable cooperation between the participating groups to pilot test this kind of high technology to a school and have it used in a productive manner. (MDH)
Descriptors: Case Studies, Chemistry, Computer Assisted Instruction, Computer Simulation, Computer Uses in Education, Concept Formation, Electronic Mail, High School Students, High Schools, Internet, Misconceptions, Models, Molecular Structure, Science Curriculum, Science Instruction, Science Teachers, Secondary School Science, Teaching Methods, Telecommunications, Visual Learning, Water
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation, Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A