by Sara Latta, Science WriterFor three weeks this past summer, 24 high school teachers of science and mathematics became students again at NCSA's SuperQuest for Teachers workshop. They learned how to run, modify, and write computer models, and how to use visualization to bring their models to life. Click here for a list of participants.
The teachers, in teams of two or three, came from small rural schools with only a few computers, as well as large, technology-rich schools. One team of teachers developed a model that describes the behavior of model rockets for a physics class; a biology-physics teacher team chose to model the physics of animal movement for use in their respective classes. In short, the teachers learned how to use computational science in the classroom.
One team, John Biggerstaff and Jim Nazworthy, teach mathematics--calculus and physics respectively at a large suburban high school in Lee's Summit, MO. The school, which is no stranger to computers and access to the Internet, is offering a new course in computational science taught by Biggerstaff and Nazworthy. "We wanted to come up with some ideas and starting points for [the course's section on modeling and simulation]," says Biggerstaff. "This course will give students the opportunity to create their own learning--to move away from the teacher as simply a dispenser of knowledge. For us, it's not just modeling for the sake of modeling, but a vehicle for taking education the way we think it ought to go."
Gruschow and teammate Linda Rosnett (who teaches a computer programming class) want to show their students how computers could be used to model everyday activities. "In previous classes, we have had to use frictionless surfaces and ideal objects [to learn about physical laws], but we can do real- world stuff with a computer," concludes Gruschow.
A recurring example used in lectures on modeling was the growth of rabbit populations, which led one team to model an imaginary illness called SuperQuestitis. The main "symptom" of the illness is having hallucinations about many, many rabbits. (The model actually showed how bacteria can acquire resistance to antibiotics after several generations.) At the end of the workshop, the original teacher-teams gave presentations summarizing their work and the ways in which they hoped to use computational science in their classrooms.
The workshop, which was sponsored by NCSA's Education Group and funded by NSF, replaced the previous years' SuperQuest programs [see access, Fall 1993] that targeted teams of high school students along with teacher-coaches. NCSA, together with other SuperQuest centers and NSF, concluded that their efforts to bring computational science to the classroom would be multiplied by having a teacher-centered, rather than student- centered, program.
Teachers from the Ramstein American High School, Ramstein, Germany, also attended under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Defense Dependent Services.
NCSA has also set up an electronic mail reflector that the teachers use extensively to send news of what is new in the classroom, to ask other teachers questions, or to stay in touch. Either Bob Panoff, NCSA visiting scientist in the Education Group and coordinator of SuperQuest for Teachers; Kolar; or both will conduct an on-site visit to each participating school during the fall or spring semester. "We will meet with other teachers, the principal, or administrators--even the PTA or school board--to explain the program," says Panoff. "We will hold a workshop for other teachers if that's what they want, assess their equipment situation, and make further recommendations."
In addition, the teachers will receive items from their "wish list": in most cases, software packages like the ones used in the workshop. An exception might be money to help defray the cost of a long-distance telephone hookup to the Internet for some of the rural schools, for example.
During SuperQuest, a newspaper called the Daily Observer was published every day using NCSA Mosaic. Throughout the next school year, the newspaper and other pertinent information related to SuperQuest and the Education Group's program will be available online at the URL given below.
