The goal of the effort is to determine how QR code technology embedded on a tangible kinesthetic tool, a so-called "combined tool", can be productively used to help people learn both individually and collectively. The role of this technology in science education is largely unexplored, although the values of kinesthetic learning and technology-mediated instruction are recognized. The target population is middle school science students. The tool focuses on the study of earth science concepts including plate tectonics. The combined tool will be assessed in multiple settings including K-12 classrooms, museums, home-school environments, and in special-needs groups. The project involves university faculty, undergraduates, teachers and other educators, and students with roles in tool development, both tangible and cyberinfrastructure and assessment.
Science education lives in an exciting place and time. The internet offers teachers and learners incredible amounts of information (animations, models, reports) to convey required content materials. The availability of these resources leads to a number of questions including; What is the best way to use these resources? What is the best way to find relevant resources? How can relevant resources be integrated into a lesson plan for the day's goals to be met? How much should this information replace other methods of learning, including traditional reading and writing and model-building? This grant examined ways to address these questions while recognizing inherent limitations within the education system including teacher time and training, cost, and well-defined curricula. The content focus of these efforts was the theory of plate tectonics, the idea that 250 million years ago, all the continents were once one, called Pangea. A quick search of the web reveals multiple animations. Some of the best quality videos are actually factually inaccurate and present models that are not consistent with our current understanding and the learning goals of the curriculum. To get teachers and learners to the right resources, the grant explored the use of quick response codes that are printed on mats. Quick response, or QR, codes allow the camera of a smart phone to take the owner to a website or other web-based resource. Our mats also have content for students to read as well as space to build PlayDoh models of Pangea. The QR codes take students to scientific evidence that can be used to refine and critique their models. The tool was distributed to more than 500 teachers at no cost. We estimate that more than 100,000 middle school students are using this tool and the related web content each year. For example, spikes in video usage occur in October and January when Texas teachers usually discuss the content in grades 8 and 6, respectively. Our research shows that teachers are likely to use QR codes and web resources themselves--or have their students use them--when they are available on a learning tool like the one we developed. The data also shows that in the absence of the tool, 10% of the teachers would use no web resources at all. One important conclusion that we reach is that QR codes linked to traditional teaching materials like texts (or contained activities like the Pangea Mat & Cutter) provide an opportunity for a richer learning environment through enabling the use of cyberlearning resources. Energies should be invested to "organize" or "refine" the available materials into 'curriculum" for broader adoption by teachers and learners.
