Visionlearning

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Visionlearning [1] is a free, web-based resource for students and educators in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Geared toward those studying at high school and undergraduate levels, Visionlearning takes advantage of recent advances in new media to provide students and educators with learning and teaching materials. Research by project personnel has shown that this peer-reviewed and bilingual content improves student understanding of science and facilitates multidisciplinary teaching. The project also strives to build community around improving STEM education. [2]

Contents

Visionlearning is supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education.

History

In 1998, Dr. Anthony Carpi, an environmental chemist and then-assistant professor at John Jay College of the City University of New York, designed and launched a prototype Internet learning resource for science students, called The Natural Science Pages. This was in part a response to the growing evidence that poor textbook content and deficient teaching materials contribute to inadequate science education. [3] The purpose of the prototype was to see if presenting important course information in a new form would improve what students understood, what information they remembered, and how well they performed in their class overall. [4]

What this research showed, through standardized exam scores and student retention data, was that using the prototype significantly improved science comprehension and performance in the targeted natural science course. [5] Further evaluations also showed that the prototype helped improve communication skills and student engagement with the course.

In response to the success of The Natural Science Pages prototype and with support of the NSF, [6] Carpi developed the Visionlearning project, which brought on a group of scientists and educators to create content and became a website open to students and educators worldwide. In the last decade, Visionlearning has evolved into a more comprehensive website that provides free educational materials to support the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, with translations into Spanish. These materials include independent learning modules that focus on distinct topics within STEM disciplines, teaching resources, a MyClassroom tool (similar to Moodle or WebCT) that allows educators to customize and maintain a virtual learning environment for their students, and new media elements to benefit multiple learning styles. A key feature of all of Visionlearning’s material is an emphasis on the process of science and discovery.

The Process of Science: A Philosophy for Teaching and Learning

Throughout the development of the learning modules and multimedia tools, Visionlearning has emphasized an importance on teaching science as a process, rather than “a simple set of facts and terms to be memorized.” [7] This comes from an organizational ideology that understanding how scientific knowledge evolves better prepares students to engage with the process of discovery and helps to dispel common misconceptions about science. The underlying notion is that students will develop independent, objective thinking skills regardless of whether they pursue a career in STEM disciplines, and understand that science is far more than simply conducting experiments in a lab and working with complex mathematical formulas. [8]

Content

As of 2009, Visionlearning has developed 70 independent learning modules in nine subject areas, including biology, chemistry, earth science, and the process of science. Scientist and author Nathan H. Lents has been a longtime contributor and module reviewer for Visionlearning and currently serves as life science editor. [9] Visionlearning modules are organized into concise, relevant topic areas, grouped by discipline. Each module can be used independently, or in conjunction with others, and intentionally concentrates on core concepts to help direct learning. Supplementary materials such as quizzes, links to reviewed sources, and biographies are also provided for additional exploration. These modules are directed toward undergraduate and high school learning and have been written by experts in the relevant disciplines. Every module is peer reviewed for quality and accuracy, and includes historical context and contemporary relevance.

Position statements

Visionlearning does not subscribe to any political party or affiliation. The project is dedicated to providing impartial information in the STEM disciplines and encouraging learning in the process of science. One important goal of the project is to provide an understanding of scientific concepts while emphasizing how the scientific community has arrived at these conclusions. The intention is that, through teaching about the process of scientific discovery, students will look at science not as factual elements, but as a way of knowing about the world. [10]

The project does not subscribe to the belief that the Internet and new media are replacing more traditional forms or communication, but that through proper integration of all the technology available students will have a greater chance of success in STEM learning.

Related Research Articles

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to education:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Science education</span> Teaching and learning of science to non-scientists within the general public

Science education is the teaching and learning of science to school children, college students, or adults within the general public. The field of science education includes work in science content, science process, some social science, and some teaching pedagogy. The standards for science education provide expectations for the development of understanding for students through the entire course of their K-12 education and beyond. The traditional subjects included in the standards are physical, life, earth, space, and human sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Science Digital Library</span>

The United States' National Science Digital Library (NSDL) is an open-access online digital library and collaborative network of disciplinary and grade-level focused education providers operated by the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education. NSDL's mission is to provide quality digital learning collections to the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education community, both formal and informal, institutional and individual. NSDL's collections are refined by a network of STEM educational and disciplinary professionals. Their work is based on user data, disciplinary knowledge, and participation in the evolution of digital resources as major elements of effective STEM learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Problem-based learning</span> Learner centric pedagogy

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered pedagogy in which students learn about a subject through the experience of solving an open-ended problem found in trigger material. The PBL process does not focus on problem solving with a defined solution, but it allows for the development of other desirable skills and attributes. This includes knowledge acquisition, enhanced group collaboration and communication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graduate Center, CUNY</span> Doctoral-granting institution of the CUNY

The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, The CUNY Graduate Center is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity". The school is situated in the landmark B. Altman and Company Building at 365 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, opposite the Empire State Building. The CUNY Graduate Center has 4,600 students, 31 doctoral programs, 14 master's programs, and 30 research centers and institutes. A core faculty of approximately 140 is supplemented by over 1,800 additional faculty members drawn from throughout CUNY's eleven senior colleges and New York City's cultural and scientific institutions.

The Open University of Israel is a distance-education university in Israel. It is one of ten public universities in Israel recognized by the Council of Higher Education (CHE). The Open University is unique in that it does not require a matriculation certificate, psychometric exam, or other entrance exam for admission to undergraduate studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Experiential learning</span> Learn by reflect on active involvement

Experiential learning (ExL) is the process of learning through experience, and is more narrowly defined as "learning through reflection on doing". Hands-on learning can be a form of experiential learning, but does not necessarily involve students reflecting on their product. Experiential learning is distinct from rote or didactic learning, in which the learner plays a comparatively passive role. It is related to, but not synonymous with, other forms of active learning such as action learning, adventure learning, free-choice learning, cooperative learning, service-learning, and situated learning.

A didactic method is a teaching method that follows a consistent scientific approach or educational style to present information to students. The didactic method of instruction is often contrasted with dialectics and the Socratic method; the term can also be used to refer to a specific didactic method, as for instance constructivist didactics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">York College, City University of New York</span> Senior college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system

York College is a public senior college in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. It is a senior college in the City University of New York (CUNY) system. Founded in 1966, York was the first senior college founded under the newly formed CUNY system, which united several previously independent public colleges into a single public university system in 1961. The college is a member-school of Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The college enrolls more than 8,000 students. 35% of undergraduate students graduate within six years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Open educational resources</span> Open learning resource

Open educational resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials intentionally created and licensed to be free for the end user to own, share, and in most cases, modify. The term "OER" describes publicly accessible materials and resources for any user to use, re-mix, improve, and redistribute under some licenses. These are designed to reduce accessibility barriers by implementing best practices in teaching and to be adapted for local unique contexts.

Technological literacy is the ability to use, manage, understand, and assess technology. Technological literacy is related to digital literacy in that when an individual is proficient in using computers and other digital devices to access the Internet, digital literacy gives them the ability to use the Internet to discover, review, evaluate, create, and use information via various digital platforms, such as web browsers, databases, online journals, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and social media sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemistry education</span> Study of the teaching and learning of chemistry

Chemistry education is the study of teaching and learning chemistry. It is one subset of STEM education or discipline-based education research (DBER). Topics in chemistry education include understanding how students learn chemistry and determining the most efficient methods to teach chemistry. There is a constant need to improve chemistry curricula and learning outcomes based on findings of chemistry education research (CER). Chemistry education can be improved by changing teaching methods and providing appropriate training to chemistry instructors, within many modes, including classroom lectures, demonstrations, and laboratory activities.

Susan B. Millar is a senior scientist at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Scientific literacy or science literacy encompasses written, numerical, and digital literacy as they pertain to understanding science, its methodology, observations, and theories. Scientific literacy is chiefly concerned with an understanding of the scientific method, units and methods of measurement, empiricism and understanding of statistics in particular correlations and qualitative versus quantitative observations and aggregate statistics, as well as a basic understanding of core scientific fields, such as physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, geology and computation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific controversy</span> Issues of substantial disagreement among scientists

Controversies involving science exists in all aspects. Sometimes defined as a "persistent disagreement" over knowledge, the contrasting opinions of certain topics leaves individuals in a tense setting.

Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL)is an activity-based, group-learning instructional strategy. The main objective of POGIL is to help the students to master the discipline, content, and develop essential learning skills simultaneously.

Statistics education is the practice of teaching and learning of statistics, along with the associated scholarly research.

Engineering education research is the field of inquiry that creates knowledge which aims to define, inform, and improve the education of engineers. It achieves this through research on topics such as: epistemology, policy, assessment, pedagogy, diversity, amongst others, as they pertain to engineering.

MERLOT is an online repository and international consortium of institutions of higher education, industry partners, professional organizations and individuals. MERLOT partners and members are devoted to identifying, peer reviewing, organizing and making available existing online learning resources in a range of academic disciplines for use by higher education faculty and students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PhET Interactive Simulations</span> Company

PhET Interactive Simulations, a project at the University of Colorado Boulder, is a non-profit open educational resource project that creates and hosts explorable explanations. It was founded in 2002 by Nobel Laureate Carl Wieman. PhET began with Wieman's vision to improve the way science is taught and learned. Their stated mission is "To advance science and math literacy and education worldwide through free interactive simulations."

References

  1. "http://www.visionlearning.com", accessed 10 Feb 2010
  2. Carpi, A. and Mikhailova, Y. The Visionlearning Project: Evaluating the Design and Effectiveness of Interdisciplinary Science Web Content. Journal of College Science Teaching. Sept/Oct 2003 pp. 2-5
  3. American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). 2000. Heavy Books Light on Learning. Washington, D.C.: Project 2061.
  4. Carpi, A. 2001. Improvements in undergraduate science education using web-based instructional modules: The natural science pages. Journal of chemical Education 78(12): 1709.
  5. Carpi, A. 2001. Improvements in undergraduate science education using web-based instructional modules: The natural science pages. Journal of chemical Education 78(12): 1709.
  6. DUE#0088851 Visionlearning: An Education Web Portal CUNY John Jay College Awarded 12/06/2000 06/06/2000 $75,000.00 and DUE 0127246 Visionlearning: An Interdisciplinary Science Education Web Portal CUNY John Jay College Awarded 02/14/2002 06/06/2001 $499,784.00
  7. "http://www.visionlearning.com/process_science.php"
  8. Egger, Anne. Why Should I Teach the Process of Science? "http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/process_of_science/why_process_science.html"
  9. "Authors".
  10. Egger, Anne. Why Teach the Process of Science? "http://serc.carleton.edu/sp/process_of_science/why_process_science.html"