Participatory science lesson planning tools

The following guidelines and checklist were iteratively developed with science teacher consultations in twilight sessions at the Science Learning Centre in London. They are designed to help teachers prepare technology-rich science learning experiences. The tool set comprises prompts to consider a range of e-Science and p-Science influenced elements within the lesson. In particular they focus on the value of each element to the learning experience, including possibilities for collaboration with scientists or peers, sharing, contributing or re-using data and extending learning beyond the class or school context.

KeyToNature

One of the first steps in discovering and understanding biodiversity is to identify the organisms around us. Traditionally, this has been done using paper-printed keys which enable us to correctly name an organism. Most of them, however, are "difficult" and hardly usable for educational purposes. KeyToNature is developing a range of new, much easier and paper-free identification tools, for use within schools and universities across Europe. They are available on a variety of platforms including laptops and mobile phones, some of them can be tailored to individual requirements. more

Impact crater experiments

See our mobile phone and web 2.0 technology guidelines and ideas on learning about the Impact Crater Experiments blog here.

DIY energy windmill experiments

Blogger – free software for creating a blog, e.g. around a project or experiment, publish hypotheses, evidence data, research done, findings and conclusions and allow peer review, additions etc. See our DIY Energy blog.

ComicLife for photo-story type activities

This software is available free on Macs and for a fee from Plasq

A page on ‘how to use ComicLife in the classroom’ is available from here.

Using Web 2.0 applications for learning, sharing, communicating, reporting

Some Web 2.0 apps we have used are indicated below. The DIY Energy windmill blog was created by presenting feeds from a number of different web tools as a single page. The tools below are freely available unless indicated. Some school networks have filters that may not allow some or all of these tools to work.

Communication software



Skype provides free video, audio and text chat between skype users. Simple to install and use.












TokBox provides free video calling and is used within a browser window so there is nothing to download.








Flickr – free photo upload and share site enabling content tagging, comments etc. to be added

Participatory science learning design prompts

Experimentation -Does your idea involve learners in:
Hypothesis formation? Experimental design? Data collection?
Data analysis? Reporting & reflecting on their experimental activity?
Sharing
Do learners share data, methods, tools, opinions, reports?
Is this sharing motivated & significant? How? Why?
Is the amount of sharing enabling learning (by students and/or teachers
and/or scientists) beyond what would usually be possible?
Connections -Does the activity link:
school science to science in the real world?
to the learner's world and interests?
to other learning across the curriculum?
to informal and/or out of school learning?
to prior and future learning opportunities?
Collaboration
Are learners motivated to collaborate?
Are other learners, not normally accessible within the school, involved?
Are outside experts involved? Are out of school people (zoo keepers,
museum workers, parents/friends/etc…) involved?
Are these collaborations motivated? Are the collaborators motivated?
Participation -Are learners:
participating in real world science research?
engaging with current issues in science?
contributing to the learning of others (e.g. Scientists, other learners)?
Is ICT use motivated and appropriate?e.g:
Handheld and remote devices and sensors used to facilitate data capture?
Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality/Simulation tools used to make the
invisible visible or to represent difficult concepts?
Collaboration tools enabling larger scale data sharing, communication
beyond the classroom, etc.
Is technology enabling otherwise difficult or impossible learning activity?

Participatory science learning design checklist

Aim, learning objectives and/or other motivations for the activity

What age ranges/kinds of learners is the activity suitable for?

How does the activity build on learners' current knowledge/other learning?

How will learners be assessed?

How does the activity fit curriculum requirements?

What time period will the activity take place over? How many sessions, etc..

Where will the activity take place (may be multiple locations)?

What are the constraints imposed by these locations? (e.g. School and other institutional rules and regulations, health and safety, noise, restrictions on: access to Internet, equipment, behaviour etc…)

What equipment and other resources are required for the activity?

Where and how can these resource can be accessed/acquired?

Who needs to be involved in the activity? (teachers, technicians, outside experts, others)

How can these people be recruited/involved/motivated to participate?

What are the desired relationships between the people and learners involved in your design and how can the formation of these relationships be supported?

What other practical difficulties can you see in implementing your activity plan - e.g. training requirements, cost, ethics, risk assessment, discipline, etc...? How might these be overcome?

How will you assess the success of your activity?