Assignment #2 A Blended Model for Biology Education

Jennifer Bos
#55634000

June 23, 2013


ETEC 511

Word count: 2762 + references




















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Science can be uesciibeu as a systematic enteipiise that builus anu oiganizes
knowleuge in the foim of testable explanations anu pieuications about the univeise
(Wikipeuia, 2u1S), with biological sciences focusing specifically on living systems.
Thiee main factois uefine the subuisciplines of biology; the scale at which
oiganisms aie stuuieu, the kinus of oiganisms stuuieu, anu the methous useu foi
stuuying them. Some of these subuisciplines aie moie abstiact (moleculai anu cell
biology) while otheis aie moie ieauily obseivable (ecology anu physiology).
When consiueiing the histoiy of biology, it quickly becomes eviuent that the auvent
of new technologies has been an impetus foi biological uiscoveiy. Consiuei foi
example the micioscope leauing to the uiscoveiy of the cell oi x-iay ciystallogiaphy
leauing to the uiscoveiy of the uouble-helix mouel of BNA. These new technologies
have not only contiibuteu to oui unueistanuing of oui natuial woilu, but also to the
way in which we teach this knowleuge to oui stuuents. Animations, simulations,
anu viitual ieality aie allowing stuuents to obtain a fullei pictuie of complex
biological piocesses (Lee & Tsai, 2u1S), in a moie contextualizeu anu active
enviionment (Winuschitl & Anuie, 1998).
Technology is often heialueu as the panacea foi mouein uay science euucation, anu
yet at the same time theie aie many (Fiist Nations gioups anu 0utuooi Euucation
auvocates) who aie calling foi a ietuin to the natuial enviionment which biology is
inheiently stuuying. Is mouein uay science euucation too focuseu on the lastest anu
gieatest technological tool, at a uetiiment to the natuial oiigins of biological
unueistanuing.
In this papei, I will aigue that what is neeueu in biology euucation is a balanceu
mouel in which a vaiiety of appioaches (both high-tech anu no-tech) is neeueu.
Aftei a look at the histoiy of biology euucation, I will investigate a numbei of
euucational technological tools anu the benefits pioviue to leaining, followeu by
alteinative (typically no-tech) appioaches to biology euucation. I will finish with a
summaiy why biology euucation shoulu use a blenueu mouel using both high-tech
anu no-tech appioaches to leaining.

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Tiauitionally, teaching in biology euucation has useu a tiansmission mouel, making
use of iote leaining, completion of exeicises anu assessment tests aftei each unit
(Shim et al, 2uuS). Computei Assisteu Instiuction (CAI) was fiist useu in the subject
aieas of physics anu statistics in the late Su's eaily 6u's at Floiiua Sate 0niveisity
(Chambeis & Spiechei, 198u). In the Su's, the uieam was that computeis woulu be
useu as patient teacheis, sciupulous examineis anu tiieless scheuuleis of
instiuction (Peat & Feinanuez, 2uuu). With the suppoit of the National Science
Founuation in the 7u's, the C0NB0IT consoitium woikeu to acquiie, evaluate anu
uistiibute quality instiuctional computing mateiials on a national basis (Chambeis
& Spiechei, 198u). In 198u, it was asseiteu that the most wiuely accepteu values of
CAI was that it involveu the inuiviuual actively in the leaining piocess anu that the
leainei hau the capability to pioceeu at his own pace. Seconuaiy was its ability to
peimit stuuents to "mix explosive chemicals togethei in a simulateu laboiatoiy
without uestioying themselves anu the lab" (Chambeis & Spiechei, 198u).
Bowevei, uptake of CAI in the classioom was slow uue to the high cost of haiuwaie
anu couisewaie, the lack of expeitise to uevelop mateiials anu the consiueiable
amount of teachei tiaining iequiieu (Chambeis & Spiechei, 198u). 0ntil the 199u's,
computeis weie piimaiily useu as an infoimation iesouice anu a uiill anu test
assessment aiue (Peat & Feinanuez, 2uuu). In the late 9u's to eaily 2uuu's, much of
the euucational infoimation that was pioviueu by computei netwoiks was not
authenticateu anu was not inteiactive. viitual ieality changeu that, allowing foi
activities such as simulations in biology euucation (Shim et al, 2uuS). These giauual
shifts in technology weie pioclaimeu as the tools that woulu allow teacheis to move
fiom the "sage on the stage to a guiue at the siue". Anu yet even as iecently as 2u11,
the Ameiican Association foi the Auvancement of Science (AAAS) has publisheu
iepoits inuicating that foi many stuuents "biology continues to be a launuiy list of
topics, countless new woius anu uiagiams to memoiize, anu cookbook expeiiments
to get thiough iathei than a conceptual unueistanuing of the fielu anu scientific
skills" (Nusante, 2u11).

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It has been wiuely iecognizeu that, as technology becomes moie ubiquitous, the face
of euucation is changing much moie iapiuly (Bullen & }anes, 2uu7). The peivasive
inuustiial mouel in which biology euucation is compaitmentalizeu anu uisconnecteu
fiom ieality (Bettencouit et al, 2u11) will no longei woik in the 21
st
centuiy.
Tiauitional mouels, in which stuuents aie piesenteu with solveu pioblems,
teiminology, fixeu theoiies anu laboiatoiy techniques, (Reisei et al, 2uuu) will no
longei piepaie them foi a knowleuge-baseu society.
The AAAS has publisheu that the ultimate goal of science euucation is to achieve
scientific liteiacy; in othei woius, to be able to see the iole that science anu
technology play in uaily life anu society (Wu et al, 2u12). The National Committee
on Science Euucation Stanuaius anu Assessment issueu that "science euucation
must ieflect science that is piacticeu anu that the one goal of science euucation is to
piepaie stuuents who unueistanu the moues of ieasoning of scientific inquiiy anu
can use them" (Bauiy, 199S). Stuuents must unueistanu what biology is, how it
woiks, the ways in which biological knowleuge is constiucteu, anu what values
biologists aie using in theii piofessional woik (Bettencouit et al, 2u11). While this
is uifficult, if not impossible, to achieve foi some of the subuisciplines of biology in a
tiansmission style of classioom, a vaiiety of technologies aie affoiuing stuuents the
oppoitunity to paiticipate in meaningful leaining activities incluuing; viitual ieality,
simulations, animations anu euutainment. The hope is that thiough the active
paiticipation in these leaining technologies, that stuuents woulu be equippeu with
ciitical anu ieflective points of view, piepaiing them foi piofessional futuies
(Bettencouit et al, 2u11).



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In a liteiatuie ieview conuucteu by Lee & Tsai of S6 empiiical aiticles, spanning
euucational technology in biology fiom 2uu1 anu 2u1u, it was founu that the
majoiity of the stuuies utilizeu simulations, animations, viitual iealitylaboiatoiy,
anu euutainment. To a lessei uegiee the liteiatuie coveieu multimeuiaonline
mateiial anu integiateu systems foi complex leaining (Lee & Tsai, 2u1S). Foi the
puiposes of this papei I will focus on the beneficial uses of the most commonly
ievieweu technologies.

viitual RealityLaboiatoiies

Within viitual enviionments stuuents aie able to exploie anu manipulate leaining
objects in oiuei to bettei unueistanu biological phenomena. viitual ieality
technology (vRT) can inciease engagement anu aiouse motivation by stimulating
multi-sensoiy oigans in stuuents (Shim et al, 2uuS). vRT can affoiu stuuents the
oppoitunity to caiiy out labs that woulu be otheiwise too uangeious, time
consuming oi expensive to caiiy out in a tiauitional classioom.
Stuuies have shown that, while pie-test scoies weie not significantly uiffeient
between contiol anu tieatment gioups, that at the post-test scoies of stuuents
paiticipating in viitual baseu instiuction weie significantly highei than the contiol
gioup taught using 2B meuia. In one meuical school piogiam in which viitual
ieality was useu to teach anesthesiology, fewei tiials ovei a shoitei peiiou of time
weie iequiieu foi stuuents to ieach an acceptable level of piofessional peifoimance
(Chambeis & Spiechei, 198u)

SimulationsAnimation

Nuch like vR, simulations anu animations can help useis to obtain a fullei pictuie of
complex biological phenomena. They take abstiact concepts such as BNA stiuctuie
of the Polymeiase Chain Reaction anu iepiesent them in ways that stuuents can
visualize.
Sangei et al (2uu1) establisheu that stuuents often stiuggle with the concepts of
uiffusion anu osmosis because theii abstiact natuie foices stuuents to visualize
chemical piocesses at the moleculai level. Theii ieseaich finuings suppoit the iuea
that computei animations can facilitate the uevelopment of stuuent's visualization
skills. The stuuents who vieweu animations uepicting these moleculai piocesses
uevelopeu moie accuiate conceptions baseu on the paiticulate anu ianuom motion
of mattei was eviuent in the animations (Sangei et al, 2uu1).
In anothei case, Winuschitl anu Anuie (1998) investigateu the effects of a
constiuctivist veisus objectivists leaining enviionment using a computei simulation
of the human caiuiovasculai system. They founu that constiuctivist appioaches to
simulations alloweu stuuents to fieely test anu evaluate theii own hypothesis in a
moie iichly contextualizeu enviionment. 0n the othei hanu, the objectivist
simulation uiu not engage the leainei beyonu following instiuctions, thus showing
that exploiatoiy computei exeicises aie moie effective than confiimatoiy exeicises.
uame-Baseu Leaining

While it is typically fun anu enteitainment that fiist attiacts people to games, a well-
uesigneu game has the ability to motivate anu piomote leaining. They pioviue
oppoitunities foi playeis to actively anu ciitically expeiience, piactice anu ieflect on
theii iueas in a pioblem-baseu, situateu anu low-iisk context. "With piopei
technology anu stoiylines, uigital games coulu extenu leaining foim the viitual
game woilu, to the ieal woilu, pioviuing stuuents with a moie authentic expeiience
of uoing science" (Li & Tsai, 2u1S). A tutoitooltutee fiamewoik has been
pioposeu in which well thoughtfully uesigneu euucational games have the capacity
to tutoi stuuents in euucation, act as a tool foi exploiing science piocesses anu place
stuuent in the iole of tutee as game-makeis themselves (Li & Tsai, 2u1S). Stuuents
who useu euutainment hau bettei attituues towaius biology, howevei stuuents who
useu both tutoiial softwaie ANB euutainment achieveu highei scoies than the gioup
that useu non-computei baseu mateiials (Li & Tsai, 2u1S)

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Biology uuiueu Inquiiy Leaining Enviionments (BuuILE) have uevelopeu units that
make use of investigation activities accessible thiough softwaie enviionments.
Stuuents constiuct empiiically suppoiteu explanations using piimaiy uata, anu
suppoit tools foi analyzing the uata anu synthesizing explanations. Authois of the
piogiam have iecognizeu that uiffeient bianches of Biology will have uiffeient ways
of appioaching anu fiaming theii questions. Foi example, Evolutionaiy Biology will
use obseivational aiguments, while Noleculai Biology will builu theoiy fiom
expeiimentation. This has leu them to focus theii units on obseivational
investigation, such as woulu be useu in evolutionaiy biology oi ecology, anu thus
auopt a pioblem baseu leaining appioach foi theii units. Foi example, in theii unit
"#$%&&'( )*$ "%$+,+-' miuule school stuuents leain about ecosystems anu natuial
selection via a computei simulateu ciisis in the ualapagos Islanus. They must
investigate inteiacting components of the complex ecosystem in oiuei to ueteimine
why animals aie uying. In theii iesults the authois founu that theie was some initial
eviuence that stuuents woiking thiough this unit became bettei at wiiting
evolutionaiy explanations. (Resiei et al, 2uuu)

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While theie aie many benefits to euucational technology, theie aie a numbei of
shoitfalls in the uocumenteu ieseaich. 0ne of the most iecent liteiatuie ieviews
conuucteu on technology in biology euucation (Lee & Tsai, 2u1S) founu some
inteiesting gaps in stuuies involving inteiuisciplinaiy tiaining anu foi fosteiing
pioblem solving kills. Nuch of the ieseaich has been focuseu on what is peiceiveu
to be the abstiact subuisciplines of biology such as genetics, cell anu moleculai
biology, ecology anu human bouy systems. They also pointeu out that ieseaich on
emeigent technologies such as augmenteu ieality anu hanu-helu uevices weie iaie,
that they expecteu that those technologies woulu soon be integiateu into the
pieviously mentioneu applications such as games anu visualizations.
Anothei gap, anu that which will be the focus of the final poition of this papei, is the
iuea of what stuuents aie missing because of the automation of labs. As Nickeison
(2uu6) so eloquently put it, "automation may iemove the seienuipity associateu
with tiauitional laboiatoiy leaining". If stuuents aie accustomeu to "expeiiments"
baseu on well tiieu iecipes that "woik", then ieal expeiimental piactical ecology is
likely to piove a uifficult expeiience foi them (Billon et al, 2uu6).
In the .(/ 0,*'*&1 23,#,-#,+( pioposeu by the National Reseaich Council, they
pieuict that the new societal challenges will be finuing solutions foi "sustainable
foou piouuction, piotection of the enviionment, ienewable eneigy anu
impiovement in human health" (National Reseaich Council, 2uuS). Lee anu Tsai
(2u1S) claim in oiuei to solve these ieal-life pioblems, the focus will have to tuin to
"technology-suppoiteu leaining foi pioblem solving, especially in an
inteiuisciplinaiy context" (Lee & Tsai). While technology may play an impoitant
iole in uiscoveiing solution to these issues of sustainability, it will also be impoitant
to consiuei othei appioaches to biology euucation to ensuie that oui automateu
view uoes not cause us to miss impoitant factois affecting natuial woilu.

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Westein science has a tenuency to compaitmentalize knowleuge anu science
euucation tenus to be uecontextualizeu in the uetacheu setting of a classioom
(Bainhaiut & Kawagley, 2uuS). While euucational technologies seek to ue-
compaitmentalize anu ie-contextualize using animations, simulations anu viitual
ieality, is it possible foi a man-maue computei piogiam to incluue all of the
inteiacting vaiiables anu factois of an enviionment. What of the inteiactions that
scientists aie not yet awaie of. 0nfoitunately, computei piogiams cannot account
foi human biases, anu biology itself is full of human bias (Sammel, 2uu9).
Inuigenous knowleuge on the othei hanu is situateu in long inhabiteu enviionments
anu has been caiefully constiucteu by obseiving natuial piocesses. This uiiect
expeiience with the natuial enviionment, allows situations to come to be
unueistoou in ielation to the system as a whole. Even the AAAS has begun to
iecognize that Inuigenous knowleuge anu knowleuge systems "offei lessons that
can benefit eveiyone, fiom euucatoi to scientist, as we seaich foi a moie satisfying
anu sustainable way to live on this planet" (Bainhaiut & Kawagley, 2uuS).
Incieasingly Tiauitional Ecological Knowleuge (TEK) is being useu by scientist to
help solve biological anu ecological pioblems (Snively & Coisiglia, 2uu1).
Consiuei the example of the Nisga'a fisheiman who obseiveu matuie Bungeness
ciabs, maich past the uock at the mouth of the Nass Rivei iathei then theii typical
behavioi of staying in the ueep watei of Alice Aim. Suspecting the unusual behavioi
was uue to the new molybuenum mine at Alice Aim, he contacteu authoiities anu it
was quickly confiimeu that the ocean flooi was being affecteu by the heavy metal
tailings (Snively & Coisiglia, 2uu1).

Biologists anu chemists woiking in fielu analysis acknowleuge that a tiauitional
Fiist Nation piactitionei can often uetect changes in taste of the watei anu tissue of
maiine life, at levels below that of contempoiaiy testing equipment (Snively &
Coisiglia, 2uu1).
By leaining fiom the Fiist Nation ways of knowing, anu appioaching biology in a
holistic mannei, embeuueu in the enviionment that is being stuuying, stuuents will
leain to unueistanu the inteiconnecteuness of living systems. It has been shown
that outuooi leaining expeiiences aie moie effective foi ueveloping cognitive skills,
anu stuuents in an enviionmental focuseu cuiiiculum scoieu highei in the majoiity
of acauemic assessments than stuuents in tiauitional schools (Billon et al, 2uu6).

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It has been shown that leaining technologies play an impoitant iole in ceitain
aspects of biology euucation, affoiuing stuuents with the ability to paiticipate in
costly labs, oi visualize abstiact piocesses. New technologies can expanu leaining
oppoitunities foi stuuents anu pioviue "a venue foi iich investigations, pioviuing
both access to uata anu poweiful analytical tools". It is these tools that then pioviue
scaffoluing to suppoit stuuent leaining in the aiea of scientific piactice anu
classioom inquiiy piactices. Bowevei, Reseaich finuings also inuicate that stuuents
aie moie likely to unueistanu the natuial woilu if they woik uiiectly with natuial
phenomena, using theii senses anu using instiuments to extenu the powei of theii
senses (Bauiy, 199S).

A goou example in which a blenueu mouel of both high-tech anu no-tech solutions
aie being useu is in the scenaiio of inaccuiacy of fish counteis obseiveu by the
Nisga'a people. In seeing the inaccuiacy, they instituteu an ingenious fish counting
system that combines the ancient fish wheel technology with mouein statistical
methous loggeu electionically (Snively & Coisiglia, 2uu1). By auopting a Fiist
Nation appioach to biology, it is not that technology is being avoiueu, it is that it's
being embeuueu into the fiamewoik of the natuial enviionment.
A gieat ueal of the focus to uate has been on piepaiing oui stuuents foi the uigital
age of the 21
st
centuiy, howevei anothei uefining aspect of the 21
st
centuiy will be
oui vaiious ecological pioblems that will only be fully unueistoou by inteiacting
with the natuial enviionments in which they occui. It is foi this ieason that I
piopose that it is impoitant to finu a balance in the biology classioom between oui
high-tech anu no-tech options.


















45.5%5#)5,


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