Inquiry Project #3

Michelle KoczanCEP 806

November 2011

The purpose of this project was to…

• Experiment with different forms of communication to work with a partner to carry out science activities.

• Determine whether internet communication is a useful tool in science learning.

• Are students able to effectively interact through the internet to complete a science activity.

The types of interactions used in this inquiry…

• Face to face• Synchronous Chat

For this inquiry…

I participated in two different science activities which were held in three different contexts.

• Face to face: Egg Drop Experiment• Synchronous Chat: Catapult• Asynchronous Conversation/Blog: Pencil

Tower

Face to Face Interaction

The Egg Drop Challenge was held in a face to face situation with my husband, Chris.

I predicted at the beginning that this would be the best interaction since we were able to help each other and work together at the same time

This activity required close to three hours.

The Egg Drop

Challenges with face to face

• Arranging a time that was suitable for both people.

• Time constraint• Compatible personalities• Finding a place free of distraction

Observations

• We were able to bounce ideas off of each other easily.

• One person was a bit more dominant than the other.

• Smooth transition from one idea to the next.• Once the activity was done it was done.

Limited ability to extend on the lesson.

Synchronous Chat

The catapult activity was conducted through Synchronous Chat with my sister who lives in Austin.

I predicted that this would be fairly similar to a face to face interaction since we were able to view what the other person was doing.

This activity required two hours.

I didn’t have Skype so I had to download it. (I really enjoyed using this program and plan to use it in the future)

Challenges with Synchronous Chat

• Arranging a time that was suitable for both people.

• Network connection issues• Software/computer issues• Staying in sync with the other person• Time constraint

Observations

• It was difficult to stay on the same pace as the person on the other end.

• One person was having difficulty and it was difficult to assist over the chat program.

• We were able to see what the other person was doing along the way.

• Audio was sometimes difficult to understand.• Much more time consuming.

Final thoughts…

• There are pros and cons of each scenario. • The type of learning that students prefer will

depend on their learning type. • Students who have social anxiety may prefer

to work with a student in a synchronous chat scenario over face to face.

• Students who have more dominant personalities may take over face to face interactions.

• It is much easier to show your partner how to do something in person than it is over chat.

• Internet based learning is easier to promote extended learning experiences by providing link to other websites, forums, etc.

• Internet based learning takes more preparation and tends to be more time consuming.

Final thoughts…

Thank you