TPCK+in+Science

=TPCK in Science=

Where can I use technology in science? What are the pedagogical uses of technology in science?
 * Parts of the curriculum can be easier to teach when technology is incorporated. If the teacher can identify these parts they can use the technology to overcome pedagogical or cognitive difficulties.
 * One area is real animal dissection. For some students this is repulsive, not engaging, and messy, which can cause them to fail to learn the intended lessons. Virtual dissection can be used to solve these issues.
 * Parts of the curriculum that need technology to be taught.
 * How can you show your students microscopic organisms? You could show them enlarged images, but is that as effective as seeing the actual organism? To see these organisms a class can use either a microscope or a simulated microscope with a computer.
 * Speed up time
 * Season changes
 * Seeing things that are not normally visible
 * Movement of particles as solids, liquids, and gases

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 * Seeing processes that are not normally visible
 * Oxygen cycle

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 * Seeing things that are not safe to view
 * Sodium and water reaction

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What kinds of technology can be used? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.25in;">How can I teach science with technology? **Using Technology to Create Scientific Models for Learning**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Accessing current information
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">You can give your students the most recent information by viewing websites such as, []<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> that update regularly.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">General technology not specific to science
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Word processing
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Spreadsheets
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Graphic software
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Specific technology designed for teaching and learning science
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[|Digital Frog]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[|BioKIDS]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Technology designed to do science
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Microscope
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Telescope
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Scientific calculator
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Teach students about the technology before they start using it
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Do a demonstration for the class and point out what they should know before using it
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Let students practice using the technology before using it
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">By giving students the opportunity to play around with the technology, they will become more familiar with it
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Identify potential problems with technology and be able to correct them or have an alternate plan ready
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you plan on using an online program and the Internet connection is down, what will you have the students do instead?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Decide what the best classroom setting should be
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Students working in large groups, small groups or individually
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Decide how adding this technology is adding to the students’ understanding of the content
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Is it an abstract concept that would be difficult to understand without technology?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Does the technology take away a previous limitation the lesson had?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Plan an assessment of the student learning and assess the activity
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Were the students successful in learning the desired objectives?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Did the technology enhanced activity help the students more than the previous activity?

Another question that you might have is how to use technology to create models that help students understand scientific processes. This could be used for "helping students understand a complex cycle, such as an oxygen cycle in a pond. A computer based modeling program can help students visualize the processes involved and they can manipulate variables in ways that would be impossible if studying a particular body of water or reading and solving problems in a textbook" (McCrory, 2008). Gilbert and Ireton tell us: "Models are essential to the learning of science...they are one of the four 'common themes of Science' " (Gilbert & Ireton, 2003). Gilbert and Ireton also relate that: "The National Science Education Standards recommend that models be the focus of instruction, helping students to understand the use of evidence in science, to make and test predictions, to use logic, and to assemble their own understanding of how things work," Gilbert & Ireton, 2003). The next question to be addressed could be: what types of digital models are available to help facilitate student understanding? One website that helps students understand molecular structure is [|BioMolecular Explorer 3D]. In this website students can explore cells, viruses, DNA molecules, lipids and also the molecular structure of water. This site, [] also has links to YouTube videos that explore the molecular structure of water in its various states of matter. In the Earth Science Area, there are also digital internet models to be found. [|USGS Education]Webpage has a wealth of resources for teachers from K-12. Models of geological processes, digital examples of different types of rocks and minerals, biology, cartography and space science links contain many digital models that can help students learn and understand specific science concepts and processes. So much of understanding in Science depends on the precept, or mental model that we construct in our mind to make sense of the world. Gilbert and Ireton break down the three components necessary to create a precept, or mental model of our world. Component one is our five senses. Component 2 is our sense receptors, that "provide us with information about our location in time and space, our balance, and our general state of being," (Gilbert and Ireton, 2003). The finishing component is our memories. "When we respond to stimuli...we create patterns in our nervous systems...we remember which patterns help us... When the brain integrates information from all these three sources... the result is a mental construct called a precept," (Gilbert and Ireton, 2003). Using digital resources can help teachers guide students to more rich precepts to build their understanding of the world. [|Oregon State University] has developed a website called "Volcano World" that can give students virtual tours of volcanic activity, link the student and the teacher to NASA satellite photos, and lesson plans like [|From Pangea to Present] a lesson that teaches plate tectonics and continental drift by way of created digital images and text. If global teaching is desired [|Scotland's Earth Science Education Unit]has educational resources, maps, rock samples and geological information pertinent to Scotland, that could also help students' perceptions of the world be enhanced, and therefore, expand their mental models of the world, enrich their mental models, and also their understanding of science concepts. Sources:

Gilbert, Steven W., Ireton, Shirley Watt. (2003). //Understanding Models in Earth and Space Science//. Arlington, VA: NTSA press. McCrory, R. (2008). Science, technology, and teaching the topic-specific challenges of TPCK in science. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (Ed.), //Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) for Educators// (pp. 193-206). New York, NY: Routledge.