Home PublicationsJRTEPast IssuesVolume 28 Number 5

Edited by Diane McGrath

Volume 28 Number 5 Summer 1996

Multimedia Science Projects: Seven Case Studies, Data Eisenhower Grant-Project

Kansas State University

Eisenhower Grant

Gender: Attitude Toward Subject Matter

HS-1, Teacher T1

Teacher Journal

2/28-G1 especially wants to dig into the history of it.

3/3-G2 seems really interested in volunteering to do the extra after-school research at the N__ County Historical Society. G1 is going to the N__ County Library Saturday to look at the old N__ County News copies.

3/25-G3 did a really neat thing this week - she has been working on scanning a windmill to use for the windmill stack. The H. Daily News printed a really good picture of one in the March 22 issue - nice contrast. G3 scanned it and then did several adjustments to gray it out so that it could be used as a background with text over it.

Student Journals

B3. 3/7-Overall went well. Couldn't find anything on stoneposts - will get that at L__. Found some evidence on windmills.

3/8-Went good today. Found more evidence on windmills. I'm excited about goinG to L__ tomorrow. Should be fun and educational.

CC Interview with Teacher

CC: Are there any gender differences in the different tasks they assign for themselves?
T1: No. the groups themselves... they are divided into two groups and they are intermixed gender-wise and they are also intermixed in terms of abilities, and they are as closely divided as a class as I can get them, and they did it themselves, which is kind of funny, because they divided themselves pretty much the same way I would have done.

KW Interview with 3B at Conference

K: Who do you think enjoyed doing this project more, boys, girls, or was it pretty equal?
B: It was pretty equal, I think.

KW Interview with 2G, 1B at Conference

K: Who do you think enjoyed doing this project more - boys? girls? or was it pretty much in the middle?
G1: I think it was even
B: I think it was even
G2: Yeah

HS-3, Teacher T3

CC Interview with Teacher

CC: Ok. did you find that the kids delegated the tasks between themselves.. like I'm going to get down into the stream and catch the fish, and you write it down and... do they delegate tasks between each other?
T3: Yeah they did that pretty well.
CC: Did you always find that the girls tended to take notes and do the videotaping while the boys ran around all over the place?
T3: No.. not really... they weren't excited about getting all gross, but...
CC: (laugh)
T3: ..but when we went down to get the tracks and stuff (animal tracks) you know they were just as muddy.

KW, Interview with 2G, 4B at Conference

K: Who do you think, I kind of want to hear from several of you on this. Who do you think enjoyed this more, boys, girls, no difference?
G: I think it depends on the different aspects of what we did
K: OK...
G2: cause we split it up into parts and both of us girls were in the same group.
G1: Right. The girls did one thing and the guys did another. The guys went out and got wet and they stayed in the river and got...
B: Swing on vines and everything
K: So the guys got to do Tarzan, OK... and the girls got to do what?
Gs, alternating: We did the history part, and we interviewed..., we went out and looked at all the places where people used to live and stuff like that.

MS-2, Teacher T6

Video, Visit 2 (Last Visit for This Group), DM and Entire Class

D: alright let me ask you this then, wake you up a little bit: Who like this project more, the boys or the girls?
Ss: girls, boys, girls, boys
D: OK, let's hear just from the boys - who liked this project better, the boys or the girls?
Bs: Girls, boys, I don't know
D: OK, let's hear just from the girls
Gs: boys! boys! boys!
D: Any girls think that the boys were [inaudible]?
G: Yeah, yeah
D: What do you think?
T6: I don't know. At the start I think the girls were more into it than the guys..and then when it got into the actual putting it into the computer network then the boys stepped forward. But the intial excitement I thought came from the girls.

DM Interview with Teacher, After Last Visit

K-"...there was one of the girls in the research group... She's a real snake lover... She has brought in some snakes, and could tell me everything I needed to know about those animals. In fact most of those girls in there just really loved snakes, in fact absolutely loved them, just loved them...and that's another interesting thing, in my work with exposing kids and adults, to amphibians and reptiles, no matter what age, I have found that across the board females tend to be less frightened and less fearful and more receptive of snakes than males...the girls are the ones that come forward first, and not the boys...and some time I am going to do some research on this, because I think there's something important going on here, I'm not sure what it is, but it kinda [inaudible] the traditional thinking..."

MS-3, Teachers T7 & T8

Teacher Journal (T7)

May - The feedback in all situations were very positive. Students wanted to know if there would be a chance to do a project like it next school year. The last day of school we have a year book signing time and several of the eight grade students wrote in my book that they hope other students would have a chance to do a HyperCard project next year. I think these are examples of the how the students really feel about the project. Overall I feel this project was a success

Student Journal, 8th Grade

B9, Field trip - very interesting, and learning water plant was the best. learning how the water got clean.

Video, Visit 3, DM Talking with Entire Class

D: Do you like this way of doing science?
Ss: Yeah, it's cool.
D: Do you like the field trip better or putting it together?
Ss: [Mixed opinion.]
D: Which do you like better, this or doing a research paper?
Ss: This!

ES-1, Teachers T9 & T10

3rd Grade Journals

B1. 11/22-I am glad to be a part of this project. I like to use the computer to do work! I like it better because the computer is fun.

G1. 11/22-feel ok. I like useing computers in science. I like computers because it is fun.

B2. 11/28-Im working on cat tail and Grasses. It is going to be hard work. But it is fun. We have to mak two hyperCard.

11/29-We made pictures Grass It is fun. It is hard. It is net.

B3. 11/22-I like the project a lot because it is fun. I like a computer cause it is fun.
...
4/19-Hypercard is fun to do

B4. 11/22-I feel good to be a part of this project. I like computers because you don't have to do reports.

4th Grade Journals

G10. date unknown-After about two weeks we went on a field trip to Cheyenne Bottoms and Quiviria National Wildlife Refuge. We collected a vide [video] from Quiviria and Cheyenne Bottoms.
At Cheyenne Bottoms we took a tour. On the tour we saw Whooping Cranes. Whooping Cranes are endagered. Well, any away were gathering information for the HyperCard stacks. Were still doing that now and soon I'm sure we'll have it done and it will probably be very neat.

B5. 11-30-We went to quirva park and saw animals like birds for computer class. It was very fun. There was blue harrons and many more. We saw a ostrich to. And we saw 1 eagle to. it was very fun with all those animals and birds. There was whooping cranes to. And we don key boarding and looked at hypercard stacks to. We learned a lot to.

Teacher (T9) Journal

{note: written from T9's memory on 3/17 - lost journal on hard drive crash)
May 18 ...Overall I feel like they learning about the wetlands and enjoyed most of the process. ...Putting together the field trip experience with book research and a multi-media project made it interesting and fun for the kids, not to mention memorable and educational.

Teacher (T10) Journal

April 18 ...Overall the class loved the project. They were very interested in the subject and were excited with being on the computers.

Gender: Leadership and Expertise

HS-1, Teacher T1

Teacher Journal

2/28-G1 especially wants to dig into the history of it.

3/3-G2 seems really interested in volunteering to do the extra after-school research at the N__ County Historical Society. G1 is going to the N__ County Library Saturday to look at the old N__ County News copies.

3/25-G3 did a really neat thing this week - she has been working on scanning a windmill to use for the windmill stack. The H. Daily News printed a really good picture of one in the March 22 issue - nice contrast. G3 scanned it and then did several adjustments to gray it out so that it could be used as a background with text over it.

3/15-B1 designed a really cute stone-post fence from a ruler. As I spoke with his mother about it, she expressed surprise that he was that creative.

CC Interview with Teacher

CC: ...Have any student experts emerged in the class, and has there been any peer teaching?
T1: Yes
CC: Ok.. and you think.. I think you said this before.. you think that's a good thing?
T1: Oh definitely... I .. the girl in the class who has the lowest grade and the least motivation discovered the other day how to do something with HyperCard which the rest of us didn't know how to do.. then so I immediately said next day since we had to scan something, so I told them that if you do it this way it will save you a lot of time...so I had her show them...

Video, Visit 1

   Another scene: two girls and a boy working together, the girl at the keyboard looking like she is doing most of the work, and not just the typing.

KW Interview with 3B at Conference

K: I remember I was looking through some of your journals, there was one person who said they were scanning today, and then the next day they were scanning, and then the next day they were scanning, and then the next day they were helping somebody scan. Was it kind of typical that some of you developed some kind of expertise?
Bs: Yeah, yup
K: Did you?
B: Because we really didn't have time to all learn it. Seemed like one person learned how to do it and showed the other people in the group.
B: Kind of taught everyone else
K: And did that kind of just develop naturally?
Bs: Yeah.

Gender and Attitude Toward Technology

HS-1, Teacher T1

CC Interview with Teacher, 4/30

CC: Ok. for example, when the kids go out to the museum to do research, is it always the girls who take down the notes, and the boys who handle the camera, or...
T1: No. actually its the girls who handle the camera.. there is one girl who handles the camera. I think she is the most motivated one on this project, and then both of them take down notes, ummm... the girls do take better notes, a lot of times the boys will take notes and then refer to the girls' notes when they get back.

KW Interview with 2G, 1B at Conference

K: What about in relationship to using the computers? Do you think that girls enjoyed it as much as the boys? boys more, less, same?
G1: We all, I mean we all just went for the computers...
G2: Yeah, I liked it
G1: I mean pretty much you know, we all wanted to use them.
[talking at once, with enthusiasm - can only sort out some of the words]

HS-2, Teacher T2

Student Journals

B7: It was a learning experience, to learn so much about what a computer program actually can do. I never knew you could put pictures and videos on a computer.
G2: I really enjoyed learning how the hypercard program worked. It was an interesting way to do a project.
G6: I did quiet a bit of the project out of class. I worked on my own computer.
G8: We also learned how to creat an interesting report, using more than just a pencil and a piece of paper. Working with Hypercard was a very educational process.
G9: ...learning about Hypercard was alot of fun.
G10: I have learned a ton about computers and alot about mammals also. This really helped my computer skills while being fun and educational.
G13: I enjoyed working with the computer technology and the [I] liked the sence of accomplishment when the stack would work the way we wanted it to.
B2: I learned a lot more about computers than I had in the past.

HS-3, Teacher T3

Video, Visit 2

   The videotape next picked up all eight students as they approached the creek they were studying. One boy was carrying a large net, and a girl tried to take it but he wouldn't let her. Then three of the four boys took the net into the creek to collect whatever they trapped in the net; they got soaked on this cold rainy day, but they seemed to enjoy it. A fourth boy stood as close to these boys as he could without actually being part of the netting (and getting wet). He seemed to be keeper of the pail. The only thing they identified out loud from their bucket was a crawdad. The three girls stood with the teacher and took video of what the boys were doing.

CC Interview with Teacher, 5/19

CC: did you always find that the girls tended to take notes and do the videotaping while the boys ran around all over the place?
T3: no.. not really... they weren't excited about getting all gross, but...when we went down to get the tracks and stuff (animal tracks) you know they were just as muddy.
CC: ok.. but both the girls and the boys were equally involved in doing the HyperCard stacks right?
T3: yeah.

MS-3, Teachers T7 & T8

Teacher (T8) Journal

Nov.-Dec.-By December all but 3 girls would go directly back (sometimes doing 5-10 minutes of homework first ) to work on their stack. They particularly enjoyed doing sound buttons; they brought tapes of their favorite songs to enclude on their own card.

MJ Interview with 2 Teachers after End of Project

T7: "But I did see a lot of cooperation between the boys and girls. In other words, if it was a boy wanting help something, he didn't automatically turn to another boy. He knew that the girl probably knew as much about he did."

Video, Visit 3, DM and Entire Class

DM: Who liked it better, girls or boys?
"Boys." (says a B). "All of us" (says a B). "Two girls" (say the teachers).]

ES-1, Teachers T9 and T10

Video, Visit 1

[Just starting to make buttons]
T9: "Remember how to make a button? See if you can make a button."
[Lots of quiet talk as kids try stuff out and try to figure it out. 2G and1B, B typing, 2G can hardly keep their hands off it. ]

Video, Visit 2

   HC asks 3G who did the research? typing? editing? answers are not clear -"All of us" "I did" "She did." Goes to 3B and asks why kid has his hand up - they don't know what to do next. She suggests something. Goes to BG and 3rd student and asks them to show what they're doing in their stack. "We're just kinda coloring the cards." Giggle. 3G join them and emphatically discuss color.

 ES-1 Boys' Opinion on  Girls and Computers
[QT movie: 2.2MB]

Video, Visit 3, DM and Both Classes

DM: Who liked it more, girls or boys?
Noisy clamoring. Girls: "Yeah!"
DM: More than boys?
"Yeah!" Boys: "Yeah!"
DM: Who liked it more?
"Girls!" " They hogged it!"
...
DM: Have you got any helpful suggestions for another 3rd and 4th grade?
"Try to agree." "Let the boys help." "Have girls and boys in a competition!"

Teacher T10 Journal

11/25-There seems to be no difference in interest between boys and girls. If anything the girls are more interested in getting on the computer than they boys are.

4/18-As for boys being more interested in the computer than the girls. In my class that was not the case. The girls seemed to somewhat take control of the computers. They outnumber the boys, and were as eager and interested in getting to control the computer and get their ideas inputted into the computer program.

Multimedia

Old Hat

MS-2, Teacher T6

DM-Interview with T6, 5/23/95 After Visit 2 (Final Visit)

DM: If...it's old hat, then what do they think about when they do this project. They must be thinking more about the science, and the technology doesn't get in the way.
T6: You see you were getting a lot of response about the class itself and not about the project... This was just one small little aspect of the whole class and the whole focus was on the live animals and the importance of these animals within the environment, and you know, our connection with them and them to us...
T6: Well most of these students, even the ones in this class, most of the students in this school...have had exposure with either HyperCard or HyperStudio or both. So this is not new to the majority of these students...As a district we use that software a lot...We use it for everything. I'm sure that next year for science I'll be using it again.
...
They weren't that excited about putting the video clip of them saying "___Middle School!" that was filmed for us. You know that wasn't that big a deal. This is no surprise to these kids. In this district we kinda like to think we're on the leading edge of some of these things... From third grade up they've been doing stuff like this."
DM: If they came in doing that and it's old hat, then what do they think about when they do this project. They must be thinking more about the science, and the technology doesn't get in the way.
T6: You see you were getting a lot of response about the class itself and not about the project... This was just one small little aspect of the whole class and the whole focus was on the live animals and the importance of these animals within the environment, and you know, our connection with them and them to us...
DM: "When these kids go on they'll be going to T2's class, and maybe T1's class..Is everybody required to take one of these classes?"
T6: yes
DM: so I won't find out anything if I ask them if they're going to take more science?
T6: "They have to take science. But I'm sure that a lot of these kids will take T2's field biology class when they are sophomores..."

Video, Visit 2 (Final Visit for This Group), DM and EntireClass

DM: I'd really like your input on this, I really want to know. Suppose we were to do this again next year with the next group, is there one thing you can tell us, or even two things, that would make this a better
[lots of silly stuff DM and teacher try to get them to answer]
DM: for example, would you like enough computers that you could all work on the computers?
Ss: No, no, no [yawn]
DM: The people that did not work on the computers didn't want to do it...
Ss: Nope, no
[chat about being freshmen in a couple of days]
DM: When you get to hs are you going to take any science?
Ss: lots of yeses
T6: How many of you enrolled in earth science?
lots of hands go up, enthusiastic talking
DM: Now here's a dangerous question, Mrs. T, you look the other way. Now quietly, raise your hands - how many of you really like science?
[lots of hands go up!]

Projects and Audience

HS-1: Project

The class project was ongoing study of the school's wildlife area, which was surrounded by stone-post fencing. The study also involved locating and using historical documents and a visit from soil experts. Students had their own separate work, but claimed they cooperated on all the other parts. T1 helped them put the modules under one menu, and was quite serious about its looking good. Parents viewed the project at an awards dinner. T1 said parents couldn't believe their children had done this, and that they hadn't known such things were possible.

HS-2: Project

This project was an interrelated study in which students selected different aspects to research relating to a local raparian area. Students took weekly field trips. T2's project lasted nine weeks, and her students were unable to go on the Cheyenne Bottoms field trip because T2 was quite sick during this period of the semester. Students showed their final project at a parents evening, which the principal and some board members also attended. They had never really believed there would be a real audience until they sent out the invitations.

Click to see Shockwave animation of part of stack.

HS-3: Project

This class was involved in the study of a lake area, including the social significance of the water to historic and current times. This was the first time that field trips had become a part of this class, and students liked them a lot. Because the project was not completed until June, there was no formal audience.

Click to see Shockwave animation of part of stack.

MS-1: Project

These youngsters studied a creek adjacent to a historical site where the Oregon Trail crosses. The science class studied water quality, micro-organisms, etc. From this and library work, students got the content for the stacks they built in computer class. There was no audience except the research staff.

Click to see Shockwave animation of part of stack.

MS-2: Project

The focus of this group's study was reptiles and amphibians in their county, a strong interest of T6's. Gradually the multimedia project was limited to frogs and lizards. Students showed their projects to the sixth grade.

Click to see Shockwave animation of part of stack.

MS-3: Project

This project was a study of soil erosion and water issues, related to new reservoir. Students had an all-day visit with soil conservation experts, who provided a lot of hands-on learning experiences. Eighth graders showed the project at parents night. All students showed the project to the seventh grade.

Click to see Shockwave animation of part of stack.

ES-1: Project

Their project was study of animals, plants, and water, in a conservation context. The project had four modules, each done by six students, and each menu-driven. You can see the influence of T1's style on this project design (T1 was their mentor, and her son was in this class). The only audience for this multimedia presentation was research staff.

Copyright © 1996, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.