Submitted by:
Douglas Gordin
Research Assistant
Learning Sciences
Institute for the Learning Sciences, Northwestern University
1890 Maple Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201 USA
v: (708) 467-2405
f: (708) 491-5258
e: gordin@ils.nwu.edu
gordin@medici.ils.nwu.edu
Categories:
Education, K12; Education, higher; Education, continuing or distance; Research, academic
Keywords:
Innovative or improved ways of doing things; More equitable access to technology or electronic information; Creation of new ideas, products, or services; Technology transfer; Local commitment to network-based activities; Volunteer contributions of time and energy
Supporting Documentation (contact author for more information):
Video; Software; Documentation; Slides/photographs; Audio recordings; Computer graphic images, such as GIF files; CD/ROM; Other (Data Sets)
The Story:
This is a story of how a single request, floated on the winds of a meteorological newsgroup, brought forth a thunderstorm of help. Our goal, as part of the Collaborative Visualization Project (funded by the NSF program for Applications of Advanced Technologies), is to connect high school students to practicing scientists by giving them the tools of scientists, especially scientific visualization. Scientific visualization provides a way to experience abstract quantities through colorful pictures and animations. But back in the Fall of 1992 we, in the Institute for the Learning Sciences, didn’t know where to best find the data sets that fuel these visualizations. So, we posted to “sci.geo.meteorology” asking for suggestions. In response, we received an enthusiastic, reply from Professor Raymond Pierrehumbert of the University of Chicago’s Geophysics Department, who subsequently volunteered not only gigabytes of data and critically needed software, but also, tutorials on climatology, insight into the atmospheric science community, and audio and video t ped interviews of his scientific methodology. Professor Pierrehumbert’s voluntary efforts have aided our project in its acquisition of data sets from the National Meteorological Commission, Unidata, and NASA. We in turn, are making these resources available to high school students. Guided by videotape accounts of how Professor Pierrehumbert accesses these data sets we ar devising software programs to embody his techniques and modify them for high school level use.
Yet, it is not sufficient to merely give scientist’s tools to high school students lest they stumble like the sorcerer’s apprentice who could call for water but not stem its flow. It is not enough to distribute resources and it is not enough to distribute textbook knowledge. Tools must be appropriated in the context of the community that builds and uses them. Through the Internet’s mediation the methods and practices of scientists can permeate the boundaries of the schoolhouse. For example, through an electronic mail exchange, scientists can suggest student projects and critique students’ results. The time warping and space changing abilities of electronic communication can serve to connect students with scientists just as we, by chance, were led to Professor Pierrehumbert.
For additional information contact:
Dr. Roy Pea
John Evans Professor of Education
Learning Sciences
Institute for the Learning Sciences
Northwestern University
1890 Maple Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201
v: (708) 467-1190
f: (708) 491-5258
e: pea@ils.nwu.edu