FA 2.9 Use of the Internet for Student Self-Managed Larning

Revised

Michael R. Taber1, Eugene S. Takle 1,2,3, Douglas Fils3

1Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, 2Department of Agronomy, 3International Institute of Theoretical and Applied Physics, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011. Phone: (515) 294-9871: Fax: (515) 294-3163; E-mail: mtaber@iastate.edu.

1. INTRODUCTION
We have developed a senior-level Global Change course on the Internet as a platform for experimenting with student self-manage learning. The course is taught with the conventional 3 hours of lecture per week but, in addition, has its own homepage (URL): http://www.iitap.iastate.edu/gccourse which has numerous interactive features to engage the student more intensively in the learning process. Our long-term goal is to provide a course that can be taken asynchronously and completely over the Internet by students with a spectrum of backgrounds.

2. COURSE OBJECTIVES
The course gives an overview of evidence that our environment is changing on global scales. Topics include trace gases in the troposphere, stratospheric ozone, global warming, climate modeling, deforestation, and desertification. Patterns of population growth and energy consumption are described, and implications of global change for plant processes, landscape systems, and agriculture are discussed. The class also addresses the economic, societal, and policy implications of these changes. The course has three key objectives: (1) to demonstrate the interconnectedness of the earth system, (2) to help students recognize and value authoritative literature on global-change issues, and (3) to engage students in dialog among themselves and with outside experts on the economic, social, political, and ethical implications of global environmental change.

3. ELECTRONIC DIALOG
One functionality of our course that offers students open-ended opportunities to manage and be recognized for their work is the electronic dialog. This feature enables students to enter assignments, questions, essays, literature searches, arguments, or other information into databases organized by the instructor. Access to these databases is determined by the purpose of each particular database, but most are universally available. The electronic dialog has the effects of (1) extending class discussion beyond the class period, (2) encouraging student interaction with the instructor outside of class, (3) allowing students to dialog with outside experts on a particular issue, (4) allowing the instructor to organize and monitor student interactive exercises, and (5) engaging the students in helping to find new information (on the Web or otherwise) suitable for inclusion on the homepage.

Rigid (and sometimes not very creative) assignments coupled with grade inflation by instructors often discourages creative and highly motivated students by limiting their opportunities to excel and demonstrate advanced reasoning. The electronic dialog is an open-ended invitation to students to explore the web and other sources of information and to dialog with the world. Because the dialog for each class is archived and available over the web, it is form of electronic publishing that the students can cite and link to from their own homepages and to which they can refer potential employers seeking examples of applicants' work.

4. NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION
The recently released National Science Education Standards (Bybee and Pratt, 1996) provide a vision for science educators to create an environment that promotes scientific literacy. Bybee and Pratt outline changes in emphases needed in two fundamental areas of inquiry and content, which are accomplished within a framework of equity.

Changing emphases on inquiry means students need to do more analysis and synthesis of scientific data, develop strategies to use science as an argument in defending their judgments, and publicly communicate their scientific ideas. The electronic dialog offers three areas in which students are asked to publicly defend their perceptions. Discussion topics relating to global change requires students to use recently acquired information as argument and explanation. Ethical issues posed by the instructor add an important dimension to scientific explanation by allowing students to integrate science and social perspectives.

Changing emphasis on content means students need to learn the subject through integration of all disciplines within a few fundamental concepts. Energy and hydrologic budgets are two such concepts that are consistently examined in most topics. Post-lecture activities allow students to apply the concept to a new situation, thereby further developing their abilities of inquiry.

5. STUDENT PORTFOLIOS
Description
A new functionality being added for Sprint 1997 is the student portfolio which allows the student to more clearly recognize and monitor his/her own learning process. The course is graded on the basis of student performance on the following: summaries of three peer-reviewed papers from the scientific literature, and essay relating global change to the student's discipline, discussion on the electronic dialog, pre and post-lecture assignments, and two short answer exams. The portfolio lists each of these items and clearly states the standards for acceptable and outstanding work for each item. Students electronically submit completed assignments which are then appended to their portfolio. Once the instructor has reviewed an assignment, the formal evaluation is appended to the student's portfolio, providing them with an opportunity to self-evaluate their work against the pre-determined standards. In addition, any responses students receive from other electronic dialog participants is also appended to their portfolio, providing students with the opportunity to pursue further dialog.

Benefits
The portfolio offers the student the opportunity to participate in the evolving development of a finished product under guidance of the instructor. The student is able to observe how standards are enforced and actively participate in the process of moving their work to a higher standard.

The portfolio provides an extra dimension for assessing student capabilities because it reveals not only students' abilities to master major topics of the course but also how they respond to challenges to meet higher standards. It also provides students with a record of their development process which they can use for self-analysis and reflection on their own learning process. A key objective for use of the portfolio is to have students assume the burden of assessing their own work. They are encouraged to view assessment as a process rather than a final result.

Design
The electronic portfolio is managed by use of cgi-bin and HTML files. Access to the electronic portfolio is limited to the individual student and instructor, although some of the portfolio contents (i.e. the electronic dialog general discussion) may be public domain.

6. SUMMARY
We have experimented with the Internet as a means of allowing the student to more actively participate in managing their own learning process. One significant advantage of the Internet for this task the availability of the electronic dialog that offers students open-ended opportunities to scientifically defend their explanations and be recognized for their work. The student portfolio allows the student to participate in the assessment process and analyze their own learning curve.

Acknowledgements: Course extensions to include interactive activities was supported by a grant from the Office of the Provost, Iowa State University.

7. REFERENCES
Bybee, R. W. and Harold A. Pratt, 1996: National Standards: Challenges for earth science education. Geoscience, September 1996, 16-19.

Takle, E. S., and M. R. Taber, 1996: Use of the Internet as a platform for a university course on global change. Fifth Sympsoium on Education, Amer. Meteor. Soc., Atlanta, GA J33-J34.

Takle, E. S., and M. R. Taber, 1996: Use of the Web as a tool for interactive learning. World Conf. Of the Web Soc., San Francisco. October 16-19.