We started the process with a national survey of almost 3,500 educators about their media use in the classroom. During the frist two years we selected 50 teacher advisors from around the country in each year to provide feedback on ideas and concepts, and to test materials in their classrooms. We got a lot of productive feedback, including how the BUAC materials support teaching more generally. Testing at this level continues, and we are now in the middle of a field study during which a group of 300 or so teachers and testing BUAC under relatively regular conditions. During the field study we will learn a lot about how and what teachers choose to use in their classrooms, including how they adapt material to fit their needs. Now we are preparing is a quasi-experimental study that will focus on student learning and continue the impact o teacher instructional practices. We are very excited about it. It will likely start in the fall.

Kristen,

Thanks for your comment! The lesson that you see was Paula's. She selected the resource she wanted to use, and she used our support materials to help her integrate it into her curriculum. She wanted to use it as an anchoring phenomenon for the weather unit that she was starting. What was important for me when watching this video was realizing that this was the first time these students had engaged with a digital model such as this one, and that it was early in their engagement when they were just beginning to make observations and look for patterns (on the path to later making predictions). 

As for measuring impact, our initial evaluation focus was on usability for instruction and teacher practice. Moving forward, we hope to move into measuring student learning impacts through the quasi-experimental study that Martin mentions above.

I agree, these are great quotes. There is something so exciting seeing kids (and adults) grapple with ideas in ways that excite them. It's about the ideas, and its about how we "grapple"...

Hi Rachel! Thanks for the question, its a good one. We see the digital media as providing new opportunities for more active engagement in science practices around content that has traditionally had to be more explanatory, as opposed to exploratory. This means that students can now observe/analyze/interact with data (etc.) around a phenomena that previously was just something that we had to "tell them" (like global ocean currents). So the short answer to your question is it provides new learning opportunities that are more active engagement with science practices. As for the QED, please feel free to connect with me so we can keep you in the loop as it develops!

R

Thanks Rachel! That all makes good sense.  

I will follow up about the QED - I will be very excited to learn about your findings.

Rachel will be the better person to answer the question, but here is my take: BUAC provides digital media resources and accompanying pedagogical support that teachers can integrate into existing curricula (so there are any) or use to create their own. Think of them as "replacement units" of various length, from a short module that may fit into a class to spanning multiple classes.

Cynthia, you ask a great question here. Having helped Rachel and the team to develop some of these resources, I wrestled with this too. In my view, the ultimate goal is to provide high quality examples of how to use digital media well in science instruction -- to engage students in phenomena and with science practices. While there are some lessons that incorporate digital media to show how the media contributes to science learning goals, the majority of the resources in the "universe" collection are just the media with pedagogical tips and suggestions, as Martin describes, so that teachers are sparked to identify how the media can be integrated into their own curriculum and instruction. Because these resources are available nationally, there is a wide variety of curricular contexts that the media could "drop into", and the guidance attempts to help educators see the potential application of the media whatever their context.

Thank you both for your responses.  I greatly appreciate your ultimate goal to "engage students in phenomena and with science practices" using digital media resources by supporting teachers in developing rich, engaging experiences.  I will definitely explore your resources for a Noyce project that we have, working with K-12 math and science teachers.  We have been supporting them to design units using "Understanding by Design" (Wiggins and McTighe), and it sounds like they could then explore your resources to incorporate digital media for students' exploration.  I will see when I look at your resources, but I am curious what examples you are providing/planning to provide in terms of grade levels, units, and connections to the Next Gen Standards.  Thanks!

Cynthia, thank you for your post and engagement with our presentation. Please let me know if we can support your your unit design efforts. Particularly, we have upcoming PD webinars in early June around curriculum integration for targeted grade bands (K-2, 35, 68, and 9-12) that are free and will be recorded for on-demand viewing. Our current offerings address the following NGSS topical areas: For K-2; Waves and Light, Space, Earth Systems, and Weather. For Grades 3-5; Space, Earth Systems, and Weather & Climate. For Middle School; Space, Story of Earth, and Weather & Climate. For high school; Space and Weather & Climate.

In development are resources that target Moon Phases and the History of Earth, followed by Waves and E/M for upper grades. Please get in touch if you have specific resource needs or topics that are not listed here.

Best,

Rachel

Nicki,

Thank you for sharing your experiences with Bringing the Universe to America's Classroom and how you also incorporate one of your Alabama Math, Science, and Technology resources, Water & Landforms. I look forward to learning more about all of the resources!

Ellen Thompson

AMSTI - UAH Science Specialist

Thank you for sharing this example, Nicki!  It is helpful to hear another example of the impact of this project!

Thank you, Denise, for letting us know!