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Explore the impact of digital libraries in high school STEM education, including gender equity, resource access, and interdisciplinary perspectives. Learn about key projects and research findings in this panel presentation.
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The Role of Digital Libraries in High School Teaching of STEM Panel Presentation Sarita Nair, Katherine Hanson, Marcia Mardis, Wesley Shumar
Agenda • Panel Introductions & Overview • Research Questions • Presentations • The Gender & Science Digital Library • Effective Access • Michigan Teacher Network • Math Forum • Questions & Feedback
Introductions & Overview • What is the Role of Digital Libraries in the High School Teaching of STEM? • Sarita Nair – Project Director, GSDL • Katherine Hanson - PD/PI Effective Access & GSDL • Marcia Mardis - Project Director, MTN • Wesley Shumar – Ethnographer, Math Forum
Research Questions • How are high school teachers currently using digital resources? What would they like to be doing? • How does collaborative planning (or the lack thereof) affect DL development? • Do K-12 educators care about metadata? • Where does ‘Google’ fit into the development paradigm?
The GSDL • For all STEM disciplines • Equitable materials for all students with emphasis on female engagement • Inter-disciplinary examination of the role of gender in teaching and learning • Serving a broad audience • Offering a wide range of content
The GSDL • Design considerations for K-12 • Focus group feedback • Results of pilot testing • Usage data • http://www.gsdl.org • Basis for Effective Access research project
Effective Access • Web use and textbooks are the two most relied upon resources • Teachers learn about resources from colleagues and professional development • Teachers say there’s not enough time to make effective use of the web • Resources used for background information, not necessarily integrated into the classroom
Effective Access • Teachers • http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=26853192055 • Developers • http:// www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=32220185416
Michigan Teacher Network • Founded in 1998 for Michigan educators • 17,000+ page views per day • Statewide PD events searching and classroom planning resources • Original collection policy limited to Web sites--now changing to item level • http://www.michiganteacher.net
Michigan Teacher Network • What’s consistent in the established literature? • Time is consistently a big factor • Teachers say quality is important but don’t take time to evaluate quality • Teachers consult colleagues (Sutton, 1999) • But, recent research leads elsewhere…
Conclusions • Many users exhibit “Search Engine Habits” • Search for items beyond scope of collection • Seem to be expecting to search site text, not metadata • Perform searches on browsing categories
Conclusions • Most searches occur after school • MTN users seek classroom management help the most • Science is the most searched curriculum area • Users search very broad or very narrow concepts with few terms • Users seem to want objects • Users repeatedly type in the same search
Users misunderstand sometimes… • Ozzy Osbourne • Motown Hoe Down • Health priorities in Australia • Bay City Boating and Fishing • Recipes (food) • Spices and herbs • Buying a car • SARS • Mazda rx-8 • Bush declares war
Michigan Teacher Network • Citation Analysis • Practitioner literature between 1998 and 2002 • Collection development, working with S&M teachers, working with S&M students advice • Hypothesis: there’s not much out there
Michigan Teacher Network • Citation Analysis Conclusions • Not much out there • Collection development focuses on entire Web site, not object level • More than “This is How We Do it Good” • Little authoring collaboration • Need to do same study on S&M practitioner literature for comparison • What does it all mean?
The Math Forum - Introduction • Building of the Math Forum site was very ground up-the site evolved based on user interests • The site evolved with the Web • Focus was always in supporting a community that cared about math education • Resources were built out of interactions and collections of gifts • A utopian system of generalized reciprocity
The Math Forum - Evaluation • Evaluation at the Math Forum established a process for understanding the possibilities for social interaction and resource development • Community was central to the success of The Math Forum • The Math Forum strategy for building resources gave people “buy-in” as well as creating a “rich site” • Different “teacher types” were supported in different ways
The Math Forum - Community • From the beginning the Math Forum saw themselves as a Community • Community gives people a sense of attachment and belonging • The community was supported by f2f and online activities • Active teachers developed a sense of emotional attachment to the site
The Math Forum - Teachers • There are three main teacher types using the Math Forum • Novice, Intermediate, Expert • There seem to be some gendered differences in interaction • Leaders who become major contributors to the site are rare but essential
Conclusion • Questions for Panelists • Comments on Research Questions Thank you!