by Ramsey Minto
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas and Fayetteville High School collaborated in a research project that revealed students benefited more from using the same type of modeling software used by scientists than from traditional teaching.
Assistant professor of science education Stephen Burgin and assistant professor in chemistry Mahmoud Moradi took free molecular visualization software into two high school classrooms.
Researchers surveyed students before and after instructional use of the program to investigate changes in five aspects. The aspects are:
• Changing nature of models
• Models as exact replicas
• Models of explanatory tools
• Models as multiple representations
• Use of scientific methods
All but one aspect significantly increased. Understanding of models as exact replicas decreased, but not by much.
The researchers encouraged high school biology teachers to engage their students in using programs such as these.