1. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Hands-On Virtual Courseware for Inquiry-Based Science Education Robert Desharnais Dave Mayo David Risner California State University, Los Angeles Supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the California State University.

2. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Project Philosophy Students Learn by Doing! “Virtual Courseware” activities are interactive simulations that emphasize the scientific method: making observations, proposing hypotheses, designing experiments, collecting and analyzing data, synthesizing results.

3. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Virtual Courseware activities are: Web-based, easily-accessible Aimed at introductory science majors Vertically scalable (HS, GE, upper division) Designed to reinforce scientific methodology Interactive, intuitive, inquiry-based Modular and self-contained

4. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Virtual Courseware activities are NOT: Designed to replace traditional labs Declarative multimedia presentations Standalone tutorials On-line courses

5. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Historical Development of Virtual Courseware Project NextStep application development Web-based CGI (Virtual FlyLab & Earthquake) Biology Labs On-Line (commercial partnership) Geology Labs On-Line Earth & Environmental Science Courseware Inquiry-Based Courseware for Secondary School Science Education

6. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Early Virtual Courseware was CGI-Based Form-based input WWW server HTML output CGI scripts are simple and reliable Limited GUI; places load on server

7. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Virtual FlyLab Mate fruit flies to determine the principles of genetic inheritance Students could choose from 30 mutations in any combinations (1000’s of possibilities) Students design their own experiments Students enter and test hypotheses Iterative “trial and error” learning process Can range from simple monohybrid crosses to complex mapping experiments

8. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Screen Images of Virtual FlyLab

9. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Virtual FlyLab Usage Over 665,000 users Over 5,000,000 fruit-fly matings

10. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Virtual Earthquake Students analyze seismograms to determine location of earthquake’s epicenter Students analyze seismograms to determine earthquake’s Richter magnitude Demonstrates principle of triangulation and use of nomograms Linear learning activity Feedback provided when errors are made; only correct responses allow students to complete the activity

11. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Screen Images of Virtual Earthquake

12. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Virtual Earthquake Usage Over 1,000,000 certificates One day record is 4,210 certificates

13. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Biology Labs On-Line (1999 – 2002) Commercial partnership between CSU and publisher Benjamin Cummings Twelve Java-based applets were developed for introductory biology Subscription web-site: $5.25 / year / applet; site licensing also available ($100 / year) Over 250,000 applets downloaded in 03/04 Adopted by 600+ U.S. colleges & universities

14. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Applets of Biology Labs On-Line CardioLabDemographyLabEnzymeLabEvolutionLab FlyLabHemoglobinLabLeafLab MitochondriaLab PedigreeLabPopEcoLabPopGenLab TranslationLab

15. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Geology Labs On-Line (1999 – 2001) Linear interactive Web-based exercises Use a combination of CGI, Perl, PHP, Javascript, Java applets, Flash Four activities are available: –Virtual Dating – Isochron –Virtual Dating – Radiocarbon –Virtual River – Discharge –Virtual River – Flooding Approximately 150,000 users to date

16. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Earth & Environmental Science Courseware (2000–2004) New Earthquake activity is the prototype Two activities and 7 tutorials: –Energy Budget –Future Climate Change –Albedo, Carbon Cycle, Greenhouse Effects, Greenhouse Gasses, Hydrological Cycle, Milankovitch Cycles, Seasons Released in August 2004

17. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Prototype: New Earthquake Activity

18. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Usage of New Earthquake Approximately 64,000 users since Spring 2002 Currently 4000 class accounts Breakdown by type of institution: –25% Middle Schools –41% High Schools –9% Two-year Colleges –11% Four-year Colleges –5% Universities with MS Programs –9% Doctoral Universities

19. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Future Plans Develop activities for secondary school science education Recent $1.3M (3 year) NSF ESIE-IMD award Develop 36 activities in life and earth sciences Project Team: –PI & CoPI (Desharnais & Mayo) –Science Ed faculty associate (Narguizian) –Science Ed postdoc (Limson) –Programmer and graphic artist (Risner, Berberyan) –Graduate assistant (Kwong)

20. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) Lessons Learned It takes lots of resources to do the job right –Time of the developers –Content expertise –Programming assistance –Graphics design –All of the above costs money ($1.5M so far) Team effort is needed (not too many!) There should be a single vision Listen to users (solicit feedback) and act on it

21. Virtual Courseware Project (ScienceCourseware.com) More Lessons Learned In the sciences, simulations rule! Emphasize the scientific method Allow for “vertical scalability” Instructors prefer modularity Virtual courseware has the potential for reaching many students (our combined total exceeds 2,000,000) Virtual courseware can enhance learning