Harry
Shipman doesn't walk in anybody's shadow. But he does
teach UD students the importance of shadows in
understanding seasons.
To help his students understand
why we have seasons,Shipman, Physics & Astronomy,
developed an interactive,
problem-based e-lab, framing the concepts in authentic experience --
a criminal investigation that requires an understanding of shadows and
their positions during different seasons. This e-lab, delivered via
MyCourses, combines the collaborative technologies of a course management
system with original multimedia content (video, animation).
"I had an idea for simply
videotaping an introduction to the lab, but conversations with Janet
de Vry and Justin Schakelman (staff of PRESENT) gave me the
idea
to add the PBL component to the exercise," says Shipman.
Replete
with resources, pop-up video, engaging content, and a crime scene
drama readily available, students systematically explore the concepts
of The Shadows of Light.
Using photographs
of the "suspect," students must determine whether the shadows
in the pictures support the suspect's story. In addition to the evidence,
students have tools to learn about how a shadow can pinpoint location
and season. An interactive flashlight lets students explore this concept
on the Web.
"My
purpose in producing this e-lab was to permit the TA's to do what
they are good at -- working with the students one on one -- and to
let videotape do what the TA's would valiantly struggle with, namely
setting this lab in context."
Previously,
lab TAs tried to introduce the topic of the seasons to their students
through a traditional 5- to 10-minute introduction. In addition to
handling multiple lab sections, only a minority of Shipman's TAs are
astronomers.Some were brought up in
countries that do not have
seasons like ours (like Costa Rica, which has a rainy season from June
through December and a dry season from January until June).
"Data from an evaluation
done after my students had done the lab but before the end of the course
in spring 2001 showed a strong correlation between student understanding
of the seasons and TA background."
Students
visit an online pre-lab and post-lab before and after the in-class
portion of the lab. By enriching the pre- and post-laboratory experiences
through an online medium, the students become more connected to the
in-class portion of the lab.
"My hope is that all
students will develop an understanding of why we have seasons."
Harry Shipman