ERIC Number: EJ1001210
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1449-5554
EISSN: N/A
"This Is My Thing!": Middle Years Students' Engagement and Learning Using Digital Resources
Molyneux, Paul; Godinho, Sally
Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, v28 n8 p1466-1486 2012
It is widely acknowledged that multimodal digital texts support student engagement with ideas, knowledge and new forms of literate practice. With this in mind, an interdisciplinary team at The University of Melbourne collaborated to create a digital resource--"The Venom Patrol" website--to teach scientific concepts about Australia's venomous animals to middle years students (Years 5-9). The website's development was a response to students' increasing use of digital texts and technologies, and the need to develop students' skills around being "multiliterate". An inquiry-based pedagogy sought to encourage interactive learning and to enhance student development of scientific literacy. This article reports the findings of a pilot study that investigated student and teacher responses to the functionality and appropriateness of the digital resource for teaching scientific literacy, and for engaging students with the science-based content. The study revealed different teacher approaches to using the digital resource in the classroom, with varying levels of success. It also found the students to be critical and insightful users of digital texts who welcomed both the choices offered by the non-linear structure of the resource and the opportunity this research afforded for their voices to be heard around texts and contexts for learning. (Contains 6 tables and 2 figures.)
Descriptors: Learner Engagement, Student Attitudes, Teaching Methods, Student Development, Foreign Countries, Scientific Concepts, Scientific Literacy, Computer Assisted Instruction, Animals, Elementary School Students, Web Sites, Teacher Attitudes, Inquiry, Information Technology, Multiple Literacies, Secondary School Students
Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education. Ascilite Secretariat, P.O. Box 44, Figtree, NSW, Australia. Tel: +61-8-9367-1133; e-mail: info@ascilite.org.au; Web site: http://www.ascilite.org.au/ajet
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A