Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Alvarez, Marino C..
This paper details how the Interactive Electronic Network is being utilized by secondary and postsecondary students, and their teachers and professors, to facilitate learning and understanding. The Interactive Electronic Network is couched within the Explorers of the Universe web site in a restricted portion entitled Gateway.
Much of school learning consists of rote memorization of facts with little emphasis on meaningful interpretations. Knowledge construction is reduced to factual knowledge production with little regard for critical thinking, problem solving, or clarifying misconceptions. An important role of a middle and secondary teacher when teaching science is to aid students' ability to reflect upon what they know about a given topic and make available strategies that will enhance their understanding of text and science experiments. Developing metacognition, the ability to monitor one's own knowledge about a topic of study and to activate appropriate strategies, enhances students' learning when faced with reading, writing and problem solving situations. Two instructional strategies that can involve students in developing metacognitive awareness are hierarchical concept mapping, and Vee diagrams. Concept maps enable students to organize their ideas and reveal visually these ideas to others. A Vee diagram is a structured visual means of relating the methodological aspects of an activity to its underlying conceptual aspect in ways that aid learners in meaningful understanding of scientific investigations.
The Explorers of the Universe is a multifaceted scientific/literacy project that involves teachers and their students with problem oriented situations using authentic materials. This paper presents examples of self-directed cases researched by high school students and the met acognitive tools they use in the planning, carrying out, and finalizing their reports.