MirandaNet

Publications | Research | Profiles | Braided Learning Ejournal

Science Through Arts is a new multi-disciplinary, multi-lingual, technology-rich project, being sponsored and developed by the NASA Glenn Learning Technologies Project (LTP), Cleveland, Ohio, and the Holy Cross School, Surrey, United Kingdom. The project was designed to increase students’ enthusiasm for science by using NASA online materials as the stimulus for creative activities across the entire secondary school curriculum. Two strategies form the heart of the STAR Project:

The pilot project, which ran from September 2002 through December 2002, included middle grades and high schools in Michigan, Pennsylvania, the UK, and Japan. Mars exploration was chosen as the topic of the pilot project because it is current, it is historically relevant, and it provides existing prototypes for STAR-type activities (myths, stories, novels, radio broadcasts, television, and movies). In the pilot project, the students used NASA web materials as a source of information; PowerPoint to assemble their research; and word processing, desktop publishing, music software, email, email attachments, and videoconferencing equipment to develop creative narrative, poetic, and artistic skills. The students were able to share and develop their creative ideas with students across the three continents (USA, Europe, and Asia) who were involved in the pilot project.

Information on the project’s creation and components, pilot participants, guidelines, and significance will be discussed. Students’ creations will be showcased through the global Science Through Arts website (www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/STAR/). The website represents a new way of developing international collaborations in education and serves as a model or point of reference for schools around the world to use when offering further contributions. The audience will be invited to participate in the STAR project during the upcoming school year; participants will be guided through the enrolment process.

During the project:

  1. Students demonstrate proficiency in use of technology.
  2. Students demonstrate responsible use of technology systems, information, and software.
  3. Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-informed models, preparing publications, and other creative works.
  4. Students use telecommunications to collaborate, publish, and interact with peers, experts, and other audiences.
  5. Teachers implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximise student learning.

The session will be co-presented by Ruth Petersen and Lawrence Williams, STAR project directors, along with Joe Kolecki, Mars Pathfinder scientist. Ruth Petersen, who holds an MA in Education and over 20 years’ classroom teaching experience at the secondary and post-secondary levels, has worked with LTP at NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center for six years. As Educational Coordinator, Ruth has guided the development of the Beginner’s Guide to Aeronautics (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/) and NASA Virtual Visits (http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/CoE/Coemain.html), as well as their teacher-created supporting materials and websites. She has gained an international reputation in distance learning through coordinating several successful collaborations with groups in other countries. Ruth has published articles on videoconferencing and LTP-created simulation packages in NASA journals, international journals, and peer reviewed publications. Her most recent publication (“Technology Enables International, Real World Scientific Exploration”) was co-authored with Joe Kolecki and appeared in the July/August 2002 edition of TechTrends.

Lawrence Williams is Assistant Head Teacher at the Holy Cross School, where he teaches English, Music, and ICT. His school has an international reputation for the creative use of ICT tools for learning, and he has been asked by his government to represent the best ICT practice in the UK on a number of occasions. Lawrence enjoys lecturing on ICT and Learning at universities throughout the world, and he has published widely in academic books, journals, and online, in the UK, Europe, and Asia. He has also contributed to television programs about ICT, in the UK, Korea, and Japan. In 2000, Lawrence was invited to Buckingham Palace, by her Majesty the Queen, to honour his Achievement in Schools.

In April 2002, Ruth and Lawrence presented a paper together, and launched the Science, Creativity and the Young Mind website (the precursor to STAR), at an international conference on ICT tools in education, sponsored jointly by the Charles University, Prague, and the Ministry of Education, Czech Republic (click here to download the paper).

The lecture-interactive presentation will require no prerequisites other than interests in collaborative distance learning experiences and creativity.

Related websites:

[Back to the top]

[Back]