TECHNOLOGY-RICH, GUIDED INQUIRY ON-LINE RESOURCES FOR THE MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE CLASSROOM FACILITATED BY THE NSF-MSP-FUNDED RITES PROJECT

The Rhode Island Technology Enhanced Science (RITES) Project works to build inquiry-based learning experiences in Rhode Island science classrooms. RITES enhances teacher comfort and training with numerous guided inquiry science projects for their classrooms, through a concentrated summer short course experience (focused on content building and pedagogical modeling) and strong in-year presence to support use of new knowledge and technology in individual classrooms. Each guided inquiry project is bundled as an “On-line Investigation,” essentially an on-line learning module with carefully edited text, evocative images, graphing/plotting/screenshot import tools, open-ended question windows, and an efficient teacher view of student comments and work, with instant updates. Each “Investigation” is the culmination of intensive collaborative design, with inputs from higher education and experienced in service teachers, closely tied to existing GSEs and real school curricular needs. In this work, we describe the process of developing the “Investigations,” from documenting the design requirements prepared by RITES, cataloging the existing set of available investigations, interpreting the success of the 2.5-day-long summer short course as a model for rapid, focused content enrichment and pedagogical modeling, and (based on teacher comments) identifying areas for strategic technology investments in Rhode Island schools to actualize inquiry based learning more fully.