Hands-on Science in A Digital World
Physical and digital learning models both have their merits. A study from the University of Chicago found that when students engage with science concepts through hands-on activities, they deepen their understanding of the material. A report from Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) states that digital and interactive content— including videos, simulations and interactive maps, among others—give science students opportunity to explore concepts through multiple lenses.
So how do we bring these two approaches together? How do we order physical and digital experiences to drive learning?
The best order depends on the domain of science and what students already know,” O’Donnell explains. “For young novice learners—for students who are not experts in a particular area or have inaccurate prior knowledge—researchers say that object-driven learning before digital learning is critical for student understanding.”
And providing guidance to teachers on how to structure the use of digital resources in a lesson also matters.
For example, eighth grade students who use a physical convection tube to observe how air moves in response to temperature changes might apply their understanding of unstable air to tornado formation by using a free digital resource, like Disaster Detector, to analyze and interpret data to forecast future catastrophic events. Fifth grade students studying how to bring fresh water to those in need might set up stations in their classroom to physically move water from one area of the room to another and then engage in a simulation, like Aquation, to take actions to balance the world’s global water resources.
Of course, none of this matters if we don’t help students link their observations—whether physical or digital—to conceptual ideas and support students’ thinking in explicit ways.
