A collaboration of

The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.
Georgia Institute of Technology
Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory

The technological revolution that has flooded businesses, schools, and homes with computers has done little or nothing to educate people about the role of the computer as a tool for doing science. Computer modeling and scientific visualization have opened new methods of observation and discovery to scientists and engineers. We are now beginning to unravel mysteries of earth, water, weather, sky, and space that were simply inaccessible with previous technology.

By presenting Modeling And Simulation Technologies for Education Reform (MASTER) in conjunction with Hands-On Universe (HOU), we put this new technology in the hands of teachers and students. Using support materials available on the World Wide Web and incorporating some classroom collaboration, teachers and students can learn about galaxy formation while using the same types of tools, techniques, and technologies that scientists and engineers are now using as an integral part of their everyday work.

SCIENCE AS INQUIRY

The basic concepts of MASTER (Modeling And Simulation Technologies for Education Reform) and HOU (Hands-On Universe), are highly complementary. HOU gives students access to scientific instruments (research grade telescopes and related observing equipment) and image processing tools which are identical to the data and tools that real scientists use. MASTER gives students access to the same scientific computing resources and environments used by scientists to study and test their theories of the laws governing cosmological phenomena.

Remote learners can use HOU to turn an automated 30" telescope to view distant galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae that the teachers and students select, and download images, which are actual scientific datasets, for classroom use. To the left is an HOU image of the M100 galaxy.

These images serve as one possible starting point for classroom research on galaxy structure. Young scientists can use the MASTER modeling tools to simulate the formation of a galaxy starting from initial conditions that they chose. By changing parameters in the model, or changing the model itself, the galaxy explorers can design numerical experiments that will help them understand the patterns of interaction among individual stars that may cause spiral, elliptical, and peculiar galaxy types.

THE REAL THING

The simulations in MASTER are authentic. When the students experiment with a set of parameters, they actually get the computational results from that set of parameters, not a stored animation selected by the parameters. This means that the observations the students can make will be the same observations a scientist would make using the same software. To the right is an image of a simulated galaxy generated by the MASTER Galaxy software package.

As a vital part of computational science involves understanding various sources of error, the curriculum materials supporting the simulations help apprentice scientists understand the unique challenges presented by numerical simulations, while demonstrating that detecting and controlling sources of error is an important part of all scientific observation and experimentation.

INTRAPLANETARY COLLABORATION

Until life is discovered elsewhere, we will have to limit our collaboration to planet Earth. However, that's about its only limitation. Students, teachers, and scientists around the world can initiate, respond to, rebut, or add to a "publication" of classroom research and work together on ongoing projects across oceans and continents.

Collaboration is an exciting and useful addition to the suite of tools now available to the active learner. Moreover, it serves a deeper educational purpose. Collaboration is a critical part of what scientists do. From exchanging data and dividing the workload, to comparing ideas and refining explanations, collaboration facilitates this crucial aspect of the scientific process in a natural, learning-by-doing way. Students can also learn to search for new or current research going on regarding whatever topic they are studying which would serve to familiarize them with truly cutting edge research and technology.

UNIFYING THEORY AND APPLICATION

Not only does MASTER/HOU integrate the experimental, the computational, and the collaborative aspects of science, but the supporting curriculum materials add the theoretical underpinnings to form a unified whole. The effect of this approach goes far beyond a single "galaxy unit"--it actually teaches the students to do science, not only by showing them but by involving them in the activities of real scientists. The techniques and concepts they learn through these materials will enable them to take an authentic approach to any particular scientific field.

A LITTLE BACKGROUND

HANDS-ON UNIVERSE

Hands-On Universe was once run completely by MS-Kermit over toll free phone lines. Today, the resources they have developed are globally accessible through the World Wide Web.

External evaluation has found that students who have been taught with HOU materials "are motivated to learn and retain scientific and mathematical concepts because they see the direct application of such material. Many students came away from the HOU experience with a much better understanding of what a research scientist does and felt that they could and may pursue science as a career." Tools like those created by HOU actually allow the possibility of real scientific discovery by students. For example, in spring 1994, two high school students requested observations of M51 (The Whirlpool Galaxy) during their investigation of spiral galaxies. A few days later they received a phone call informing them that they had captured the first light of SN1994I, the ninth supernova of 1994!

MASTER

The MASTER computational tools are the outgrowth of the innovative work of scientists mathematicians, and educators working with the Shodor Foundation with the goal of "real science done by real students in real classrooms." Observation and conjecture are as important as hypothesis and experiment in everyday mathematics and science. MASTER tools enable teachers and students to explore and discover a variety of phenomena, such as galaxies, crystals, and fractals as active participants in the exciting processes of science. Combining Web-based materials with access to remote high performance workstations and supercomputers, the MASTER modeling environment supports both self-paced and collaborative explorations.