IQWST: A Middle School Science App

Overall Rating: **** Stars out of *****

I am truly excited for this review and have perhaps unrealistically HIGH expectations, as the development team for this curriculum really knows how to do GOOD teaching and learning. These individuals have been at the cutting edge of reform and research based science teaching and technology integration. So, here I go... fingers crossed (so far I haven't found a digital resource earning more than 2 of 5 STARS using our RATING SYSTEM - see earlier BLOGS).

First, a little about the curriculum. IQWST (Investigating Questions about our World through Science and Technology) is a science curriculum for middle grades learners funded by the National Science Foundation and created by an interdisciplinary team of science teachers, scientists, literacy experts, curriculum designers, and university researchers. IQWST is funded by the National Science Foundation. The collaborative initiative is led by the University of Michigan's Center for Highly Interactive Classrooms, Curricula and Computing in Education (hic3e) and Northwestern University, in partnership with Michigan State University, Columbia University, the University of Illinois, and Project 2061.science educators at the University of Michigan and Northwestern University.

As stated on the IQWST website, "IQWST materials align with national standards, are rooted in principles of project-based scientific inquiry, focus on science’s “big ideas,” and employ research-based practices shown to promote students’ science and science literacy learning. This coordinated curriculum for grades 6-8 sequences physics, earth science, biology and chemistry instruction to build upon students’ prior knowledge and experiences in the real world, and to build understanding from unit to unit both within and across the middle school years. Students learn complex scientific ideas by engaging in practices that include working with models, constructing scientific explanations, engaging in argumentation and debate, analyzing data gathered either from students' own investigations or captured within complex datasets, and presenting ideas to peers."

I reviewed the Physical Science 2 Energy Unit App: Why do some things stop while others keep going? I'm viewing this App on my iPad, and I believe this is the only format now available.

Drum Roll Please... All in all, this app is the BEST I've seen so far, but it still received only 4 of 5 stars.

Here's why:

The App is a beta version and only the first lesson of the 12 lesson unit was available to me for this review. This lesson included a student section of the app with a video introduction and interactive note-taking opportunities throughout. The unit also included lesson activity directions (inquiry based, hands on lessons) and a lesson reading (with a read-aloud option). The note-taking opportunities include sections to record responses to the driving question, listing and identifying core scientific principles, a My Notes pad with an email function, and a model sketcher.

The App also included a teacher section. The available teacher resources included several sections accessible from the teacher menu bar, including: lesson set up, safety information, differentiation ideas, lesson introduction, activities/lesson plan, reading introduction, assessments (quiz), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) standard correlations and mathematics/LA Common Core standard alignment, unit overview (driving question tips), learning sets (I really liked these sets, which organized the unit into chunks of related lessons to achieve larger goal), scientific principles (another nice addition highlighting 18 BIG ideas found within the unit such as every moving object has kinetic energy), a unit calendar (which included suggested time requirements for lesson activities, readings, and homework).

So the design framework for the curriculum is simply first rate. 5 STARS. Yet, I still found the App to be lacking in some ways I had hoped it would have soared.

Specifically, the App's navigation was not intuitive. To go to student pages, I learned I needed to swipe down. To go to the teacher pages, swipe across, and then use the menu to the right. However, I could not find any help screens or orientation information, so it took me a little while to get the hang of the movement needed to access the information desired. Keeping in mind I reviewed a beta version, I was nevertheless frustrated by the navigation difficulties. There were a few other glitches found throughout the App. For example, the rolling can prediction response did not "run." Yet most disappointing was the Model Sketcher. It was really glitchy and seems pointless to include. I did not find any instructions directing students to use the Model Sketcher for any activities. Even if students were to use the sketcher option, the sketcher did not work within the App. The sketcher needs further development for certain.

The App also seemed to lack the BEST that technology has to offer. Although there was interactive opportunities presented which included options for students to respond to prompts using digital note-taking. If the iPad had "Siri" or other voice recognition abilities (which mine did not), I think students should be able to voice record notes (which I would consider an important strategy for differentiation). However, I was really hoping the App might include interactive animations and simulations. For example, students could construct their own "Rube Goldberg" machine or design and construct a digital perpetual motion machine. Students could easily be directed to take pictures using the tablet camera and add these to their notes. They could create a movies as an assessment of their understanding of the scientific principles as found in their real world. The quiz was a traditional multiple choice quiz found only in the teacher's section. Why not include an on-line quiz that could be taken in class or at home. If in class, the teacher could provide immediate feedback and graph the class results. The responses could then be used as a formative assessment tool providing rich information for discussion. I felt like many engaging interactive technology opportunities were missed. Again, this could be because the module is still in beta version or because electronic resource development is such a new endeavor, but either way, more interactive uses of technology to bring about deeper learning through student construction of knowledge is clearly needed.

This team of curriculum developers must know this too, as their written materials are highly engaging and framed in constructivist theory. I believe it is simply a matter of time before electronic student resources catch up with the times. And that can't happen too soon, as the students are ready and waiting!