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 The VISION modules will be offered to students via short-term subscriptions to online e-learning modules.The modules are hosted on Scence Approach’s e-learning site. Two modules, "Exploring Neuron Form and Function" and "Surgery Practice," will be offered in a hybrid presentation: a free online introductory tutorial followed by an inquiry-based, hands-on analysis of the topic that can be accessed for a nominal fee per student. The remaining three modules will feature online, fee-based hands-on inquiry and analysis. Payment of the fee to Science Approach or, for example, a university book store, would allow the student to access the materials for four months (the length of a typical semester). The VISION modules are integrated with Grades 9-12 science standards. Formative and summative assessments are built into the structure of the online materials, providing students with immediate feedback regarding the content of the module and their progress in understanding the material. Essay, short answer, multiple choice, true-false, image quiz, and open-ended numerical items are included. Responses to graded assessments can be e-mailed to faculty. Instructors who acquire a classroom license will have the option of keeping a gradebook. A moderated subscription option, with grading of course attempts and live interaction with students, is being considered. VISION will be offered in Moodle, a course management system used by nearly 50,000 sites worldwide. Moodle is based on constructivist and constructionist pedagogical philosophies. These philosophies propose that people actively construct new knowledge as they interact with their environment and learn best when constructing something for others to experience. Accordingly, the VISION materials will be more than passive tutorials. They will support active creation of knowledge with tips, hints, and scaffolded accomplishment of complex analysis tasks. Instructors will have the option of using the modules as standalone activities or, if a module is being used with 30 or more students, in “course mode.” As a stand-alone module, students’ results will be e-mailed to the instructor. In course mode, the module can be run as a Moodle course. The instructor will have access to the gradebook, forums, and other standard Moodle functionality. |