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"Students understand and act
on personal and social interests which facilitate development of decision-making
skills while experiencing science in a form that engages them in active
construction of ideas and explanations."
NC Science Curriculum Earth/Environmental Science National Science Education Standards |
Environmental Issues Applying the Dick and Carey Model to the Shell Island
Simulation
Although this instructional system was designed to be delivered in a nonlinear
environment, each stage of the Dick and Carey model was applied to the
design. The Dick and Carey model was then augmented with constructivist
components. The following explains how each component of the Dick and Carey
model was implemented with regard to the instructional design and development
of the Shell Island Dilemma simulation:
Our evaluation group was presented with an overview
of the activity and was then instructed to review the activity as a teacher
and then as a student. Each reviewer completed an evaluation sheet of the
Shell Island Dilemma activity (Table 3).
The evaluators were asked to rate the individual program features of the
activity using a Likert-type scale, indicating the degree to which the
feature is present. The features evaluated included instructional design,
content, learning considerations, documentation, and the goals and objectives
of the activity.
The evaluators were also asked to look at the activity
holistically and reach an overall conclusion based on their impressions.
After the evaluators completed the evaluation form, a focus group discussion
was conducted to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the activity.
The focus group made recommendations to modify the instructional program,
including creating a specific description of each stakeholder within the
instructional system and developing a "Student Record Sheet Assessment."
The Shell Island Dilemma debate simulation was field tested with a 10th
grade environmental science class. The teacher of this class served as
the evaluator. The students (n=30) spent two days in the computer lab gathering
information on their stakeholder role and one day debating in the classroom.
The evaluator stated that "the Student Record Sheet Assessment made sure
that they (the students) were well-prepared for the debate." The evaluator
also stated that the students' attitudes toward the activity were positive.
Additional recommendations after the field test resulted in the creation
of a "Position Statement Handout" to be utilized by students during their
investigation. The evaluators were requested to use the NC State University's
SERVIT Group's (Science Education Research in Visual Instructional Technologies)
"Evaluating Science WWW Resources" paper as a guideline during their review
of the Shell Island Dilemma. This guideline is contained in the Appendix.
Reviews were returned to the instructional designer via email. Each review
was positive and no further recommended changes to the activity were stated.
One reviewer even commented that this activity would be an effective tool
for a social studies teacher to discuss the handling of social issues. The following elements were incorporated into the Dick and Carey model
to create a constructivist environment within the instructional system:
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| "…the Shell Island Dilemma …illustrates that the traditional systems model continues to provide a base for the design and development of instructional systems in an online constructivist environment for science education." |
Conclusion
The Carolina Coastal Science Web site is an instructional system defined
as an arrangement of resources and procedures used to promote learning.
Although the Dick and Carey systems approach model for designing instruction
was designed for linear instruction, this approach can still be used as
part of the instructional design and developmental process in an inquiry-based
online learning environment. Creating an instructional system in an online
environment promotes the use of constructivist theories in student learning
due to the nature of their engagement within a hypermedia environment.
The systems approach is currently being challenged by constructivist
theories and models which recognize that social context, roles and relationships
are central to learning. However, the Shell Island Dilemma on the Carolina Coastal
Science Web site illustrates that the traditional systems model continues
to provide a base for the design and development of instructional systems
in an online constructivist environment for science education.
References
Bodzin, A. M. (1999, July 4). Carolina coastal science. Raleigh, NC. Retrieved July 17, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ncsu.edu/coast
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Kant, I. (1959). Critique of pure reason. London: Dent/Everyman.
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