Ronald W. Marx

Motivating project-based learning: Sustaining the doing, supporting the learning

Project-based learning is a comprehensive approach to classroom teaching and learning that is designed to engage students in investigation of authentic problems. In this article, we present an argument for why projects have the potential to help people learn; indicate factors in project design that affect motivation and thought; examine difficulties that students and teachers may encounter with projects; and describe how technology can support students and teachers as they work on projects, so that motivation and thought are sustained.

Beyond Cold Conceptual Change: The Role of Motivational Beliefs and Classroom Contextual Factors in the Process of Conceptual Change

Conceptual change models of student learning are useful for explicating the role of prior knowledge in students’ learning and are very popular in the research on learning in the subject areas. This article presents an analysis of a conceptual change model for describing student learning by applying research on student motivation to the process of conceptual change. Four general motivational constructs (goals, values, self-efficacy, and control beliefs) are suggested as potential mediators of the process of conceptual change. In addition, there is a discussion of the role of classroom contextual factors as moderators of the relations between student motivation and conceptual change. The article highlights the theoretical difficulties of a cold, or overly rational, model of conceptual change that focuses only on student cognition without considering the ways in which students’ motivational beliefs about themselves as learners and the roles of individuals in a classroom learning community can facilitate or hinder conceptual change.

Linking teacher and student learning to improve professional development in systemic reform

Abstract Professional development is key to standards-based reform, yet there is little empirical evidence upon which to base decisions of design or implementation. This paper presents a model of teacher learning and an analytic framework linking professional development to student and teacher learning. Our approach begins with an analysis of relevant content standards, and uses evidence of student performance to gauge areas of need. Professional development is evaluated using a combination of teacher reflection, classroom observation, and ongoing assessment of student performance. An example of this framework and process in use is presented in the context of an urban systemic reform program in science.

Handheld Devices are Ready-At-Hand

Given the significant costs involved in putting technology into schools and given the potential to harm young children, one prominent report calls for “An immediate moratorium on the further introduction of computers in ... elementary education” [3]. Rather than getting defensive, gesticulating wildly, and dragging out that favorite story about how one child we personally know accomplished an amazing thing with a computer, it’s time to come out of the closet: children simply aren’t using computers in K–12 schools and that’s why there isn’t substantial data on the impact of computers in K–12 education. Let’s look at some basic statistics about availability and use of computers in K–12:

Constructing Extended Inquiry Projects: Curriculum Materials for Science Education Reform

We describe a set of design principles that, when used to create standards-based curriculum materials, could engage students in inquiry, make use of new learning technologies, and promote student learning. These design principles are derived from 4 salient features fundamental to social constructivism: active construction, situated cognition, community, and discourse. Expanding on this foundation, examples are provided for how the design principles are evinced in an actual project. We conclude with a description of challenges associated with the enactment of our curriculum materials.

Creating a Framework for Research on Systemic Technology Innovations

This article examines why cognitively oriented technology innovations, designed to foster deep thinking and learning, have not become widespread in K−12 schools. We argue a key reason is that most design-based research does not explicitly address systemic issues of usability, scalability and sustainability. This limitation must be overcome if research is to create usable knowledge that addresses the challenges confronting technology innovations when implemented in real-world school contexts. This is especially important in an era when political forces push schools away from the cognitively rich, inquiry-oriented approaches espoused by the Learning Sciences. We suggest expanding our conception of design-based research to include research on innovations in the context of systemic reform as a potential solution to the problem. To that end, we introduce research questions and issues arising from our own experiences with a technology-rich innovation in the context of a systemic reform initiative as a starting point in the creation of an expanded design-based research agenda. These questions and issues have important implications for both the continued viability of research on technologies for learning and on the future of technology use in schools that stems from such research.

Teacher Planning, Teacher Behavior, and Student Achievement

This study investigated individual differences in teacher planning and the relationship of teacher planning to teacher behavior and student achievement. Each of 12 experienced teachers taught a social studies lesson to three groups of junior high students (N=8 per group) randomly formed from 288 paid volunteers. Before teaching each group, teachers had 90 minutes to “think aloud” and plan the lesson. Teachers’ planning and teaching were recorded and coded. Students completed achievement and attitude measures after the lesson. Results indicated that generally, the greatest proportion of planning statements concerned the subject matter, but substantial differences occurred. Planning differences were related to teachers’ cognitive styles and abilities. Relationships between teacher planning, teacher behavior, and student outcomes also appeared.

No Child Left Behind and Science Education: Opportunities, Challenges, and Risks.

This article examines the opportunities, challenges, and risks that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) poses for science education in elementary and middle schools. Four areas of science education—standards, instruction, teachers, and curriculum—are discussed in the present context of NCLB accountability. Attention is given to how the current policy agenda affects science education and how this agenda may influence the teaching and learning of science for years to come.

New technologies for teacher professional development

Abstract This article describes the potential of new technologies for teacher professional development. The article examines literature on teacher knowledge and professional development and discusses how this literature can inform the design of three types of technology to support teacher learning: multimedia, productivity tools, and telecommunication information systems. We consider how these technologies can contribute to innovation, identify questions to address, and speculate on possibilities for technology that are likely to arise in the near future.

Design-based science and real-world problem-solving

Design‐based science (DBS) is a science pedagogy in which new scientific knowledge and problem‐solving skills are constructed in the context of designing artifacts. This paper examines whether the enactment of a DBS unit supported students’ efforts to construct and transfer new science knowledge and ‘designerly’ problem‐solving skills to the solution of a new real‐world design problem in a real‐world setting. One hundred and forty‐nine students participated in the enactment of a DBS unit. Their understanding of the curricular content was assessed by identical pre‐instructional and post‐instructional written tests. They were then given a new design problem as a transfer task. There was a statistically significant increase on scores from pre‐test to post‐test with an effect size of 1.8. There was a stronger correlation between the scores of the transfer task and those of the post‐test than with those of the pre‐test; we use this finding to suggest that the knowledge that was constructed during the unit enactment supported the solution of the transfer task. This has implications for the development of science curricula that aim to lead to the construction of knowledge and skills that may be useful in extra‐classroom settings. Whether participation in consecutive enactments of different DBS units increases transfer remains to be investigated in more depth.