Project Team: Karen Lee Sau Wah, Jaco Cheung Chun Kay
Project Title: Reduced Bearing
Software used: Flash MX
Role and responsibilities:
Karen and I contributed equally in our group project. We worked on different parts of the project. Then we checked each other's work and discussed how to improve as a whole via emails. Finally, we merged the different parts together and got the final version.
Links for the files of this project:
http://iln.cite.hku.hk/com/1374/users/ckcheung5/final_01.fla
http://iln.cite.hku.hk/com/1374/users/ckcheung5/final_01.swf
(For your interest, the answers for the application section are as follows:
Swimming pool: N 39 degrees E
Church: S 62 degrees E
Library: S 50 degrees W
Playground: N 25 degrees W)
Direction is one of the basic techniques of map reading in Form 1 Geography & Integrated Humanities. Students must learn 'compass points', 'whole circle bearing' and 'reduced bearing'. Usually, students know 'compass points' well in their daily life. They can apply 'whole circle bearing' easily. However, it is difficult for them to remember what the reduced bearing is and how it is expressed. Some students measure the direction not only from the north or south, but also from the east or west for reduced bearing. Some even think that the angles can be larger than 90 degrees.
To cope with the above-mentioned misconceptions, our group has designed a learning object to help students learn reduced bearing and make recall easier. According to Daniel (2006), our learning object is classified as a conceptual model.
In traditional teacher-centred approach, students are passively informed of what reduced bearing is and how to express directions in reduced bearing. But in our 'Task' section, students are required to explore how the direction is expressed in reduced bearing on their own by dragging a slider. According to dual coding theory (Clark & Paivio, 1991; Paivio, 1986) and multimedia learning hypothesis (Mayer, 2005), students are expected to simultaneously combine the motion of the pointer X and the reduced bearing of X from O to make a connection between them. To accommodate individual differences, buttons of 'instruction' and 'conclusion' are provided for students to check for hints or conclusion.
In the application section, students are required to choose an item (swimming pool, church, library, or playground). A red line will be drawn and linked from home (O) to the chosen item. Then students are required to observe the angle shown on the protractor, and input the reduced bearing in correct format in the boxes provided. After they have clicked the 'check' button, feedback is provided to direct their further action. As recreational computer games may have a role to play in enhancing cognitive skills and processes that apply in educational situations (Pillay, Brownlee & Wilss, 1999), the gaming feature of this application can foster students' interaction, increase their involvement and lengthen their contact periods with a learning activity (Polonoli, 2000). It is hoped that this simple application can help students consolidate what they have just learnt.
As reduced bearing is a topic in trigonometry in Form 3 Mathematics, this learning object can be reused in Form 3 as well. Students can also use this learning object for concept recall at home. As a learning object which is best described as a technology-based and psychological tool can mediate a learning activity through perception, consciousness and psychological processes (Churchill, 2005), we believe that students can have a deeper impression on how to express reduced bearing and what it is if they can explore it by observation (perception), draw the conclusion themselves (consciousness) and practise more with application (psychological processes).
References:
Clark, J.M. & Paivio, A. (1991). Dual coding theory and education. Education Psychology Review, 3, 149-210.
Churchill, D. (2005). Learning object: an interactive representation and a mediating tool in a learning activity. Educational Media International, 42 (4), 333–349.
Churchill, D. (2006). Towards a useful classification of learning objects. Educational Technology Research and Development.
Ip, K.W., Lam, C.C. &Wong, K.F. (2003). Exploring Geography Book 1A (2nd Edition). Oxford University Press (China) Ltd.
Mayer, R.E. (2005). The Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press
Paivio, A. (1986). Mental representations; A dual-coding Approach. Oxford University Press, Oxford, England.
Pillay, H., Brownlee, J., & Wilss, L. (1999). Cognition and recreational computer games: Implications for educational technology. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 32(1), 203-217.
Polonoli, Keith E. (2000). What makes educational software educational? Virginia Society of Technology in Education Journal, 15(1), 6-31.
4 comments:
Hi Jaco,
You'll have done a great job for students by developing this application to make their concepts clear about reduced bearing.
However I would like to point out few thing which I came across while using your learning object.
1. It would be good if you provide a tool tip ( an example) to show how the angle should be entered in the boxes.
2. After entering the angle, I clicked the check button but there was no response whether my answer is right or wrong.
3. It would be good if you could enlarge the size of units on the compass.
Overall a good work.
Kavitha
Dear Kavitha,
Thanks for your comments.
As this learning object is only a resource, my teammate and I do not want to put too much information in it. Teachers may need to help explain how to enter the angles to students..
I have only prepared six different kinds of responses when the check button is clicked. Therefore, I may not have included all the possible cases. But the messages for right and wrong answers must have already been included. Maybe you can tell me what your input is so that I can improve this learning object for future use.
After I upload the file onto the internet, I find that the numbers on the protractor cannot be easily recognized if you just view it on my blog or click the link for the swf file. But if you download the swf file onto your computer, the numbers on the protractor are large enough to be easily recognized.
jaco
Dear Jaco,
When I downloaded your swf and enlarged it, the protractor units could be seen properly.
However I feel it would be good to give a tool tip while users enter the angles as there are 3 boxes.
There won't be too much information clutter with tooltip as you can use a invisible rollover button and hence will be displayed only when user enters the answers.
This is just a suggestion for future enhancement if needed. Overall your project is very good and can be practically used by teachers.
Hi there,
Wow, I cannot remember any of this from my school days. Please give me a work sheet to work on.
I have always loved mathematics ^^
Thanks
Andrew
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