Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grants

Project Title: Investigating cognitive modeling in science education; using the Interactive Whiteboard

Chief Investigator: Dr Christine Redman

Funded by: 2007 Early Career Researcher Grant Scheme

Project Summary: This research investigates students’ thinking with models of the earth’s rotation and the related effects. This qualitative study aims to develop Harré’s (2004) theory of the ‘model’ in science education. It will use the Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) to investigate teacher and student cognitive models and their interaction with satellite images from the website, Google Earth. The knowledge and insight gained will ultimately have significance for understanding students’ and teachers’ thinking and learning with new technologies that can contribute to the effective design of curriculum, pedagogy and research in science education.