Communications of the ACM
European Project Will Raise Interest in Scientific Study
Eight European universities, including the Technical University of Madrid, are participating in the European DynaLearn Project, which is designed to increase student interest in scientific subjects by fostering an interactive learning environment.
DynaLearn is a response to the general decline of interest in science and the growing number of science students who drop out of school. Osborne's 2003 survey cited several reasons for this decline, including a lower level of commitment to science education in Europe. The survey also found that information technology is not often used for the purpose to which it is best suited — as a tool for examining theoretical concepts that explain natural phenomena.
The DynaLearn project will create an environment that caters to individual students' needs, adapts conceptual knowledge to work in the classroom, and makes scientific subjects more entertaining. Students can use DynaLearn to work with one another and their teachers, discuss what they have learned, and compare their work with that of their peers. Users can even personalize their own avatars, adding a social dimension to the learning process that will make the sciences more accessible. DynaLearn's creators hope their technology will eventually become a standard at the high school and university level for science and other subjects.
From Universidad Politecnica de Madrid (Spain)
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