Implementing a Web-based Middle School Science Curriculum: An Evaluatiuon Report

Abstract

The Internet and its associated World Wide Web (WWW) have been marked by phenomenal growth and use in seemingly every aspect of life. The WWW has emerged as an area ripe for development of products that can support educational efforts at all levels. As a case in point, Active Ink Incorporated--a Texas-based firm specializing in development of web-based learning materials--has developed the eeZone Project. This project is a Science/Technology/Society (STS) on-line, web-based interdisciplinary curriculum. The intended audience is middle-school students. Our primary purpose here is to report findings and related recommendations resulting from a year-long evaluation study of the eeZone Project. We sought to determine how teachers and students at a single South Texas middle school used the eeZone materials; what factors supported teachers' use of eeZone; and finally, what skills, knowledge, or attitudes students and teachers may have acquired along the way. In this report, we include a review of literature, description of our method and findings, discussion, conclusions, and recommendations for the future.