Primary School Classroom and ChickScope:
Studying the egg in the classroom and using the Internet

¹ Director, Digital Visualization Facility
The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL 61801
b-fossum@casper.beckman.uiuc.edu

² National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL 61820
uthakkar@ncsa.uiuc.edu

Abstract
Educators and researchers from several departments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign initiated ChickScope,[1] a 21-day chick embryonic development project, to demonstrate the remote control of a magnetic resonance imaging instrument through the World Wide Web.

Participating in this project were ten classrooms, ranging from kindergarten to high school including an after-school science club and an out-of-state home school. Although ChickScope provided enormous hardware, software, and human resources, it left to the teachers the task of integrating these resources into the classrooms and adapting to the needs and abilities of the students. Thus, the implementation of ChickScope was teacher-based, and its meaning was realized differently in each classroom.

In this paper, we reflect on the participation of a primary school classroom in the project. We conclude with lessons learned from this participation and implications for outreach of new technologies to primary classrooms.

In another paper, we provide a detailed description on the planning, implementation, and impact of ChickScope in classrooms and the way in which this facilitated learning and teaching (Bruce et al., 1997). The purpose in this paper is to reflect on the participation of a primary school classroom in the ChickScope project.[3] This classroom was one of the last to be selected for the project, as in the beginning we were not sure if the content of the project and related activities were appropriate for young children. We found few K-12 classroom projects where students from kindergarten to high school are involved in doing science on the Internet; so, there were no paths to guide us as we explored working with this classroom. As it turned out, our concerns were unfounded. Indeed, we now consider this particular classroom's participation an important aspect of ChickScope.

Overview of ChickScope Design
The remote use of scientific instrumentation over the Internet has significant potential for collaborative research and data analysis as well as for the dissemination of this research. Using a standard Web browser, researchers, educators, or students in any location and at any time have the potential to access the latest scientific instruments without having to travel to a remote site or invest in the hardware themselves. Accordingly, the World Wide Web becomes a laboratory (e.g., Potter et al., 1996).[4]

The goal of the ChickScope project was not only to provide the students with access to the MRI system over the Internet, but also to provide the supporting infrastructure that is usually reserved for scientists. Additionally, we wanted to explore how this innovative project could be integrated into classrooms across K-12.

In simplest terms, the ChickScope project site is an interactive Web lab book. Its main sections included the following: individual school ChickPages (for each participating school), Daily News (on chick embryo development), MRI Database (where acquired images are stored), Scratchings (where students can ask questions or make observations about the chick embryo), and Roosts (where experts would respond to the scratchings from students and teachers).

The ChickScope project site was designed such that students from kindergarten to high school could easily access all its sections from their school pages. It was also our intent to design pages for this site which would encourage the students to visit everyday, even on days when they could not access the MRI system. In order to accomplish this we utilized colors, mascots, and logos unique to each school to provide the students with a readily identifiable entry point for navigation through the site. We attempted to provide clear and easily understandable information using a variety of images related to chick embryo development to make this project accessible to students in all grade levels (see Figure 1). We added humor to the site by inviting students to share their favorite chicken jokes. New information, such as responses to students' questions, was posted daily on the site to sustain student interest and foster a sense of active participation in the project. The design of the ChickScope site was our initial attempt to facilitate instruction and interaction on the Web by focusing on the needs, skills, and interests of the students and teachers (e.g., Norman and Spohrer, 1996).

Figure 1. Daily news on the chick embryo development

Primary School Classroom Participants
The primary school classroom had 24 students (10 girls, 14 boys; half kindergarten, half first grade).[5] The primary school teacher [6] was moderately comfortable [7] in working with computers, and she used them primarily for word-processing, graphics, games and simulations, library access, and the Internet. She assigned her students to use the computers and the Internet for classroom work. The teacher had very little knowledge of MRI before the project started, and the teacher training day was her first introduction to how MRI works. In addition to the teacher, there was an undergraduate student [8] assisting the teacher as part of a science outreach course at the university.

Since the participating teachers represented different grade levels, their interests in the project varied. For instance, the high school teachers were interested in chick embryology. The primary school teacher's interest was in giving her students an opportunity in discovery learning:

My children are constantly involved in discovery learning, always question(ing) where things come from, what makes things work, etc. Being able to "look inside" an egg will be a wonderful way to learn about life cycles and what goes on inside.

Make a list of questions they have, discuss resources, modes of research, etc., then document what we learn. We'll make predictions, test them, and see how we can apply this new information to other areas.

Primary Classroom Scenario
Both the classroom teacher and the undergraduate student attended the teacher training day. There they received an incubator for their classroom as well as resource curriculum materials and instruction on chick incubation and embryology.[9] The teacher started the incubation of eggs in the classroom around the same time (April 10) as the egg that was placed inside the MRI during the course of the project.

Before the start of the project, the teacher led her class with a discussion on eggs made up of five topics: life cycles, farms, animals, eggs, chickens. For instance, the students discussed "How do chickens keep eggs [at] 99°F?" as part of topics on chickens. The teacher encouraged her students to do a wide variety of projects based on their choosing. For instance, one group was "studying eggs and all the animals that come from eggs."

The students sliced hard-boiled eggs to see how MRI would "slice" the egg as well as identified the three views (front, top, and side) on their acquired images. Students worked in groups of three or four students per group for this activity. They made predictions of their slices on hard-boiled eggs, followed by observations, and then shared their explanations with their group or the teacher. The students also measured the circumferences and weighed different sizes of eggs (large, extra large, jumbo). The students thus learned to make predictions, observations, measurements, and share their explanations with others. For instance, students from this class were among the first to do a scratching. One student shared her observation on the second day of the project:

We opened a hard-boiled egg to look at the parts inside. We peeled off the shell membrane so we could feel it. It was transparent. After it dried, it became hard and opaque. These are two new words that we learned.

It is MRI time. The classroom had two Macintosh IIsi computers, both with Internet access. One of the project staff members was present to assist the students during their access to the MRI. During the 21 days of the project, students worked in groups of six to eight students per group for image acquisition using one of the classroom computers. While one group acquired images, another group looked at the acquired images on the second computer. The remaining groups worked on other activities, such as a writing exercise where students identified the three views on the images that were previously acquired by their class. This exercise was particularly helpful to kindergartners as it encouraged them to write. During the MRI access time, the teacher would facilitate a discussion among the students about the acquired images. For example, once when the students were acquiring a series of images, the teacher said the following: "Look at quadrant F3. We are looking at the top [view]. What do you think we could do next? What do you think the white spots are?". The MRI control interface displays one of these images acquired by the primary students (see Figure 2). This image was later annotated by an expert to document the daily chick embryo development for the benefit of all classrooms (see Figure 3).[10]

Figure 2. Primary school image acquisition

Figure 3. Annotations on images acquired by the primary classroom

Scratchings. Observations and questions in the scratchings were about general classroom activities, chick embryo development, and MR images. Experts would respond daily to scratching questions through the roost. Often responses to general observations and questions were addressed in the Today's News section. For example, a question reported by a primary school student about "why the eye is so big compared to the rest of the body of the chick" was addressed in the Day 12 description ("The eye is very large. This is a characteristic of birds.").[11,12] Although scratchings made a provision for students and teachers to ask questions, share observations, and communicate their findings with others, not all classrooms were actively utilizing this feature.[13] In addition to the responses, the roost would list activities or exercises developed by an expert for the classroom teacher to consider, such as a discussion of chemistry of an egg. Annotated images with notes on daily growth of the chick embryo were also accessible from here. Resources, such as the guide to "Getting the most out of MRI", to help students (especially from middle and high school classrooms) plan their image acquisitions were also made available from here.[14] Through these responses, experts offered both procedural guidance as well as cognitive guidance to all students. Hence, together the scratchings and the roost created a framework for on-line mentoring between the students and the experts. For instance, interpreting MR images was not an easy task for students, and so an expert made encouraging remarks to some high school students on these tasks:[15]

Is there some way to better explain what the images are actually of? A more precise explanation of where we are looking on the egg?
A: I assume you mean that it is difficult to interpret the images. That's certainly true, especially if you only look at one at a time. You need to consider how various structures would look if sliced in different ways, then look for them in the other planes. Discard images that are obviously corrupted by motion. It takes a lot of patience. Looking at the chick as it develops helps some, since it gives you an idea of how big things should be, or whether they are bright or dark. To put this in perspective, radiologists (doctors who look at x-rays and MRIs every day) spend years practicing, looking at thousands of films, before they make any diagnoses on their own. And the subjects of their pictures are generally cooperative (people will turn sideways if you ask them to, for example, or hold still). And they use very standardized poses for getting the images. The chicken doesn't understand that. So your job is actually harder, and you have had less practice.

The question of the day seems to be: "Why are some chicks yellow, and some black?".
A: It's all in their genes, which they get from their parents. Just as we humans may have our "mother's hair," our "father's nose," or our "great-uncle's eyes," the chicks have feather patterns they inherit from their parents, grandparents, and so on. The chick's "family tree" is called a "breed."

Figure 4. Primary classroom activities

Impact of ChickScope and Lessons Learned
The study of chicken eggs is frequently used in K-12 classrooms to illustrate embryonic development. To understand the impact of ChickScope, we had set a five-point criteria. For the primary school classroom, each of the criteria led to a learning experience for the project personnel as we had not worked with such young students before.

How useful is MRI/Web for understanding chick embryo development? The primary school teacher used the project as an opportunity to integrate the computers into the classroom activities. Additionally, it made a connection between math and spatial skills through classroom discussion, as pointed out by the teacher:[17]

One thing we haven't done in the past with science is really integrate the computers very much. ... And so, what I think, this does is just add another element into the curriculum to our unit. ... It also helps with math skills. Certainly when we say "Look at quadrant C2," you know, or something like that. These are math skills that they are building, which certainly ties in with our unit very well.

The attempts by the students in the primary school classroom to manipulate control parameters (such as slice position, slice thickness, and direction of view) on their image acquisitions were comparable to the efforts by older students in the elementary, middle, or high school classrooms.[18]

What different modalities are available to students? In the beginning of the project, students from several classrooms (primary to high school) participated in "hands-on" activities to become familiar with MRI vocabulary and techniques. For instance, primary students sliced hard-boiled eggs; middle school students sliced a pickle. Also, the incubator in the classroom made the chicks the focal point of discussion, as pointed out by one student:

It is a nice in a way to have the chicks in your classroom so that you can feel the experience.

What are students learning from this experience? Through the innovative efforts by the teachers, students in all of the classrooms participated in a variety of activities that exposed them to MRI terminology, chick embryology, and the Internet. An elementary school teacher prepared an instructional booklet as a primer to MRI for her students. Students recorded their observations everyday in their chick embryology logbooks, which was also developed by the elementary school teacher. For the primary teacher, the project introduced the students with a new way of using computers for learning:[19]

We incorporated many discipline areas into our "EGG" project, including using computers in a way that we had never used them before. The children were thrilled to watch the images appear as they manipulated the MRI from our classroom and looked carefully at the image to see exactly how they could change the image to see more clearly. The students named grid coordinates to more accurately communicate the place on the image they wished to discuss. Then they wrote questions via the Scratchings page to become more informed about the images they saw. To further promote literacy, as a class, we looked at the Chickscope web page each day to see the Day's news. We enjoyed reading the joke of the day and submitted our own chicken jokes for consideration. We watched in wonder as we viewed the pictures of the chick's development inside the egg, and candled our own eggs to see if we could find those same characteristics developing.

What kinds of support structure is provided to teachers? Even before the teacher training day, we actively consulted the teachers on their input on the project. For instance, at the request of the primary school teacher, we simplified the labels for the three views on MRI control interface from axial, coronal, and sagittal to front, top, and side. Project staff members were either present in the classrooms during access times or provided on-line assistance.

What are some of unexpected events? There were unexpected moments in all classrooms. For instance, when the hard-drive of the main computer at a rural high school was disrupted by lightning, the university provided an immediate dial-up access to the Internet. In case of the primary classroom, speed was a major issue as the images that students wished to see (e.g., daily images of the chick embryo's growth) were displayed slowly.

The project was well-received in all participating classrooms, especially in the lower grade classrooms as this was the students' first introduction to doing science on the Internet for an extended period. The primary school classroom participation turned out to be an important aspect for the project as it extended our audience from high school to kindergarten students. The main reasons the primary classroom was successful in this project are the following:

• Students worked in groups as they participated in various activities, which included acquiring MR images as well as discussing images acquired by others. This allowed students to share the limited MRI time more effectively than other classrooms.
• The teacher played a critical role in integrating both Web-based and non Web-based activities into the curriculum for ChickScope. As a result, ChickScope activities continued in this classroom even after the hatch day.
• The primary school and the university formed a productive partnership. This was as a result of students collaborating with each other, with the university student, with the teacher, and with experts via on-line and face-to-face interactions.

• On-line interactions with experts is very helpful in doing scientific investigations on the Internet for young students as they need immediate responses to their questions.
• Access to new technologies should be possible via standard hardware and software, such as Web browsers.

We continually receive electronic messages from K-12 students and teachers, parents, faculty, and university students regarding ChickScope content and activities. ChickScope created an environment where students learned how to ask questions, how to collect and analyze data, and how to communicate their findings with others. As ChickScope was very successful in building such relations at a smaller level, we are currently exploring "scaling up" this project to provide such opportunities to more students and more classrooms at a national level.

Acknowledgments
ChickScope was possible due to contributions from many people involved with the project at the Biomedical Magnetic Resonance Laboratory, Beckman Institute Visualization Facility, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, and several other units of the University of Illinois. The key people who made this project possible are C. S. Potter (Project Director), C. D. Gregory, B. O. Carragher, B. Mason-Fossum, J. A. Eurell, B. C. Bruce, P. C. Lauterbur, M. J. Dawson, H. D. Morris, B. M. Damon, M. M. Marjanovic, and D. E. Weber. We thank R. C. Berg of the Champaign County Extension Unit for her support to this project. We thank K. A. Grimme for supporting this project from the primary school. We thank C. S. Potter, B. O. Carragher, C. D. Gregory, H. B. Korab, and the conference referees for reviewing and giving suggestions on this paper.

References

1. Baenninger, M., and Newcombe, N. (1989). The Role of Experience in Spatial Test Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Sex Roles, 20, 5/6, 327-344.

2. Bruce, B. C., and Rubin, A. (1993). Electronic quills: A situated evaluation of using computers for writing in classrooms. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

3. Bruce, B. C., Bruce, S. P., Conrad, R. L., and Huang, H-J. (1997). University Science Students as Curriculum Planners, Teachers, and Role Models in Elementary School Classrooms. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 34, 1, 69-88.

4. Bruce, B. C., Carragher, B. O., Damon, B. M., Dawson, M. J., Eurell, J. A., Gregory, C. D., Lauterbur, P. C., Marjanovic, M. M., Mason-Fossum, B., Morris, H. D., Potter, C. S., and Thakkar, U. (1997). ChickScope: An Interactive MRI Classroom Curriculum Innovation for K-12. In press, Computers and Education Journal.

5. Contie, V. L. (1996). Remote MRI: Sharing Views You Can Use. National Center for Research Resources Reporter, XX, 3, 12-13.

6. Hunter, B. (1995). Learning and Teaching on the Internet: Contributions to Educational Reform. In B. Kahin and J. Keller (Eds.), Public Access to the Internet, (pp. 85-114). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

7. Kouzes, R. T., Myers, J. D., and Wulf, W. A. (1996). Collaboratories: Doing Science on the Internet. Computer, August, 40-46.

8. Linn, M. C. (1992). Science Education Reform: Building on the Research Base. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 29, 8, 821-840.

9. Norman, D. A., and Spohrer, J. C. (1996). Learner-centered education. Communications of the ACM, 39, 4, 24-27.

10. Potter, C. S., Gregory, C. D., and Lauterbur, P. C. (1996). NWebScope: MR Acquisition and Processing using a Web Browser. Presented at the Fourth Scientific Meeting of the Society of Magnetic Resonance, New York, NY, April 27-May 3.

11. Potter, C. S., Brady, R., Moran, P., Gregory, C., Carragher, B., Kisseberth, N., Lyding, J., and Lindquist, J. (1996). EVAC: A Virtual Environment for Control of Remote Imaging Instrumentation, IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, July, 62-66.

12. Tartre, L. A. (1990). Spatial Skills, Gender, and Mathematics. In E. Fennema and G. C. Leder (Eds.), Mathematics and Gender, (pp. 27-59). New York: Teachers College.

13. Yakimanskaya, I. (1991). The development of spatial thinking in schoolchildren. In P. S. Wilson and E. J. Davis (Eds.), Soviet Studies in Mathematics Education, (Vol. 3). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

1. The project is currently accessible (http://vizlab.beckman.uiuc.edu/chickscope/).

2. This Web interface is called NWebScope (Potter, Gregory, and Lauterbur, 1996; Contie, 1996).

3. Sections in this reflective paper are therefore adapted from our detailed report.

4. The World Wide Laboratory project is a collaborative effort between several campus units of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (http://vizlab.beckman.uiuc.edu/WWL/WWL/wwl-info.html).

5. There was a total of about 210 students in the participating classrooms. Before the start of the project, students completed a background survey on their computing experience and interest in the project. Students in the primary school were not required to do any survey.

6. There were nine teachers participating in the project-four high school teachers, one middle school teacher, two elementary school teachers, one primary school teacher, and one home school parent teacher. One of the elementary school teachers was also a supporting teacher for the after-school science club, and so we had nine participating teachers for ten classrooms. All were women, except for one high school teacher. The teachers were selected based on their school or classroom access to the Internet, interest in the ChickScope project, and plans for integrating it into their curriculum.

7. On a 7-point Likert scale, the nine teachers ranged from "very comfortable" (1) to "very uncomfortable" (7) in the use of computers with an average of 3.2, meaning they felt moderately comfortable with computers. The primary school teacher was around this average with 3.0. In order to examine how ChickScope is used across contexts, we adapted the situated evaluation approach (Bruce and Rubin, 1993). The data sources for this included background and feedback surveys, classroom observations, interviews, computer access logs, and interactive commentaries (electronic mail and scratchings).

8. Fifteen undergraduate students participated in this project by assisting in the classrooms. Twelve (seven women, five men) of the students were enrolled in an undergraduate science outreach course (Bruce, Bruce, Conrad, and Huang, 1997). The remaining three (all women) were student teachers. This aspect of the project provided the university students, especially to the student teachers, a valuable experience on how to communicate scientific ideas effectively to students in the classrooms. The university student in the primary school classroom was very comfortable in working with computers, and he felt that chick embryology "will open up new areas of science to the kids."

9. The Champaign County Extension Unit provided classroom incubators and curriculum materials. Researchers from the university discussed and demonstrated image acquisition procedures. For instance, simple to advanced descriptions of MRI were given to the teachers for use in their classrooms.

10. http://bmrl.med.uiuc.edu:8080/~cgregory/chickscope/Day15_notes.html

11. http://vizlab.beckman.uiuc.edu/chickscope/wolfe/scratchings/April-25-Ashley-Wikoff.html

12. http://vizlab.beckman.uiuc.edu/chickscope/news/day12.html

13. There was a total of about 63 scratchings (including electronic mail) from the 10 participating classrooms. The primary school classroom, the middle school classroom, and two high school classrooms were very active in utilizing the scratchings feature. The primary school classroom had submitted 17 scratchings. Although it must be pointed out that very often there were instances of duplication in scratchings as students frequently had similar questions and observations. The university student present in the classroom encouraged the primary students to ask questions in the collecting and interpreting of their data. Such a supportive environment may have provided students to be more active in doing scratchings.

14. http://bmrl.med.uiuc.edu:8080/cgregory/how_to.html

15. http://bmrl.med.uiuc.edu:8080/~cgregory/chickscope/May_1_scratchings.html

16. http://vizlab.beckman.uiuc.edu/chickscope/wolfe/ups.html

17. Although it is beyond the scope of this paper to review the visual-spatial research, it is helpful to point out that relationships between spatial skills and mathematics achievement are being studied by researchers (e.g., Tartre, 1990). For example, research in this area suggests a relationship between spatial experience and spatial test performance (Baenninger and Newcombe, 1989). Researchers have also suggested the use of qualitative research to study spatial thinking developed through classroom activities (e.g., Yakimanskaya, 1991).

18. There was a total of about 722 image acquisition requests by all classrooms. It is important to point out that the number of acquisition requests differed from classroom to classroom as computer facilities were not the same for each participating classroom and the number of students in each classroom varied a lot. For instance, the primary classroom made 85 acquisition requests, while the middle school classroom (7th grade) with 25 students (17 girls, 8 boys) made 37 acquisition requests. The primary students acquired images using the two computers in their classroom, while the middle school students had access to one computer in their classroom for image acquisitions. For their acquisitions, the primary students manipulated several control parameters. For example, they made 37 attempts in using the direction of view parameter (12 for side view, 9 for front view, and 16 for top view). However, when a few students in this class were interviewed during the course of the project, they seemed to prefer the side view (as it revealed more information about the developing chick). Although this was a prevailing reflective account towards the end of the project by students from other classrooms as well, it must be pointed out that in the beginning students from all classrooms had difficulty in distinguishing between the different views.

     

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