Some Applications of Hypercard-Based Media in the Secondary Biology Classroom Author(s): Bruce Miller Source: The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 55, No. 2 (Feb., 1993), pp. 110-114 Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the National Association of Biology Teachers Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4449597 . Accessed: 28/06/2014 14:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . University of California Press and National Association of Biology Teachers are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The American Biology Teacher. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.223.28.130 on Sat, 28 Jun 2014 14:32:24 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Transcript
Some Applications of Hypercard-Based Media in the Secondary Biology ClassroomAuthor(s): Bruce MillerSource: The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 55, No. 2 (Feb., 1993), pp. 110-114Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the National Association of BiologyTeachersStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4449597 .
Accessed: 28/06/2014 14:32
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
University of California Press and National Association of Biology Teachers are collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to The American Biology Teacher.
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How can computers best be used to educate biology students? Past efforts at integrating this powerful technol- ogy have been dominated by simple drill and practice routines. For more on the early use of computers in the classroom, please see Taylor (1980). Recently, however, both hardware and software have improved to the point that computers can show stu- dents not only how to learn, but can give them a first-hand experience of the thrill of leaming. Using computers in this manner is a much more effec- tive use of a powerful technology.
This article is designed to outline a project that demonstrated two meth- ods of computer use in a secondary biology classroom. This project has met with some success, and it is sin- cerely hoped that other teachers may become interested in developing simi- lar projects for their classes.
The Nature of the Tool The basic tool for this project was
HyperCard, a software application from Apple Computer that conveys information in a highly interactive and visually exciting manner. HyperCard (version 2.0) requires a Macintosh computer with at least one megabyte of RAM, System software version 6.0.5 or higher, and a hard disk drive.
Describing HyperCard is difficult to do for someone who has never seen it in action. (Please refer to Figure 1). In the HyperCard environment, the com- puter user is presented information, usually in the form of graphics and text on a computer screen in a unit called a "card." The software devel- oper or "author" then assembles these
cards into a functional unit called a "stack." Control devices, called "but- tons," on each card allow the user to determine exactly what is displayed, at what pace and in what sequence. These buttons give the user the free- dom to move throughout the stack as desired.
The programming language used in HyperCard stacks is referred to as "ob- ject-oriented" because the author de- signs or collects various objects, such as graphics, text and buttons, and ar- ranges them to produce an integrated stack. The programming to be done consists of very simple English phrases written in HyperTalk, the ac- tual language used by HyperCard de- velopers. These phrases are called "scripts" and they can be written to control all of the various objects of HyperCard, such as buttons, fields (used to text), cards, and even stacks.
In the sample card shown in Figure 1, the user is able to click on various icons or pictures to find out more about the indicated structures. For ex- ample, by clicking the mouse when the cursor is located on top of one of the "question mark" icons (a button), a simple Hypercard script, written in HyperTalk, is activated and the com- puter takes the user to a different card (please see Figure 2) with sound and visual effects. These HyperTalk scripts can be very simple, as in the example below, or they may be highly sophis- ticated programming commands. In the example, the actual working script for the button for the structure indi- cated, the operculum, is as follows:
on mouseUp play "Floop" visual effect iris open go to card ID 3495 end mouseUp
The command "on mouseUp" tells the computer that a string of com- mands is contained within the script.
Both the "play 'Floop"' command, which adds a short sound effect, and the "visual effect iris open," which makes the next card appear to "pop up," serve to add interest as the com- puter completes the command "go to card ID 3495" and then moves to that card. This second card has a brief explanation of the operculum. The "end mouseUp" command tells the computer that there is no more script to be read, and the script is finished.
Figure 2 shows that there are more buttons on this card. Some of these are common to all of the cards in the stack, such as the "main menu" button, the "home" button and the "stack map" button. Notice the presence of the button titled "Show More Structures!" This button will return the user to the starting card seen in Figure 1.
In other types of stacks, the buttons may be totally hidden so that the user may simply click on part of a graphic to learn more about that particular structure. This sort of "hidden" de- sign lends itself to a real sense of exploration by the user that is difficult to convey on paper.
Not only does HyperCard inform, but it also gives users the tools to design and develop software of their own. This ability to design and create stacks makes HyperCard a great deal of fun to use! This ability to create is also what makes HyperCard so poten- tially powerful in the context of the successful integration of computers into the classroom. Now, teachers have the tools to develop, or modify, sophisticated software that will be meaningful to their students. This ability also gives users a level of per- sonalization that has been lacking in software design and usage prior to this time.
Learning more about HyperCard, it occurred to me that this excitement could perhaps be transmitted to the students in my Biology I and II classes.
Bruce Miller is a biology teacher at La Cueva High School, 7801 Wilshire NE, AJbuquerque, NM 87122.
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The Operculum is a covering over the Tadpole's Gills. It grew over the previously exposed gills as the Tadpole proceeded
Main Menu further in its development. > a
Figure 2. By clicking on the icon pointing to the operculum, the user is taken, with visual and sound effects, from the card shown in Figure 1 to a different card, highlighting and briefly describing the operculum. Note the button that can be used to return to the original card.
A project was designed and developed in which two different methods of HyperCard use in the biology class- room would be investigated.
For the first of these methods, it was decided to use HyperCard to develop software on the biology of the frog. In this method, the computer could be used as a sophisticated presenter of information to the Biology I students, giving them an interactive look at the complete biology of the frog. In this method, the computer will be described as an "information present- er."
For the second method of computer use, I wanted to see how Biology II students, working in small groups, would do at developing and writing their own biology-related stacks in- stead of writing research papers. This project would use the extensive pow- ers of HyperCard to concentrate, and at the same time, expand the creative energies of the students. In this role, the computer serves as what might be called an "information ex- pander."
Computers as Information Presenters
Over the last several years, this writer has been increasingly attracted to the possible use of computer simu- lation as an alternative to the dissec- tion of the frog. Other concerns aside, these dissections are extremely costly at a time when supply money is be- coming increasingly scarce. These is- sues made the idea of developing a HyperCard stack on the biology of the frog seem worthwhile.
Having already done a dissection- less unit on the frog the year before, it was not difficult to combine elements of that previous unit to help with the development of the stack on the frog, called "HyperFrog." It took about 100 hours (all over the span of one month) to develop and write HyperFrog. All of the graphics were produced by this writer, drawing them first in pen and ink and then digitizing them. It was determined earlier that a computer drawing program simply did not pro- duce the desired amount of detail and quality.
HyperFrog covers the ecology, life cycle and anatomy of the leopard frog. Graphics, sound, text and some ani- mation help make the topic interest- ing, all without any dissection. Hyper- Frog turned out as good as, or better than, many of the commercial offer- ings now on the market. The fact that it was even possible for this writer to develop and create a quality piece of software that proved so useful is one of the most powerful arguments for using HyperCard! It should also be mentioned here that it was a great deal of fun to develop this stack!
The Biology I students used this software for two full class periods, each 50 minutes long. They answered questions and labeled drawings on printed materials that were developed so that their progress could be mea- sured. The students were then shown 35 mm slides of an actual dissection that had been produced the previous year.
Using HyperFrog, the total unit on the frog took seven class periods to complete. This included the two class periods in which the students were
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actually using the Macintosh comput- ers as well as the lecture, slide and video presentation, in addition to other labs that were done on the exter- nal anatomy of the frog. This time period can be compared to what would normally be a unit of about eight class periods when dissecting the frog.
No data exists as to exactly how much the students learned from either of the strategies because different quizzes were presented to the groups from the two years. However, the au- thor observed that the students seemed to learn a comparable amount of material and that their average quiz scores were higher than those from previous years. This is remarkable be- cause the quizzes based on HyperFrog covered more material! The students were all very interested and attentive during the computer sessions, al- though a large part of this might sim- ply have been due to the novelty of the computer use.
Computers as Information Expanders
The most ambitious part of the project involved having my Biology II Advanced Placement students learn the basics of HyperCard so they could write their own stacks on a biological topic of their own choice.
The major problem with writing Hy- perCard stacks is that HyperCard can have so many different components and scripting possibilities that it can be very intimidating to the movie. It seemed obvious that these students needed a stack that could teach them more about HyperCard and how to use it. This stack could also serve as a resource as they developed their own stacks. The interactive HyperCard Tu- torial and Resource Stack was also needed because the students only had access to the computers for 12 weeks.
After about one month of work, the interactive stack was completed. Called HyperWorks, it consisted of a tutorial on how to use HyperCard, and how to plan and write stacks. It also included a glossary of HyperCard terms and various HyperCard re- sources. Such resources included ready to use cards, buttons, fields, glossary format, and even two differ- ent types of quizzes. All of these items, complete with scripts, could be easily moved to the student stacks, saving valuable time and work. Printed materials were also produced that were completed by the students as they used HyperWorks. This
printed material would later serve as a reference, and also insured that they were actually reading through the stack.
My primary concern during this project was that learning to use Hy- perCard would not impede the cre- ative energies of the students. It was therefore vital that these students quickly feel comfortable with the Hy- perCard environment. It turned out that the HyperWorks Tutorial Stack was invaluable in this role! Here, Hy- perCard allowed a teacher to success- fully overcome a potential roadblock by supplying the freedom to design and develop a quality piece of useful software!
The Biology II students had previ- ously been presented with the possi- bility of developing and writing Hy- perCard stacks and, after seeing some examples of other stacks, they were very interested and excited. The stu- dents were allowed to assemble their own groups of no more than three individuals. Optimal group size was purely an experiment on the teacher's part. As it turned out, three was actu- ally a very good group size. It let the students equitably distribute the for- midable amount of work involved in writing a HyperCard stack. Some groups spent nearly 50 hours working on their stacks!
The students were told that before the actual computer work began, they were to decide on a topic for their stack and produce an outline of exactly what areas would be covered in their stack. These students had little or no idea of flowcharting procedures, but it was felt that the topical outline would give them some idea as to how a user would move through their stack. In addition, we had several group discus- sions that dealt with what was re- quired in stack organization.
Each of the stacks was required to have a main menu for overall initial navigation, or movement, through the stack; a stack map, so that a user could quickly return to one part of the stack; a quiz section, so that the user would be able to test what had been learned; and a glossary section for on-line help and reference.
The students were also instructed to brainstorm the possible types of art- work and graphics that they would use. The results were striking! The students were given four weeks (all on their own time) to decide on a topic and produce their outline. They were also required to turn in a rough pencil drawing of the overall graphic design of their stack. As it turned out, the key
to the success of this project was all of this early planning.
Half of these Biology II students had very little computer experience, and some had no experience at all. Some of these inexperienced students were greatly intimidated by the computers and HyperCard. Fears aside, they all successfully worked through Hyper- Works, taking about four to five hours to do so.
Their next assignment was to de- velop a small practice stack to gain some experience in assembling the ba- sic components of a stack and to learn to use the various parts of HyperCard. These practice stacks had nothing to do with their actual project stacks. The purpose of these stacks was to give the students experience in actually creat- ing buttons and cards, and writing scripts. This practice was needed, be- cause by this time, some of the stu- dents were feeling some anxiety that they would not be able to complete their project stack, and a confidence booster was required. Also, a practice stack was the way this author first learned the basics of HyperCard de- velopment. The practice stacks also gave the students the chance to exper- iment with different styles of graphic design and layout for their final stack. This part of the project took about four to five actual class periods. It felt very odd to grade these practice stacks on a disk after 16 years of grading papers!
After all of the practice stacks were graded, concrete suggestions for im- provements were made to each group, and the students began actual produc- tion work on their project stacks. This involved a great deal of time and effort on their part. The role of the teacher in all of this was primarily that of a facil- itator, showing the students how to best accomplish various tasks and solving minor technical problems. (Some of the students learned the hard way to make backup copies of their stacks.)
The creativity and learning at this point was all theirs! While trying to maintain a course schedule for this class (it is an AP class, so we still needed to cover a great deal of mate- rial), the students came in before and after school and during lunch, im- pressing this teacher with their enthu- siasm as they worked diligently on their stacks. Most important, they be- came real experts in the content of the stacks and some of them, at the end of the project, were much better at Hy- perCard development and program- ming than their teacher!
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lasting 12 weeks, all of the groups had finished their stacks. Each stack was an introduction to some topic in biology presented with the skill- ful integration of text and graphics. Topics covered included a Survey of Viruses, Down's Syndrome, Hemophilia, Biological Warfare, Men- delian Genetics, Sickle Cell Anemia and Kidney Function. The overall quality was much better than I had ever expected. In fact, some of the students are even planning to mar- ket their stacks as educational share- ware!
The results of this project included not only the production of informa- tive and interactive software, but most importantly, the students were able to successfully work in groups to decide on a common goal, gather and organize information, and use technology to effectively present this information to others. Group work is becoming increasingly important to
me as a teacher because industry is rapidly moving toward develop- ing meaningful solutions to prob- lems through a team-oriented ap- proach. Many ideas abound as to how this team-centered learning may be fostered in the classroom (Watson 1992).
Those students who had little previ- ous experience with computers were, at the project's conclusion, highly competent and confident users, at least within the scope of HyperCard use and development. All of the stu- dents evaluated this project, and all of the reviews were very positive and enthusiastic. Perhaps most rewarding was the fact that we all felt we had learned a great deal together and also from each other!
As for the results of the Biology I use of HyperCard, it is strongly felt that these first-year students were able to learn about the biology of a complex animal without the cost and some- times misleading messages that might be conveyed by dissection.
HyperCard References There is a wealth of HyperCard? refer-
ences on the market. Here are some that this author has used extensively:
Apple Computer?, Inc. (1989). HyperTalk1 Beginner's Guide. Cupertino, CA: Apple Computer.
Apple Computer?, Inc. (1989). Hyper- Card? User's Guide. Cupertino, CA: Ap- ple Computer.
Apple Computer?, Inc. (1989). Hyper- Card? Script Language Guide: The Hyper- Talk1 Language. New York, NY: Addi- son-Wesley.
Apple Computer?, Inc. (1989). Hyper- Card? Stack Design Guidelines. New York, NY: Addison-Wesley.
Goodman, D. (1990). The Complete Hyper- Card 2.0 Handbook. New York, NY: Ban- tam Books.
General References Taylor, R. (Ed.). (1980). The Computer in the
School: Tutor, Tool, Tutee. New York, NY: Teacher's College Press.
Watson, S.B. (1992). The essential elements of cooperative learning. The American Bi- ology Teacher, 54(1), 84-86.
IN-SERVICE AND PRE-SERVICE TEACHER ACADEMY
FELLOWSHIPS IN BIOLOGY
The Office of Education and the Office of Research on Women's Health at The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed the In-service and Pre-service Teacher Academy Fellowship Program. This eight-week fellowship begins on June 21, 1993 and includes a stipend for housing and other expenses. The program is designed for high school biology tahers and for undergraduates planning a teaching career in high school biology. Priority will be given to candidates presently teaching or planning to teach in high schools with predominately minority
enrollments. The program includes a two-
week introductory laboratory course designed to provide theoretical and hands-on laboratory experience in the basic techniques of molecular biology. Training also includes instruction in the teaching of bioethical issues, the use of electronic data bases, and implementation of these new skills into the biology curriculum. Following the laboratory course, each fellow will participate in a six- week internship in a research laboratory on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. During the
laboratory research experience, participants will work side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world. In this setting they will have the opportunity to learn state-of-the-art scientific concepts and techniques.
Application forms may be requested until February 1, 1993 by writing to: The Office of Education (Attn: Dr. Mary McCormick or Ms. Sharon Helling), Bldg. 10, Room 1C129, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892; telephone (301) 402-1914.
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