Bringing the Biodiversity Heritage Library into Secondary School Classrooms

Devin A. Reese, Ph.D.Science Curriculum Consultant

Smithsonian’s National Science Resources Center

What do we know about how secondary school students learn science?

By Grade 4, many children express a lack of interest in science (Metz, p.141)

Help students appreciate explanatory power of science by giving them a sense of the range of phenomena that science can explain (Roseman et al. 1999)

What do we know about how secondary school students learn science?

Instead of using evidence, students often rely on their personal views to draw conclusions (Hogan and Maglienti 2001).

Experience and instruction can improve students' ability to use evidence from multiple records (TSTS, p.151)

What do we know about how secondary school students learn science?

Children are less likely to control just one variable at a time (TSTS, p.134, p.141)

Classroom instruction on control of variables can improve students' ability to design unconfounded experiments (TSTS, p.151)

What can the Biodiversity Heritage Library offer to secondary school science instruction?

Students get excited about the range of phenomena that science can explain

Students become comfortable using evidence from multiple sources to ground and inform their research

Students become familiar with the real practice of science such as hypothesis testing and control of variables

How can BHL offer this to secondary science?Show how good science is rooted in a context of

what is known to date and what research has been conducted to date.

Model how the scientific process may unfold, including aspects such as controlling variables, posing hypotheses, and drawing conclusions.

Reveal the messy aspects of science such as effects that were unanticipated and compromised the interpretability of the results.

Demonstrate ways of organizing information to better interpret the evidence.

What are some of the strengths of BHL (as currently configured) for secondary school instruction?

You can search on a species name or other key word and be directed to specific pages of books containing that word.

BHL can be accessed from EOL pages that provide a snapshot of species information.

Literature in multiple languages is available.BHL links to popular sites such as Flickr,

Facebook, and Twitter.BHL offers lures such as brain teasers for users of

its Facebook page.

How can BHL better reach secondary school audiences?

Bring new types of content into its collection.

Engage specific user groups to provide input.

Offer other database tools for young audiences.

Link to new communications technologies favored by young audiences.

What new types of content should BHL bring into its collection?Content that may not be primary literature but is scientific, reputable, peer-supported, and accessible to young readers

For example…BHL contains this 1985 publication by herpetologist Harry Greene :

Scientifically soundLoaded with evidence-based

information about natural history and evolution

Made readable with anecdotes and engaging style

But not this 2000 publication:

What other user groups should BHL engage?

Science magnet secondary schools through focus groups or other input mechanisms:

Stuyvesent High School, New YorkThe Bronx High School of Science, New YorkThe Maine School of Science and Mathematics,

MaineThe School of Science and Engineering Magnet,

TexasThomas Jefferson High School for Science and

Technology, Virginia

What other user groups should BHL engage?

Inquiry-based curriculum development programs that participate in state adoption processes:

Science and Technology Concepts (Smithsonian)Full Option Science Systems (Lawrence Hall of

Science)Insights (Kendall Hunt)Biological Science Curriculum Study (Colorado

Springs)

What other user groups should BHL engage?

Programs that engage secondary students in authentic research with the support of research scientists:

The Jason Project (National Geographic)The GLOBE Project (international

collaboration)Earthforce (student citizen action nonprofit)Expeditionary Learning School- ELS- Ron

Berger

What database tools could BHL offer to engage secondary students?

User-friendly tools

Excerpt from current BHL toolset:The BHL Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of REST-like web services that

can be invoked via HTTP queries (GET/POST requests) or SOAP. Responses can be received in one of three formats: JSON, XML, or XML wrapped in a SOAP envelope.

Version 2:The documentation for the latest version of the API can be found at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/api2/docs/docs.html. The first version of the API was limited to data related to scientific names found in the BHL collection; version 2 adds access to title, author, volume, and page information. Please note that users are required to obtain an API Key fromhttp://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/getapikey.aspx in order to use version 2 of the API. This is the preferred version of the API. Version 1 (formerly the BHL Name Services): Updated documentation for the first version of the API can be found at http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/api/docs/docs.html. This version of the API is provided solely to maintain backwards compatibility.

Potential tools to engage secondary students

Literacy tool that filters content by reading level or some other indicator of complexity;

Search tool by common names of organisms;Search tool that filters content for more

recent literature and can be accessed from BHL (exists via EOL);

More salient access to EOL from BHL to do a quick information check for a particular species;

More tools to engage secondary students

Search tool for keywords within a BHL publication without going through EOL;

Hyperlinks to information about species status, e.g. IUCN Redbook lists;

Hyperlinks to taxonomic information (cladograms?) that leads users to explore related species;

Stage-setting material that captures Dr. Pyle’s dramtic metaphor about biodiversity as a rich but burning library of deep historic information.

What communications technologies could BHL integrate to engage secondary students?

An iphone APP that allows users to quickly generate a bibliography about a topic?

Or scan (like leafsnap) a few paragraphs of an article and bring up related resources based on keywords?

Or easily share literature with friends by phone?

What research questions should be addressed about the use of digitized literature ?

What is the most effective way for secondary school students to access digitized literature?

Does the use of digitized literature improve the quality of student research studies?

Does the use of digitized literature improve student understanding of science practice?

Dream Scenario