Computer graphics for student engagement in science learning

In summary, we delivered a visualization workshop designed to help learners use computer graphics to construct meaning while they study. When delivering visualization workshops in the natural setting of schools, problems are bound to arise. Technical failure, human interruptions, lack of active participation, limited access, distraction by alternate tools or games on computers, and differences in learners’ abilities each affect the success of a workshop. Middle schoolers are unsophisticated learners and require guidance toward effective visualization. In our workshop, in spite of problems associated with the natural setting of a school, students engaged actively in the meaning-making process of studying while we provided scaffolding. Students who successfully formulated mental representations of concepts and then concretized those representations as computer graphics applied a strategy for spending time thinking in order to learn.