by on Project TestDrive: National Science Digital Library
Project TestDrive was a national research study on the classroom effectiveness of the online K-12 science, technology, engineering and math resources from the National Science Digital Library. During the 2007-08 school year, teachers selected, used, and evaluated the online resources in their classroom.
- Selected Findings From Project TestDrive“..easy to use, students can use independently and move at own pace, good for review..”Elementary School Teacher (San Francisco Unified SD, CA)“..all subjects were spelled out clearly for student choice..”
Elementary School Teacher (Salt Lake City School District, UT)- 80% of teachers reported they would use the NSDL resources again in their classroom or recommend it to other teachers.
- 85% of teachers reported students were more engaged in their own learning. The selected resources helped students understand the science content standards (92%) and apply their content knowledge (88%).
- 49% of students reported “often or always” remembered more after using the NSDL resources, would recommend the NSDL resource to friends and classmates (52%), and would like to use NSDL again (60%).
- Selected Resources
BrainPop
BrainPOP provides online animated, curriculum content that supports educators and engages students. Subjects include: science, social studies, English, math, arts & music.
The Chem Collective
The Chemistry Collective is a collection of virtual labs, scenario-based learning activities, and concepts tests which can be incorporated into a variety of teaching approaches as pre-labs, alternatives to textbook homework, and in-class activities for individuals or teams.
Engineering Pathway
The Engineering Pathway provides access to high-quality K-12 resources in engineering, applied science and math, computer science/information technology, and engineering technology.
Exploratorium
The library includes digital media and digitized museum materials related to interactive exhibits and scientific phenomena, including images, educational activities in PDF and html formats, QuickTime movies, streaming media, and audio files.
Middle School Portal
The portal provides middle school teachers a direct path to selective online resources for instruction and professional development from the National Science Digital Library.
NASA Site for Educators
Online library of educational resources from NASA.
Teacher’s Domain
Teachers’ Domain is an online library of more than 1,000 free media resources from NOVA, Frontline, Design Squad, American Experience, and other public broadcasting. Resources are correlated to state and national standards, and include video and audio segments, Flash interactives, images, documents, lesson plans for teachers, and student-oriented activities.
Teach Engineering
The TeachEngineering digital library provides teacher-tested, standards-based engineering content for K-12 teachers engineering content for K12 teachers to use in science and math classrooms. Mapped to educational content standards, TeachEngineering‘s comprehensive curricula are hands-on, inexpensive, and relevant to children’s daily lives.
Anyone can use the science, technology, engineering and math resources in the NSDL, click here to learn more.
