A sizable body of research has shown that students at all grade levels often hold views of the physical world that are inconsistent with scientific observations. Once acquired, these misconceptions are difficult to overcome and can persist even after the student has been given the "correct" explanation in class. For learning to occur, students must be made aware of these misconceptions and confronted with the discrepancy between the misconceptions and reality. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project to be carried out by LexIcon Systems will design and develop a prototype system that enables students to actively explore problems using multimedia simulations and provides integrated writing and communication tools as an avenue for highlighting and refuting any misconceptions. This prototype will utilize a series of interconnected Quicktime videos to provide a simulated space for exploring mirror reflections and virtual images. LexIcon will develop, test, and refine this prototype by including classroom teachers as an integral part of the instruction process. Components of the system will be evaluated to determine whether the system provides a significant advantage over more conventional instructional methods and, if so, whether it is possible to partition the effect according to different system capabilities. The feasibility of easily integrating the system into the middle school classroom as it exists today will also be determined. The project has the potential to give some of the emerging capabilities of instructional technology a strong role in resolving misconceptions by giving students opportunities to explore and confront these discrepancies between how they think the world works and the reality of how it actually does work. The product would be a series based on high-quality multimedia simulations on CD-ROM with a common set of communication tools. Ultimately, some or all of this product could be distributed on the internet.
