These materials are intended for a variety of uses. We recommend groups of two or three students, working independently of teachers. Interaction occurs in two ways, between student and computer and between students. Peer learning in cooperative groups is an important component of the learning process.
All these dialogs have undergone extensive field testing, in public libraries, in science museums, middle schools, high schools, community colleges, and universities. So we recommend them for these environments. We also recommend the Series for home use. The units have been used in undergraduate science courses for pre-service teachers, and in general education courses for nonscience majors. With home or public facilities use, such as public libraries, students may be working independently of any classes. So usage patterns are determined by the individual. In a classroom environment the details of the use of the materials will depend on how many suitable computers are available, and where these computers are located.
One possibility recommended in the program notes is to send half the class students in groups or two or three to work alone on the computers. The teacher then works with half the class, obtaining the benefits of individual interaction. This component may have nothing to do with what is directly on the computer, but some other material that students are studying at that point. Then the groups could be reversed. Thus in a class of thirty students if fifteen use the computer five computers will be needed. However the entire class can be using the Series, with the teacher roving from station to station, offering advice if necessary.
We encourage teachers to be guides, not sages. As indicated, students should be encouraged to work on their own. There is no need to 'prepare' students, so no advance lectures are suggested.
The printed notes that accompany the commercial version suggest additional activities, things that the teacher can suggest to the students. Some of these are dependent on the module involved. Some of them involve simple home experiments, with equipment found in the home, but relevant to the dialog.
One common theme in the notes is to use the computer dialogs as the basis for writing. Students can be asked to write about their experiences in using the dialog, what they learned, or other aspects. Writing is an important intellectual tool, in all areas of human endeavor, and the sciences provide valuable environments for encouraging writing. If this activity can be part of a larger approach to writing, using the process approach, then it can be even more valuable for students. Having several students write about the same computer dialog, in a focussed way, allows students to read each other's essays, and further learn from that process.