1. Incorporate the use of the features of the Data Server in the design of the activities. Be specific in terms of which features of the Data Server you anticipate using. These should be well integrated in the activity and should be correlated with the learning objectives, e.g., the things the students should know as a result of doing the activity. The learning objectives should essentially be the key concepts and skills we have been placing in the gray box before each activity.
2. Design at least one of your activities for presentation in the workshops. This may mean that the activity time should be limited to 45 minutes to one hour or that the activity time in the workshop should be limited to that time frame and the activity should be extended and continued after the teachers return to their school. The communicating groups should be established at the workshops with activities continuing and connecting them when they return to their schools. These groups should also be teacher support groups to help each other with problems which may arise. Specific tasks, expectations and time lines for contacts should be detailed. The skills needed to implement the activity should be learned in the workshops, e.g., use of GLOBEmail, etc.
3. Identify specific tasks, workload and requirements for the systems, education and evaluation members of your team so that personnel expectations can be clearly defined. A detailed work plan is needed which explains what needs to happen, who will do the work, when the work needs to be done and why the particular personnel with specific expertise, e.g., systems, education, evaluation, are needed, justify their time requirements based on specific tasks.
4. Detail how you will incorporate an inquiry-based approach in the learning activities which provides initial structure and definition while developing skills and a knowledge base. As the students develop the skills and knowledge base, they can be challenged by less structure and more freedom in the inquiry process. The goal of the inquiry process for the students is to learn how to do science (the goal of the inquiry process [scientific method or process] for research scientists is the generation of new knowledge). It is okay to design activities with a known outcome, however, the activity should engage the students in making observations, posing questions, examining information sources and data, asking questions and developing hypotheses, using methodological approaches to test hypotheses, analyze and interpret data and develop explanations, draw conclusions and communicate results.
5. Come up with a K-3 level activity using a bottom-up design strategy, e.g., targeting the activity at the Kindergarten level and working up by grade levels from there. It's much harder to design activities from the top down, e.g., going from a high grade level to a low grade level.
Ralph, Dixon, and Ted