A New Approach to Developing Interactive Software Modules through Graduate Education

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that graduate students can effectively develop interactive online educational modules in science, combining curriculum goals with practical software development, thus expanding educational outreach and experiential learning.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach of integrating educational software development into graduate science curricula, enabling students to create online modules on complex scientific topics.

Findings

Students successfully developed 15 educational modules.

Modules effectively cover astronomy and physics concepts.

The approach supports project-based learning and outreach objectives.

Abstract

Educational technology has attained significant importance as a mechanism for supporting experiential learning of science concepts. However, the growth of this mechanism is limited by the significant time and technical expertise needed to develop such products, particularly in specialized fields of science. We sought to test whether interactive, educational, online software modules can be developed effectively by students as a curriculum component of an advanced science course. We discuss a set of fifteen such modules developed by Harvard University graduate students to demonstrate various concepts related to astronomy and physics. Their successful development of these modules demonstrates that online software tools for education and outreach on specialized topics can be produced while simultaneously fulfilling project-based learning objectives. We describe a set of technologies suitable for module development and present in detail four examples of modules developed by the students. We offer recommendations for incorporating educational software development within a graduate curriculum and conclude by discussing the relevance of this novel approach to new online learning environments like edX