ChickScope: An interactive MRI classroom curriculum innovation for K-12

Researchers from several departments of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign initiated ChickScope, a 21-day chick embryonic development project, to demonstrate the remote control of a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instrument through the World Wide Web. For 21 days, students and teachers from ten kindergarten to high school classrooms participated in this innovative project using an interactive Web lab book. From classroom computers with access to the Internet, students were able to login to the computers at the university that controlled the MRI system, manipulate experimental conditions through a simple on-line form to generate their own data, and then view resulting images of the chick embryo in real-time. Researchers answered students' questions about their MR images and other related issues. ChickScope made extraordinary hardware, software, and human resources available to the classrooms. However, it left to teachers the tasks of integrating these resources into the classroom and adapting them to the needs and abilities of the students. Thus, the implementation was reacher-based, and its meaning was realized in different ways in each setting. This paper describes the planning, implementation, and the impact of ChickScope in classrooms for facilitating learning and teaching. We provide examples from various grade levels - primary to high school. We conclude with lessons learned and the implications of advanced technologies for K-12 outreach. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.