The following is a selection of resources that have generally proven useful to students in JSC301 as they develop their projects. These are relevant not just to teaching, but to general communication and interactive learning.
This series of short videos by cognitive psychologist Dr. Stehen Chew provides short introductions to a number of the topics we will be discussing in class, as well as useful skills that you can employ in this course!
A short introduction to active learning, with links describing specific types of activities that can be used in various environments.
A short introduction to the principles of universal design within an educational context. These principles are worth incorporating when developing materials as they can benefit all students regardless of accessibilty requirements.
This blog post summarizes some of the key principles derived from extensive research on Multimedia learning by Richard Mayer and Ruth Clark. It’s a good starting point for considering how you might implement anything from an audio-visual presentation to a video to an interactive web site. Both cited authors have published extensively on this topic in the research literature.
Many of the original interactive simulations were developed in Flash, which is now obsolete. These are in the process of being converted to more modern standards and made compatible across all device types. The above links provide many examples that can be incorporated into science classes and activities covering a range of topics and educational levels.