Measurement in motion

not contribute to developing knowledge schemata. Once students are presented with a problem to solve—once they become goal-oriented—all their cognitive resources are directed toward solving the problem at hand, reducing the information they might obtain about the problem’s basic structure. Sweller suggests that “Contrary to current practice and many cognitive theories, some forms of problem solving interfere with learning.” On the other hand, if goals are not specified, but rather thought about and determined by the student, and if problems are carefully constructed to present multiple avenues of exploration, they are much more likely to contribute to domain knowledge that would be useful in solving related problems. To offer problem solving of the kind described by Sweller, a new generation of technology tools must offer students an open-ended forum in which to question, investigate, construct solutions, and collect data. Measurement in Motion is one such versatile learning environment—uniting educational theory with the power of technology. With Measurement in Motion, students explore measurement as it relates to motion—spanning concepts in science and mathematics. Students investigate relationships between points, lines, angles, areas, and time. Students measure and analyze anything that can be pictured or filmed—from the motion of a roller coaster, to objects and their shadows, to proportion and scale in the biological world, and to the mathematics of visual perspective. Measurements taken directly on each frame of a m o d e l i n g t h e r e a l w o r l d