An Investigation of a Web-Based Learning Environment Designed to Enhance the Motivation and Achievement of Students in Learning Difficult Mental Models in High School Science

A high school science teacher reported that the students have motivation and learning problems to understand the concept of fossilization. Working with the science teacher, a Web-Based Learning Environment (Web-LE) has been designed by a group of students in the Department of Instructional Technology at University of Georgia to enhance and sustain the motivation of learners in the context of secondary science education. The cognitive tool approach is employed to design the Web-LE to enhance the learners’ cognition toward the scientific concept of fossilization. Several strategies for increasing students’ intrinsic motivation will be involved in the Web-LE design. The goal is to find the practical approaches to design the online fossil course that should be shored up by the instructional theories including cooperative learning and the motivational theories. The high school teachers can use the Web-LE to aid the science subject instruction without purchasing software.