Classroom of the Sea: problem-based learning for the deaf

The Classroom of the Sea (COS) Project is an interactive problem-based learning environment embedded in marine science for deaf high school students to assist them in understanding and communicating scientific concepts. COS mixes a real and virtual environment for the students and teachers aboard a research vessel as they gather marine science data to address a problem. The students note the locations of their samples and record them on the ship´s LAN. Once the students return to their classrooms, students, faculty and researchers work to place the data they have collected on to web sites enabling students to experiment with real data, generate hypotheses, test these hypotheses and write up their results. Knowledge, attitudes and behaviors (KABs) and self-efficacy measures related to science literacy and procedures of the students are collected to measure changes.