Setting


 * __ Setting  __**

This case study took place at Arlington Accelerated Learning Academy (AALA) in the computer lab and science lab. While all of the 6th, 7th and 8th grade students were required to present their projects digitally, the focus of this study was the 7th grade students. This decision was made because some of the data forms would require the students to have completed a science project last school year. Additionally, the 8th grade was ruled out due to the phenomenon that occurs each spring when the 8th grade students lose sight of academic requirements in anticipation of high school.

There are 38 students in the 7th grade class. There are 23 girls and 15 boys. Of this population, 8 are special needs students. The computer lab at Arlington is equipped with 30 Dell desktop computers and three laser printers-2 color and one black and white. The computers have internet access but an extremely prohibitive filtering system exists on the machines throughout the district. The computers also have Microsoft Office Suite installed on them.