SOURCE: Paracomp, Inc.

 

LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - March 11, 2009) - For the first time, New York State students can complete the requirements for the Regents Living Environment inexpensively and efficiently. Paracomp, Inc., the producer of Smart Science® instructional units, has created the first complete set of online labs for the Living Environment course as prescribed by the New York State Regents. These labs include prerecorded real experiments, traditional hands-on experiments, and a combination of both in hybrid labs. The Smart Science® system records all student data and work, including lab reports, permanently in a server database.

The lab suite, www.smartscience.net/SmartScience/SmartScienceNYCLiv.html, includes 21 labs with over 25 hours of hands-on time and about 24 hours of virtual lab time. Instructors choose the labs they will use in their classes.

According to Dr. Harry Keller, president of Paracomp, "Years of planning and work have gone into designing and developing a set of labs that will support the Regents requirements and provide a robust learning environment while saving time and money. They strongly support learning scientific reasoning and understanding the nature of science. Teachers with all levels of experience will find that these labs support success in their classrooms."

Smart Science® instructional units constitute the only online product that meets the definition of and goals for laboratory experiences in the National Research Council's "America's Lab Report." The experiments are not simulated and are not demonstrations. Students interact closely with prerecorded real experiments with or without hands-on experiments to collect their own individual data and develop an understanding of the complexity and ambiguity of scientific work.

Currently, Smart Science® instructional units are used across the country in grades 5 through college at large and small, rural and urban, prestigious and poor, online and traditional educational institutions. These units really help students to think like scientists, and their low cost allows schools to save money while improving science education.

Smart Science is a trademark of Paracomp, Inc.