Teaching Ecosystems and Matter Cycles with Creative Drama Activities

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of creative drama-based instruction on seventh graders’ science achievements in the ecology and matter cycles unit and their attitudes toward science. The study is an experimental study carried out in one of the public elementary schools in Turkey during 2005–2006 schooling year. An ecological concept achievement test was developed and administered to 45 students in two classes (as control and experimental group) of an elementary school before and after the treatment. The experimental group received creative drama-based instruction and the control group received traditional instruction. A guiding instruction material which contains six lesson plans in the subject was constructed for the teacher to administer creative drama-based instruction. The topics of ecosystems and matter cycles were taught to the both of groups for 3 weeks. A science attitude test was administered to both groups before and after the treatment. The results revealed a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the both groups with respect to achievement in the ecology concepts and median of the attitudes toward science in favour of the experimental group after the treatment.     

Among Those Present

Abstract

The relative effectiveness of a problem-solving-based computer-assisted instruction (PSCAI) and a lecture-Internet-discussion instruction (LIDI) were compared for Taiwan senior high school students' science achievement and attitudes toward science. A pretest-posttest control group experimental design involving 8 classes was used. Experimental-group students (n = 156) received the PSCAI; comparison-group students (n = 138) received the LIDI. Instruments included the Earth Science Achievement Test (C. Y. Chang, 2000) and the Attitudes Toward Earth Science Inventory (C. Y. Chang & S. L. Mao, 1999). A multivariate analysis of covariance suggested that (a) students taught using the PSCAI scored higher but not significantly higher than did students in the LIDI group and (b) there were statistically significant differences in favor of the PSCAI on student attitudes toward the subject matter.     

The Use Of The Method Of Runs For Testing The Randomness Of The Order Of Examination Items

The hypothesis that narrative text structure would be more interesting than expository text structure, and would therefore motivate more learning, was tested using an experimental design. Five classes of secondary school students read a history textbook chapter written in conventional expository style, and another five classes read a narrative version in which the same subject matter was embedded in a story involving fictional characters. All students also received instruction from their teachers. Contrary to prediction, the two groups did not differ significantly on the achievement posttest. Both groups also had similarly positive attitudes toward the text version they read, although in a face-to-face comparison the majority of the students preferred the narrative version. Recommendations for further tests of the hypothesis are offered.     

Effectiveness of Conceptual Change Text-oriented Instruction on Students’ Understanding of Energy in Chemical Reactions

The aim of this study is to compare the effectiveness of conceptual change text instruction (CCT) in the context of energy in chemical reactions. The subjects of the study were 60, 10th grade students at a high school, who were in two different classes and taught by the same teacher. One of the classes was randomly selected as the experimental group in which CCT instruction was applied, and the other as the control group in which traditional teaching method was used. The data were obtained through the use of Energy Concept Test (ECT), the Attitude Scale towards Chemistry (ASC) and Science Process Skill Test (SPST). In order to find out the effect of the conceptual change text on students’ learning of energy concept, independent sample t-tests, ANCOVA (analysis of covariance) and ANOVA (analysis of variance) were used. Results revealed that there was a statistically significant mean difference between the experimental and control group in terms of students’ ECT total mean scores; however, there was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control group in terms of students’ attitude towards chemistry. These findings suggest that conceptual change text instruction enhances the understanding and achievement.     

Effectiveness of Using Computer-Assisted Supplementary Instruction for Teaching the Mole Concept

This study examined the effect of computer-assisted instruction (CAI), used as a problem-solving supplement to classroom instruction, on students' understanding of chemical formulas and mole concept, their attitudes toward chemistry subjects, and CAI. The objective was to assess the effectiveness of CAI over recitation hours when both teaching methods were used as a supplement to the traditional chemistry instruction. We randomly selected two classes in a secondary school. Each teaching strategy was randomly assigned to one class. The experimental group received supplementary instruction delivered via CAI, while the control group received similar instruction through recitation hours. The data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance and t-test. It was found that the students who used the CAI accompanied with lectures scored significantly higher than those who attended recitation hours, in terms of school subject achievement in chemistry and attitudes toward chemistry subjects. In addition, there was a significant improvement in the attitudes of students in the experimental group toward the use of computers in a chemistry course. There was no significant difference between the performances of females versus males in each treatment group.     

Building an organized knowledge base: Concept mapping and achievement in secondary school physics

Direct teaching of problem-solving methods to high school physics students met with little success. Expert problem solving depended upon an organized knowledge base. Concept mapping was found to be a key to organizing an effective knowledge base. The investigation of the effect of the degree of concept mapping on achievement was the purpose of this study. Six intact high school physics classes, taught by this investigator, took part in the study. Two classes were control groups and received standard instruction. Four classes received six weeks of concept-mapping instruction prior to the unit under study. Two of these four classes were the low-level treatment group and were required to submit concept maps at the conclusion of the instruction. The other two classes were the high-level treatment group and were required to submit concept maps at the beginning and at the conclusion of the unit under study. One class from each treatment group took a pretest prior to instruction. An analysis of the posttest results revealed no pretest sensitization. A one-way analysis of covariance indicated a significant main effect for the treatment level at the p < 0.05 level. A pair of single-df comparisons of the adjusted treatment means resulted in significant differences (p < 0.05) between the control group and the average of the treatment means as well as between the two experimental groups. It can be concluded that for this sample (upper-middle-class high school physics students) mapping concepts prior to, during, and subsequent to instruction led to greater achievement as measured by posttest scores.     

Linear and curvilinear relationships between student practice and achievement in physical education

The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between student practice trials and achievement in physical education classes. Middle school/junior high school students (N = 202) were pretested and posttested on two volleyball skills. Between tests students received seven classes of instruction. Data were collected from videotapes on the quantity and quality of individual student practice trials. Linear, quadratic, and cubic relationships of practice with residualized achievement were determined. For both skills, appropriate practice trials were positively related to achievement and inappropriate trials negatively related to achievement. Other linear and curvilinear relationships were found.     

The effect of A teacher questioning strategy training program on teaching behavior,student achievement,and retention

The use of questions in the classroom has been employed throughout the recorded history of teaching. One still hears the term “Socratic method” during discussions of questioning procedures. The use of teacher questions is presently viewed as a viable procedure for effective instruction. This study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of training teachers in the use of a questioning technique and the resultant effect upon student learning. The Post-Test Only Control Group Design was used in randomly assigning teachers and students to experimental and control groups. A group of teachers was trained in the use of a specific questioning technique. Follow-up periodic observations were made of questioning technique behavior while teaching science units to groups of students. Post-unit achievement tests were administered to the student groups to obtain evidence of a relationship between the implementation of specific types of teacher questions and student achievement and retention. Analysis of observation data indicated a higher use of managerial and rhetorical questions by the control group than the experimental group. The experimental group employed a greater number of recall and data gathering questions as well as higher order data processing and data verification type questions. The student posttest achievement scores for both units of instruction were greater for the experimental groups than for the control groups. The retention scores for both units were Beater for the experimental groups than for the control groups.     

A mixed methods analysis of the effects of an integrative geobiological study of petrified wood in introductory college geology classrooms

Mixed methods research conducted across three semesters in introductory college geology classes (n = 187, 190, 138) attempted to ascertain whether integrated study of petrified wood could serve as a portal to improved student geobiological understanding of fossilization, geologic time, and evolution. The Petrified Wood Survey? was administered as a preinstructional and postinstructional assessment in control and experimental classes; the experimental class received integrated petrified wood instruction. Paired t tests of differences in students' pre‐ and postinstructional scores for control and experimental groups revealed significance (α = 0.05, effect size = 0.79, confidence interval 0.56–1.01). The students with integrative study showed greater knowledge gains about petrified wood's abundance, properties, nature, location, and geologic time. However, understanding of fossilization geochemistry remained problematic for both groups. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1011–1035, 2007     

Chapter 7 Sociometric Choice

To determine relationships between key variables in a teacher training program, twenty-one trainees were randomly assigned to criterion-referenced and control treatment groups. Criterion-referenced trainees received 126 hours of instruction in a model where the focus was on achieving intended behavioral objectives with pupils. Trainees were administered a written checkup to determine verbal mastery of criterion-referenced instruction and were rated by observers for effective use of the model in practice sessions. Each trainee was also required to teach an identical resource unit to randomly assigned pupils to measure their ability to achieve objectives. The only significant relationship obtained was between effective practice and pupil achievement (.58, p<.05).     

Iranian university students’ experiences of and attitudes towards alternatives in assessment

This study investigated the effect of assessment type (self vs. peer vs. teacher) on university students’ academic achievement and students’ attitudes toward them. In the main study, 82 undergraduate English-as-a-Foreign-Language students in four classes at three universities in Iran were randomly assigned into one of self-, peer- and teacher-assessment or control groups. A pre-test was designed to measure students’ initial knowledge in the subject Teaching Methods. Then experimental groups were subjected to one of the assessment types; however, the control group received no intervention. Thirty-eight students from experimental groups completed an attitude questionnaire. A similarly designed follow-up study was conducted with two classes of BA Chemistry students taking a General English course at Urmia University. The application of one-way analysis of covariance on the main study post-test data indicated differences in performances of all groups, with peer-assessment group performing the best. Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that both self- and peer-assessment, as well as the teacher-assessment group, had positive attitudes toward their assessment experiences. The application of one-way analysis of variance on replication study data showed that the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group on the post-test and that students in the former group had positive attitudes toward self-assessment.     

Learning from physics instruction

Forty high school students participated in a study to investigate learning and remembering from physics instruction. At pretest, students received aptitude tests, an alternate form of achievement test (counterbalanced) and a word association (WA) test. Then the 40 students were divided into instruction (N = 28) and control (N = 12) groups. The control group received all subsequent tests but no instruction. The instruction group received physics instruction over five 2-hour sessions. At the end of each session, the WA test was administered; the alternate form of the achievement test was administered at the end of the last session. The instruction and control groups did not differ significantly in achievement at pretest. The instruction group showed a significant gain from pre- to posttest; no such gain was found for the control group. The instruction and control groups did not differ on the number of responses generated on the WA test at pretesting. The number of responses given by students in the instruction group increased significantly from test 1 (pretest) to test 6 (posttest). For the control group, the number of responses increased initially and then leveled out well below the instruction group data. When WA test responses were tallied for “constrained” responses (i.e., tallying only those concepts found in equations defining the stimulus word), the number of constrained responses increased consistently for the instruction group. For the control group, constrained responses showed an initial increase and then leveled out well below instruction group data. Finally, the aptitude, achievement, and WA data were intercorrelated. This analysis suggests that for students who perform well in solving problems at the end of instruction, the physics concepts became meaningful soon after they were introduced. Subsequently, these students were able to consolidate, in memory, the meaning of the concepts and the interrelations among these concepts in the form of equations. Students not able to solve problems at the end of instruction seemed to be completing the process of acquiring the meaning of the concepts.     

Effect of Precise Objectives upon Student Achievement in Health Education

The purpose of this study was to determine what effect the communication of precise instructional objectives to students has on their learning. The study was designed (1) to provide data on whether student achievement can be influenced significantly by providing students, in advance of instruction, information on what is expected of them as an outcome of instruction and (2) to investigate various ways of communicating to students, in writing, that which is to be learned in class. The Ss for this study were selected from five tenth-grade health and safety classes taught by the same teacher. Of the 143 Ss, one third in each class was randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. For treatment groups one through three, the participants received precisely stated instructional objectives, vaguely stated instructional objectives, and short paragraphs of health information, respectively. Ss receiving prior to instruction precise information on what is expected of them showed greater achievement than those who received vague or related information.     

Teaching and Learning Number Sense – An Intervention Study of Fifth Grade Students in Taiwan

Two classes (one experimental and one control) in a public elementary school located in southern Taiwan participated in this study. Number sense activities were conducted in the experimental class as supplementary teaching materials, while the control class followed the standard mathematics curriculum. Data indicate that there are statistically significant differences between pretest and posttest (pretest and retention-test) scores for the experimental and control classes at the 0.01 level. The scores for the experimental class increased 44% after instruction (the mean score went from 12.35 to 17.81), while the scores for the control class increased only 10% after instruction (the mean score went from 11.29 to 12.42). Compared to the control class, the experimental class made much more progress on number sense tests. Results indicate that students in the teaching class (not including the students in the low level) advanced in their use of number sense strategies when responding to interview questions. The data demonstrate that the teaching of number sense activities, executed in the experimental class, is effective in developing children's number sense. Furthermore, the results of retention demonstrate that the students' learning was meaningful and significant.     

Comparison of Hypermedia Learning and Traditional Instruction on Knowledge Acquisition and Retention

Abstract

A comparison was made of hypermedia learning environments and traditional instruction in terms of contribution to declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge acquisition and retention in a specific subject area through a pretest-posttest control-group design. Thirty-nine 9th-grade biology students were assigned to experimental (hypermedia learning environment) and control (traditional instruction) groups through a matched-pair technique. Both groups were given pre-, post-, and retention tests. Posttest results indicated no significant difference between control and experimental groups in acquisition of declarative, conditional, and procedural knowledge. However, retention test results showed that the experimental group retained all three types of knowledge significantly better than did the control group.     

The Impact of Internet Virtual Physics Laboratory Instruction on the Achievement in Physics, Science Process Skills and Computer Attitudes of 10th-Grade Students

The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the impact of Internet Virtual Physics Laboratory (IVPL) instruction with traditional laboratory instruction in physics academic achievement, performance of science process skills, and computer attitudes of tenth grade students. One-hundred and fifty students from four classes at one private senior high school in Taoyuan Country, Taiwan, R.O.C. were sampled. All four classes contained 75 students who were equally divided into an experimental group and a control group. The pre-test results indicated that the students’ entry-level physics academic achievement, science process skills, and computer attitudes were equal for both groups. On the post-test, the experimental group achieved significantly higher mean scores in physics academic achievement and science process skills. There was no significant difference in computer attitudes between the groups. We concluded that the IVPL had potential to help tenth graders improve their physics academic achievement and science process skills.     

教师变量对小学生数学学习成绩影响的多水平分析

32名小学数学教师与这些教师所教班级的1691名学生参与了本研究。两个测量工具评价了教师的数学学科知识与学科教学知识,对教师的55节数学课进行了录像,并按照学习任务的认知水平与课堂对话的特点进行了编码,同时测查了学生的期末数学学习成绩。多水平分析结果表明:教师的学科教学知识、课堂学习任务的认知水平、课堂对话中教师提问问题的类型与对话的权威来源对学生的数学成绩具有显著的预测作用;而教师的学科知识对学生数学成绩的影响未达到显著性水平。     

Toward dynamic assessment of reading: applying metacognitive awareness guidance to reading assessment tasks

This paper focuses on research that aimed to provide a theoretical–practical framework to link literacy assessment practice with learning theory. An experimental study was designed with reference to three theoretical axes: ‘metacognitive awareness’ theory, ‘schema’ theory and the Vygotskian ‘zone of proximal fevelopment’. The study tested the effect of using written metacognitive awareness guidance (MCAG) as a tool for activating and engaging learners’Habits of Mind while processing authentic reading assessment tasks taken from Israeli kits of assessment tasks (Guterman, 2000). The study on 300 Grade–4 pupils used three modalities: a control group, which received no treatment; a placebo group, which received content instructions (CI); and a treatment group, which was given written MCAG. The findings confirmed that applying metacognitive awareness guidance to reading assessment tasks makes a difference in the learners’ level of performance and achievement on those tasks, and also increases learners’ chances of internalising the guidance components.     

High school students' ability to solve molarity problems and their analog counterparts

The study investigates the use of analog tasks for determining difficulties that high school chemistry students might encounter in solving molarity problems. Students (n = 619) from five schools completed three tests given throughout the school year. These were: an analog test, a molarity test, and a retention test. The analog task consisted of dissolving lemonade powder for solid sodium hydroxide. Results indicate that the analog task is a predictor of success on the molarity test; that difficulties encountered on the analog test are similar to those on the chemistry test, and that achievement on some types of chemistry problems might be improved by us in analog tasks in instruction.     

Effectiveness of Case-Based Learning Instruction on Epistemological Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Chemistry

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of case-based learning instruction over traditionally designed chemistry instruction on eleventh grade students’ epistemological beliefs and their attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject. The subjects of this study consisted of 63 eleventh grade students from two intact classes of an urban high school instructed with same teacher. Each teaching method was randomly assigned to one class. The experimental group received case-based learning and the control group received traditional instruction. At the experimental group, life cases were presented with small group format; at the control group, lecturing and discussion was carried out. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the experimental and control group with respect to their epistemological beliefs and attitudes toward chemistry as a school subject in favor of case-based learning method group. Thus, case base learning is helpful for development of students’ epistemological beliefs and attitudes toward chemistry.