Search

The purpose of this mixed-method study was to investigate the changes in high school students' perceptions of fluency with innovative technologies (IT) and the levels of students' scientific inquiry abilities as a result of engaging students in long-term scientific research projects focusing on community-based environmental issues. Over a span of 3 years, a total of 125 ninth- through twelfth-grade students participated in this study. A project-specific Likert-scale survey consisting of three parts (fluency with All Technologies, GPS/GIS, and CBL2/EasyData) was administered to all students as a pre- and post-test. At the end of the study, 45 students were randomly interviewed and asked to elaborate on the changes in their perceptions of fluency with IT. The results indicated statistically significant increases (p less than 0.001) in students' perceptions of their fluency with IT. Qualitative analysis of students' interview results corroborated the statistical findings of students' changes in perceptions of their fluency with IT. Students' research papers based on the environmental studies conducted at the interface of classroom and community were analyzed using the "Scientific Inquiry Rubrics," which consist of 11 criteria developed by the researchers. Results indicated the students' abilities to conduct scientific inquiry for 7 out of 11 criteria were at the proficient level. This study clearly points to the correlation between the development of IT fluency and ability levels to engage in scientific inquiry based on respective competencies. Ultimately, this research study recommends that students' IT fluency ought to be developed and assessed concurrently with an emphasis on contemporary higher order scientific inquiry abilities. (Contains 2 figures and 3 tables.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the Common Knowledge Construction Model (CKCM) lesson sequence, an intervention based both in conceptual change theory and in Phenomenography, a subset of conceptual change theory. A mixed approach was used to investigate whether this model had a significant effect on 7th grade students' science achievement and conceptual change. The Excretion Unit Achievement Test (EUAT) indicated that students (N = 33) in the experimental group achieved significantly higher scores (p less than 0.001) than students in the control group (N = 35) taught by traditional teaching methods. Qualitative analysis of students' pre- and post-teaching conceptions of excretion revealed (1) the addition and deletion of ideas from pre- to post-teaching; (2) the change in the number of students within categories of ideas; (3) the replacement of everyday language with scientific labels; and (4) the difference in the complexity of students' responses from pre- to post-teaching. These findings contribute to the literature on teaching that incorporates students' conceptions and conceptual change. (Contains 5 figures and 4 tables.)