A comparison of the quality and sequence of television and classroom science questions with a proposed strategy of science instruction

Abstract

AbstractThis study was part of a research project designed to measure the utilization and effectiveness of a locally televised science series in 54 classrooms in the Seattle metropolitan area. A design was selected that provided a treatment variable representing four degrees of utilization of TV science and non‐TV science, and four grade levels.One measure of effectiveness of TV and non‐TV science instruction involved the use of a multiple question category system in analyzing questions asked by studio and classroom teachers. All questions asked by these teachers were categorized into a modified Gallagher‐Aschner system. All questions asked by classroom teachers were also categorized into the Science Lesson Category System designed by the project investigators. In addition, all questions asked by studio teachers and classroom teachers utilizing TV science instruction, grades three and four, were categorized into the Instructional Strategy Category System, designed by the writer and patterned after the instructional strategy found in the Science Curriculum Improvement Study.With a curriculum containing preplanned scripts and Teachers' Manuals with suggested activities, teachers utilizing TV science instruction asked a higher proportion of convergent questions than teachers not using TV instruction. These questions were found, for the most part, in the post‐TV period and in the discovery phase of the model instructional strategy. Comparisons of these findings with those proportions of questions asked during the non‐TV period indicated differences in questioning behavior between treatment groups using TV and non‐TV science instruction. It was concluded that these differences resulted from the influence of the TV science series.