Changing Science Outcomes: Cognitive Acceleration in a US Setting

Abstract

Inquiry is seen as an integral part of science education in the USA; however, few American science programs explicitly focus on the higher order thinking skills that are the precursors to inquiry. In this paper, Australian researchers report the result of using a version of the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) program in a school district in Oregon (USA) to address teacher-identified concerns about student competence in scientific inquiry. The substantial effect of CASE on British children’s cognitive development and scholastic achievement has been demonstrated convincingly since its inception in the United Kingdom in 1981. The Oregon CASE project was not a mere replication of the original British CASE research: different instruments were employed, and both the measures of cognitive level and student achievement were Rasch-calibrated. The Oregon CASE teachers received comparatively less professional development than did their British counterparts. Neither did they deliver the entire intervention. The results of the study suggest that many of the benefits of CASE still apply when the intervention is conducted in a sub-optimal setting. Cognitive growth was apparent in participating students and high correlations were found between cognitive level and results in some state-mandated tests.