Use of the Digital Camera to Increase Student Interest and Learning in High School Biology

Abstract

Technology can be thought of in two ways: as a set of tools that amplify or extend what we currently do (make it better, faster, stronger), or as something with the potential to radically change what we do or how we do it (Pea, R. D., Beyond amplification: Using the computer to reorganize mental functioning. Educational Psychologist 20: 167–182, 1985). As technological tools, e.g. the digital camera, become more common, teachers and students have increasingly integrated them into their work. This research attempts to answer two research questions about the digital camera as a technological tool in the science lab. Does the use of the digital camera in laboratory activities increase student learning? Does the use of the digital camera motivate students to take a greater interest in laboratory work? Two high school biology classes in an urban high school of 1300 students were used to carry out the study. One, the control group, did not use the digital camera during two lab activities, and the other, the experimental group did use the digital camera during the same lab activities. The results of the study indicated that the digital camera did increase student learning of process skills in the two biology lab activities. The results of unpaired t tests for independent data indicated the differences were statistically significant for the process questions, while the differences in responses to the content questions were not significantly different. Anecdotal evidence also indicated that the experimental group took more interest in setting up the apparatus and made fewer mistakes in the lab procedure than did the control group.