Enhance Science Learning Research Articles

What are the effects of formative assessment on students’ science learning motivational beliefs and behaviours? Comparison between Western and East Asian learners

ABSTRACT Formative assessment has been long emphasised as a powerful means for enhancing science learning. However, there is still a lack of research to investigate the impacts of formative assessment on both students’ motivational beliefs and behaviours in science learning. This study examined such impacts using data from six Western and six East Asian countries/economies in PISA 2015. 96,491 15-year-old students were included. The SEM analysis of overall data showed that (i) formative assessment had both direct effects on students’ science learning behaviours and indirect impacts mediated by students’ motivational beliefs and (ii) the total effect of teacher feedback on science learning behaviours was greater than adaptive instruction. The comparison between Western and East Asian datasets indicated that (i) the impact of teacher feedback on East Asian students’ motivational beliefs was greater than that on their Western counterparts, (ii) the impact of adaptive instruction on Western students’ motivational beliefs was greater than that on East Asian counterparts, and (iii) the direct impacts of teacher feedback and adaptive instruction on science learning behaviours were similar for both groups of students. Suggestions were made on how to effectively implement formative assessment to enhance science learning in different cultural contexts.

Penerapan Strategi Pembelajaran Inkuiri dalam Mata Pelajaran IPA Kelas VII di MTsN 3 Kerinci

This study aims to evaluate the application of inquiry learning strategies in class VII natural science subjects at MTsN 3 Kerinci. The research method used is classroom action research conducted in several cycles. Participants in this study were students of class VII at MTsN 3 Kerinci. In this study, the teacher implemented an inquiry learning strategy that involved students actively in exploring and discovering knowledge through asking questions, seeking information, and conducting experiments. During the study, data was collected through classroom observations, interviews with teachers, and written tests to measure students' understanding of science concepts. The results showed that the application of inquiry learning strategies in class VII science subjects at MTsN 3 Kerinci had a positive impact on the learning process and students' understanding. Students are actively engaged in exploration and discussion, enhancing their critical thinking skills and scientific skills. In addition, the test results showed a significant increase in students' understanding of science concepts after implementing the inquiry strategy. This research concludes that the application of inquiry learning strategies can be an effective approach in enhancing science learning at the MTs level. It is suggested that teachers should more actively adopt this strategy and provide the necessary support to facilitate student inquiry in their learning

Using Somatic, Auditory, Visualization, Intellectually (SAVI) Learning Model On Primary School To Enhance Science Learning Outcomes

This research purposes to determine the influence of the Somatic Auditory Visualization Intellectually (SAVI) Learning Model on Science Learning Outcomes of 5th Grade Students on the Human Body Concept and to find out the results of students' Science learning on the Human Body Skeleton Material. The research design used was an experiment by means of a non-equivalent control group design and focusses in this examination were fifth grade primary school students. The investigation sample involved of two classes, to be exact the experimental class and the control group. In the experimental group there were 30 students, and in the control class there were 32 students. In obtaining the numbers, the researcher used the science learning achievement test method in the form of multiple-choice questions and documentation. The findings of the experiment indication that the SAVI learning model has an influence on the learning outcomes of natural science on the subject of the human body framework. The outcomes of analysis the assumption with the Mann Whitney test achieved from a posttest value of 0.000 <0.05 funds that H0 is rejected and Ha is accepted. The average of the experimental class that used the SAVI learning model was 79.7 better than the control class that was treated with Direct Instruction learning with an average of 62.4. The presentation of the SAVI learning model is expected to reassure students to be enthusiastically involved in solving problems and to consider analytically and critically.

Aktualisasi Model Flipped Classroom Berbantuan Media Audio Visual untuk Meningkatkan Hasil Belajar

This study aimed to enhance the science learning outcomes of Grade 5 students at SD Negeri 5 Padangsambian by implementing the Flipped Classroom Model. This study is an example of Classroom Action Research (CAR). This study's data were collected by administering a multiple-choice scientific learning achievement examination. In analyzing the obtained data, descriptive analysis was utilized. This investigation generated pre-cycle data, cycle I data, cycle II data, and cycle III data. From the data collected prior to the cycle, it was determined that the average class value was 60.42 and the learning completion rate was only 47%. Given that the KKM for science subjects at this institution is 70, this data falls far below expectations. In cycle one, there was an increase, with the class average reaching 72.11 and the mastery learning rate reaching 76%. In cycle two, the class average for learning has reached 79.47, and the completion rate has reached 82%. In cycle three, an average of 85.53 was attained with a 95% completion rate. In conclusion, the application of the Audio Visual-assisted Flipped Classroom Model can enhance science learning outcomes for students in the first semester VA class at SD Negeri 5 Padangsambian during the Flipped Classroom model's school year.
 
 Flipped Classroom, Audio-Visual, Learning Outcomes

The “Every Child A Scientist” program: using digital technologies to enhance science learning among middle grade students from corporation schools in Chennai

The “Every Child A Scientist” (ECAS) program, since its inception in 2002, has emphasized the importance of experiential and activity based learning to supplement standard “chalk and talk” learning. In a modified version of this program (2021–22), 153 middle school students from two corporation schools of Chennai participated in a two-week science learning sessions using digital e-learning modules. The present study summarises the outcomes of this program. The customised course content developed based on the state school curriculum, delivered using digital smart boards, with audio-visual learning, hands on practical sessions, provided easy grasp of scientific concepts. Integration of practical laboratory based sessions bridged the gap between theory and practice. Simplifying science learning using digital tools has the potential to enhance school academic performance. Students could consciously relate scientific concepts to events in their day-to-day life. Bilingual teaching contributed to easy assimilation and understanding of science concepts. An enabling academic environment with approachable educators is crucial to science learning. Access to internet and desktop systems, awareness of internet based learning resources as secondary sources of learning facilitated and fostered self-learning. Providing nutri-dense meals in schools for overall cognitive development, better learning and physical growth will also ease parental pressures. Thus, technology and science based methods will provide solutions to big challenges in the future. In this context, providing quality science education using digital tools can help integrate socio-economically marginalised students into the main stream.

Engaging Students with Disabilities in Universally Designed Science Education

Increased student diversity in classrooms and the need for equitable STEM opportunities for all, creates an impetus for educators to establish inclusive and equitable environments and use teaching practices that facilitate meaningful learning for all students in science education. This article offers a three-part framework for combining inclusive philosophy, the science and engineering practices, and Universal Design for Learning. The article is intended to help teachers and teacher educators universally design science education to level the science learning field through access and equity for all students, including students with disabilities. We advocate for the use of four practices: creating an inclusive community of science learners, planning for big ideas over time, engaging students in sense-making through model-based inquiry, and engaging students in cooperative learning and science talk. Science teachers can use these practices to universally design science education and enhance science learning and STEM interest for underrepresented students. In the article, we provide visuals and tools for teachers to support implementation of the universally designed science practices.

Immersion experiences and behavioural patterns in game‐based learning

AbstractGames have been regarded as a potential vehicle for enhancing student learning. Previous studies mainly focused on learning outcomes; however, the learning processes and dynamic in‐game behaviours of students who are immersed in a game context are relatively undiscovered. The purposes of this study were to develop an educational game, Bio Detective, to facilitate student science learning and to investigate how game immersion experiences are related to in‐game behavioural patterns. The study included 128 7th graders (12–13 years old). A mixed‐method approach collecting both quantitative and qualitative data was employed, and an integration of cluster and sequential analysis was used. The findings showed that the students were able to learn from playing Bio Detective because significant improvements in science learning outcomes were obtained. The students who were totally immersed in Bio Detective acted more like expert problem solvers than their counterparts with no immersion experiences. They had better problem‐solving efficiency, and their behavioural patterns revealed that they had more heuristic and analogical thinking strategies. Interpretations and limitations are further discussed. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Games are a potential vehicle for enhancing science learning. Previous studies about game‐based learning mainly focused on learning outcomes. Studies aiming to reveal the learning processes and dynamic in‐game behaviours of students who are immersed in a game context are relatively undiscovered. What this paper adds Student science learning was significantly enhanced through playing Bio Detective. The behavioural patterns of the students with no immersion experiences were more inconsistent and complicated. Students with experiences of total immersion exhibited more effective thinking and had more heuristic and analogical problem‐solving strategies. Implications for practice and/or policy Bio Detective can be effective for students to learn scientific concepts. The behavioural patterns of gameplay can tell us more about individuals’ learning processes behind the scenes. The in‐situ data collected by the objective methods combined with other instruments would delineate a clearer picture of the gaming/learning processes.

Enhancing Science Learning through Learning Experiences outside School (LEOS): A review

A review of Sandhya Devi Coll and Richard K. Coll. (2019). Enhancing Science Learning through Learning Experiences outside School (LEOS): How to Learn Better during Visits to Museums, Science Centres, and Science Fieldtrips. Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 111pp. ISBN 978-90-04-41175-3 (Paperback), ISBN 978-90-04-39608-1 (Hardcover), ISBN 978-90-04-41176-0 (e-book). Enhancing Science Learning through Learning Experiences outside of School (LEOS) by Sandhya Devi Coll and Richard K. Coll, is a thoughtfully constructed resource situated in cultivating a better understanding of learning during experiences that occur outside the classroom, and is focused specifically on those experiences that occur as visits to museums, science centres, and other science fieldtrips, that classes or groups of students might participate in together. It is this aim that sets this particular book part. This book strives to bridge these settings to the classroom experience, and create links to the extensive range of informal learning experiences as LEOS. Coll and Coll offer the classroom science teacher practical strategies for this integrated bridging of, what is often considered, two disparate settings.

Enhancing Science Learning through Science Trade Book Reading for 5th Graders

This study explores the learning outcome of science learning with integrating science trade book reading of 5th graders. A quasi-experimental design was used in this study at an elementary school in New Taipei City. Students in the experimental group (N=59) were given instructional strategies on integrating science trade book reading into science learning, while the control group (N=59) received traditional instruction. Three science trade books were used in science reading strategies for the experimental group. Two research instruments were used in this study were a science achievement test (30 items, KR21=.80), and an attitudes toward science scale (31 items, Cronbach α=.94). The results were processed by ANCOVA analysis, finding that students in the experimental group got higher scores than students in the control group (F= 4.921, p < .05). Although there was no significant difference between the two groups in the outcome of the attitudes toward science scale, feedback from students in the experimental group showed that they enjoyed and benefited from integrating science trade book reading into science learning and hoped can they could continue to learn more science by integrating science trade book reading. Thus integrating science trade book reading into science learning was beneficial for the 5th graders in this study.

Impact of interactive online units on learning science among students with learning disabilities and English learners

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to document the design, classroom implementation, and effectiveness of interactive online units to enhance science learning over 3 years among students with learning disabilities, English learners, and general education students. Results of a randomised controlled trial with 2,303 middle school students and 71 teachers across 13 schools in two states indicated that online units effectively deepened science knowledge across all three student groups. Comparing all treatment and control students on pretest-to-posttest improvement on standards-based content-specific assessments, there were statistically significant mean differences (17% improvement treatment vs. 6% control; p < .001); no significant interactions were found between treatment condition and learning disability or English learner status, indicating that these two groups performed similarly to their peers; students with learning disabilities had significantly lower assessment scores overall. Teachers and students were moderately satisfied with the units.

Enhancing Science Learning Through the Introduction of Effective Group Work in Hong Kong Secondary Classrooms

This study compares the learning results of three groups of secondary two (grade eight) students of a similar academic standard who participated in a teaching intervention involving different pedagogies. One hundred and forty-nine Hong Kong secondary students were chosen and divided into three groups, “whole-class teaching approach”, “group work with no specific strategies” and “group work with effective strategies”, to study the “space travel” unit in their science curriculum. The first group was exposed to traditional whole-class instruction, and the latter two practised collaborative group work, with the third adopting four effective strategies derived from a UK-based quasi-experimental project. Analyses of the pre- and post-diagnostic assessments and audiotaped discussions revealed that group work comprising effective strategies not only raised students’ test scores, but also enhanced their joint construction of conceptual knowledge in science. The findings suggest that the effective strategies adopted in this study are contributory factors to superior student accomplishments and a stronger desire to seek clarification accruing from shared cognitive activities.

Examining Elementary School Students’ Transfer of Learning Through Engineering Design Using Think-Aloud Protocol Analysis

The introduction of engineering practices within the Next Generation Science Standards provides technology educators with opportunities to help STEM educators infuse engineering design within a core curriculum. The introduction of teaching engineering design in early elementary grades also provides opportunities to conduct research investigating how young students use engineering design as a way to solve problems. There is a need for research to assess how students experience engineering design as a pedagogical approach to learning science. This article will feature research on elementary students’ cognitive strategies used during engineering-design science activities. We adopted the concurrent think-aloud (CTA) protocol analysis method to capture how students conceptualize design and enhance science learning. During the 2012–2013 school year, we video recorded 66 CTA sessions, and this study examines six of those sessions. NVivo (Version 10) was used to code each video using common cognitive strategies categorized by Halfin (1973). Research findings indicate that participants increased the amount of time spent on mathematical thinking by 34% when given a math-specific design task. Pre- and post-tests showed that participants gained significant science content knowledge. However, we also confirmed that participants struggled with applying accurate mathematical and scientific knowledge to solving the given design problem.

Designing STEAM for Broad Participation in Science

The approach of integrating art with STEM, also known as STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math), has gained tremendous popularity over the last several years, in large part due its potential to enhance science learning and broaden participation in science (Vossoughi & Bevan, 2014). However, the field is still nascent with respect to a guiding set of best practices. Unless close attention is paid to using meaningful STEAM practices, including those that support identity development and equity, STEAM is unlikely to fulfill its promise. In this essay, we present a new model for thinking about STEAM, including proposing a set of core STEAM practices that draw on disciplinary practices of art and science. We then provide two examples of STEAM practices in action with respect to activities that integrate biology and chemistry with art. Finally, we offer a set of design recommendations to those wishing to develop impactful STEAM activities. These principles are broadly applicable to science learning in diverse contexts and settings, both in and out of school.

NIH/IRACDA Program – a Win for Both Post‐Docs and PUI Partner Institutions

The NIH/IRACDA program is a career development program that facilitates the progress of postdoctoral candidates towards biomedical research and teaching careers in academia. The program promotes consortia between research‐intensive institutions and partner institutions that have a historical mission and a demonstrated commitment to providing training, encouragement and assistance to students from groups underrepresented in the biomedical research enterprise. Medgar Evers College (MEC) is an undergraduate Minority Serving Institution in Central Brooklyn, NY with a student enrollment of about 7,000, 75% of which is female. Since 2010 MEC has been one of two partner institutions of the INSPIRE (IRACDA New Jersey/New York for Science Partnership in Research and Education) program with Rutgers‐RWJMS. Thus far twelve INSPIRE fellows have received or are currently receiving training in MEC science classrooms and/or teaching labs under the mentorship of five MEC faculty. Before coming to the partner institution, fellows spend their first year in a scientific teaching workshop at Rutgers where they participate in sessions that include setting learning goals, diversity and learning styles, instructional technology, active learning techniques, and assessing learning outcomes. As a result, INSPIRE fellows bring many fresh and novel teaching approaches to MEC undergraduate courses. Fellows also have been very effective at incorporating their postdoctoral research interests and techniques into various lecture and lab topics to not only enhance science learning but also drive home how important being a researcher is to the advancement of medical science. The INSPIRE program provides valuable career development for post‐docs interested in advancing both their research and teaching skills. The hands‐on training they are receiving in how to balance research and teaching has already proved to help a large percentage of INSPIRE fellows obtain academic positions at both PUIs and research‐intensive institutions. Partner institutions benefit as well for INSPIRE is proving to have a positive impact at MEC, especially in the areas of science curriculum, research and undergraduate career development. INSPIRE fellows have provided new ideas and techniques to improve teaching and learning of various course topics, and have worked with MEC faculty to develop new undergraduate courses and research collaborations. Being a partner institution in the INSPIRE program has placed well‐trained post‐doc researchers, with a passion for teaching, on our campus to interact with our undergraduate students both in and out of the classroom. By relating their own experiences on how to prepare for and navigated graduate school, INSPIRE fellows are serving as excellent role models for MEC students, effectively building up their self‐confidence about applying to graduate school and motivating many to think about biomedical research careers.Support or Funding InformationNIH/IRACDA ‐ 5K12GM093854

초등과학에서 그리기 중점의 사고지도를 활용한 수업 전략의 효과

The purpose of this study is to develop instructional strategy which utilizes thinking maps focused on drawing as a measure to enhance science learning motivation, self-directed learning activity and science academic achievement of learners, and to examine the effects of its application. The target unit for this study is 'life cycle of plants' in the fourth grade of elementary school. Two classes of 4th grades of elementary school were selected and divided into two groups. The learners of experimental group have completed thinking map by drawing a picture to express the results to be observed and measured, and used it to arrange the learning contents. The result of this study is as follows. First, it is proven that using thinking maps focused on drawing actually helped improving the motivation of learners to study science. Second, it is proven that this strategy was effective to change their self-directed learning ability in positive ways. Third, it contributed to the improvement of learners' science academic achievement. We found out that the application of this strategy enabled them to enjoy the mapping using drawing, to be immersed in learning, to better recognize the scientific concepts and the structure of learning contents, and to have a positive awareness of the usefulness of thinking maps focused on drawing.

Taiwanese students’ science learning self-efficacy and teacher and student science hardiness: a multilevel model approach

This study aimed to investigate the factors accounting for science learning self-efficacy (the specific beliefs that people have in their ability to complete tasks in science learning) from both the teacher and the student levels. We thus propose a multilevel model to delineate its relationships with teacher and student science hardiness (i.e., the courage that is needed to turn stressful changes from burdens into advantageous growth in science education settings). The current research was conducted through collecting survey responses from both teachers (i.e., using the self-report teacher science hardiness questionnaire) and students (i.e., using the self-report student science hardiness and the self-report science learning self-efficacy questionnaires). A total of 45 Taiwanese science teachers were solicited from junior high schools. Also, we recruited students who were taught by these 45 teachers. In total, 1145 junior high school students whose ages ranged from 12 to 16, with a mean of 13.68 (SD = 0.90), were invited to take part in the study. Of these students, 268 were in the seventh grade, 430 were in the eighth grade, and 447 were in the ninth grade. The results of hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) confirmed our hypothesis that teacher science hardiness fostered student science hardiness, which in turn contributed to the students’ science learning self-efficacy. The findings revealed that both teacher and student science hardiness play important roles in explaining the structure of science learning self-efficacy. To enhance science learning self-efficacy, educators should develop programs for teachers and students to increase their science hardiness.

Virtual Field Trips with Inquiry learning and Critical Thinking Process: A Learning Model to Enhance Students’ Science Learning Outcomes

This paper aimed to present a learning model using virtual field trips (VFTs) with inquiry learning and critical thinking process to enhance science learning outcomes of lower secondary students based on the research and development. Phase 1 of this paper showed the process of develop a learning model and phase 2 showed the result of implementation with the lower secondary school students. After implementation, the learning model was revised using qualitative data from observation, students’ opinion from a survey, and the assessment from experts. The research instruments used to assess science learning outcomes were the test for assessing students’ skills of concept mapping, retrieval information, meaningful communication, and critical thinking. Samples were 104 Science teachers, 26 Science education experts, 31 students attending the 8th grade of a secondary school, and 5 instructional design experts. This VFTs learning model with inquiry learning and critical thinking process consisted of five main components: 1) Content and Activities, 2) VFTs media and resources (video clips, pictures, animations, online diaries, worksheets, activity sheets, and games), 3) experts from the field trips resources, 4) a learning management system for virtual field trip, and 5) assessment and evaluation. There were three phases of learning activities: 1) Pre-using the VFT activities (1 week), 2) During the VFT activities (2 weeks), and 3) Post-using the VFT activities (2 weeks). All phases included 6 learning steps: engagement, investigation and exploration, explanation, conclusion, elaboration, and evaluation. The results of exploring effectiveness of the VFTs learning model from one group pretest posttest experimental research design showed the students’ science learning outcomes posttest scores had significantly higher than the pretest at a level of significance of .05 and five experts’ assessment before and after try-out the model were appropriate in high level.

The effects of augmented virtual science laboratories on middle school students' understanding of gas properties

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) emphasize authentic scientific practices such as developing models and constructing explanations of phenomena. However, research documents how students struggle to explain observable phenomena with molecular-level behaviors with current classroom experiences. For example, physical laboratory experiences in science enable students to interact with observable scientific phenomena, but students often fail to make connections to underlying molecular-level behaviors. Virtual laboratory experiences and computer-based visualizations enable students to interact with unobservable scientific concepts, but students can have difficulties connecting to actual instantiations of the observed phenomenon. This paper investigates how combining physical and virtual experiences into augmented virtual science laboratories can help students build upon intuitive ideas and develop molecular-level explanations of macroscopic phenomena. Specifically, this study uses the Frame, a sensor-augmented virtual lab that uses sensors as physical inputs to control scientific simulations. Eighth-grade students (N = 45) engaged in a Frame lab focused on the properties of gas. Results demonstrate that students using the Frame lab made progress developing molecular-level explanations of gas behavior and refining alternative and partial ideas into normative ideas about gases. This study offers insights for how augmented virtual labs can be designed to enhance science learning and encourage scientific practices as called for in the NGSS.

Learning science with dialogical maps

The development of children's concepts is often still studied without taking into account school practices, namely, the verbal and instrumental activities in which these concepts develop. The present research is rooted in a Vygotskian perspective that defines thinking and its dynamics within the semiotic contexts where they take place. The article aims at showing how pupils were guided by their teacher to adopt an inquiry- and argumentative-based approach to learning science. Software developed to support argumentation and learning - an argumentative map called Digalo that provides a visual representation of the discussion - was used in the classroom by teachers and students to learn about astronomy. The data presented here were extracted from a European project (Escalate) which aimed to enhance science learning through argumentation and inquiry activities (Andriessen, Baker & Suthers, 2003; Muller Mirza & Perret-Clermont, 2008; Muller Mirza, Tartas, Perret-Clermont & De Pietro, 2007). Three elementary classes (grades 3, 4 and 5) participated in the study and were led to explain 'why are there seasons?' in the course of different phases of debates guided by the teacher and mediated by argumentative maps. General quantitative results based on the comparison of pre-test and post-test scores showed that the students in grades 4 and 5 improved their knowledge whereas the 3rd grade students did not progress. A more detailed analysis of the different phases of the study was then carried out, focusing on the evolution of children's understanding of the seasons through the analysis of their productions (the structure and argumentative contents of their argumentative maps) and on how the 5th grade teacher scaffolded his students' sessions. The results showed that elementary school students can learn from debate oriented by argumentative maps and guided by the teacher. The roles of argumentative maps and teacher's scaffolding in learning and thinking processes are discussed from a sociocultural perspective.

Collaborative embodied learning in mixed reality motion-capture environments: Two science studies.

These 2 studies investigate the extent to which an Embodied Mixed Reality Learning Environment (EMRELE) can enhance science learning compared to regular classroom instruction. Mixed reality means that physical tangible and digital components were present. The content for the EMRELE required that students map abstract concepts and relations onto their gestures and movements so that the concepts would become grounded in embodied action. The studies compare an immersive, highly interactive learning platform that uses a motion-capture system to track students’ gestures and locomotion as they kinesthetically learn with a quality classroom experience (teacher and content were held constant). Two science studies are presented: chemistry titration and disease transmission. In the counterbalanced design 1 group received the EMRELE intervention, while the other group received regular instruction; after 3 days and a midtest, the interventions switched. Each study lasted for 6 days total, with 3 test points: pretest, midtest, and posttest. Analyses revealed that placement in the embodied EMRELE condition consistently led to greater learning gains (effect sizes ranged from 0.53 to 1.93), compared to regular instruction (effect sizes ranged from 0.09 to 0.37). Order of intervention did not affect the final outcomes at posttest. These results are discussed in relation to a new taxonomy of embodiment in educational settings. We hypothesize that the positive results are due to the embodiment designed into the lessons and the high degree of collaboration engendered by the co-located EMRELE.