Sindy Main

Publication Date

2015

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Henning, Mary Beth

Degree Name

Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Literacy and Elementary Education

LCSH

Science education; Middle school education; Pedagogy; Curriculum development; Science--Study and teaching (Middle school); Science--Study and teaching (Middle school)--Textbooks; Project method in teaching; Educational technology; Lecture method in teaching

Abstract

As schools continue to become more diverse, it is important to look at science teaching methods that will meet the needs of all students. In this study, 172 students in a middle school in Northwestern Illinois were taught using two methods of teaching science. Half of the students were taught using project-based science (PBS) and the other half of the students were taught using textbook/lecture science (TLS). Students were given pre, post, and delayed posttests on disease. This quasi-experiment found statistically significant difference between PBS and TLS, with PBS students having a higher mean score for all three tests than the TLS students. However, statistically significant delayed posttest results showed that black students seemed to retain information better when taught using TLS. These results may suggest that both PBS and TLS have a place in the science classroom to enhance the learning of all students, especially on content driven assessments.

Comments

Advisors: Mary B. Henning.||Committee members: Jeff Clark; Beth Wilkins.

Extent

101 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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