March 2018: Student Liaison Report
Web-based learning tools may help boost science knowledge among diverse student populations, according to a study published in the International Journal of Science Education.
In a research summary article, T.H.E. Journal’s Dian Schaffhauser reports that data from the study of 13 middle schools show gains among English-language learners and students with learning disabilities.
Middle schoolers did better with science lessons when they could learn online, watching videos, playing educational games, running virtual experiments and collaborating with classmates, according to Schaffhauser. Under-achievers did especially well, with access to pop-up vocabulary definitions, interactive diagrams, digital note-taking, watching videos with captions and access to text-to-speech that allowed them to hear information read aloud to them.
In the study, researchers introduced four interactive web-based science units to 2,303 students and 71 teachers who had access to computers or tablets in three school districts in Oregon and Georgia. The same cohort of sixth-graders was tracked for three years, with schools in each district assigned randomly to either the treatment or control group.
Educators in the treatment group received access to technology, professional development on how to use the interactive online resources, instructional content and materials for lab activities. The science units designed for the project aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for grades six, seven and eight.
The four units covered 10 to 14 weeks of daily instruction and included:
• Knowing My Body (life science);
• Caring for Our Planet (life science);
• Our Place in the Universe (earth and space science); and
• Energy: Going Beyond the Sports Drink (physical science)
Teacher resources offered detailed lesson plans, ideas for how to scaffold the activities onto background knowledge, student assessment reports and tables that showed how each unit aligned with NGSS and state learning standards.
The control group teachers were asked to teach as usual using the curriculum, textbooks, technology and other resources they normally used to teach the same concepts.
According to the researchers, students with learning disabilities in the treatment group improved 18% on assessments of science knowledge from pre-test to post-test; and English language learners increased 15%. Learners in the control group who were taught using the traditional methods showed an increase of 5%.
“These significant findings demonstrate that the online curriculum was effective in improving science knowledge for students who struggle with science,” said Fatima Terrazas Arellanes, principal investigator on the project and a research assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Oregon, in a prepared statement.
To read the summary article, which contains a link to the full study results, visit http://links.ohioschoolboards.org/SU468.