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Finding the best method for science instruction

Michael D. Van Kerkhove
Bowling Green State University

Author Note
Michael D. Van Kerkhove is a Masters student in the Classroom Technology program at Bowling Green
State University. He is completing this paper as part of his Masters-Level Research course.

Correspondence concerning this proposal should be addressed to Michael D. Van Kerkhove, Classroom
Technology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43430. Contact: mdvanke@bgsu.edu

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Introduction to the problem

Rationale
In 2012, a shocking 69 percent of American high-school graduates failed to meet college-readiness
benchmarks in science. And in a 2010 paper about math and science achievement, the U.S. ranked last out of
the eight countries studied (including England, South Korea, and Hungary) (Snook, 2009). Something needs to
change in the way we teach science in the United States. In education there are many different methods to teach
students such as: Lecture, discussion, demonstration, use of multimedia, and cooperative learning. Some
teachers and professors that teach future teachres stress different methods more than others. This is causing a
wide variety of approaches and a lack of consistency expecially when it come to the teaching of science.
Science is a topic that has many concepts and sometimes is more difficult than other subjects to comprehend. In
science another famous method to teach is the 5E teaching method. The 5 E's is an instructional model based
on the constructivist approach to learning, which says that learners build or construct new ideas on top of their
old ideas The 5 E's. (n.d.). (.Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand, Evaluate are the Es that many science
teachers use when teaching units. This is also an area to explore because teachers still use many methods to
achieve the 5Es in their lesson plans. Technology is also an important piece that allows science students to do
virtual labs with things they couldnt before like manipulate atoms when they are exploring the charges of
particles, or can be used to enhance lessons to make students engaged with a smart board or sensor probes that
can help show relationships with science concepts. To help with this problem, this research is aiming to find
what the best form of teaching instruction is best for the teaching of science.

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Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to find the best instructional method teachers can use for students to
learn science. Students learn differnet subjects in different ways. The science classroom makes studnets learn
concepts that sometimes could be considered difficult because science is a subject that makes the students think
in a dfifferent way and makes students apply knowledge to other concepts. Science instruction also is a subject
that needs great instruction for the students to understand and comprehend the concepts. The purpose of this
study is to practice 3 methods of science teaching to 3 classes with generally the same mix of students. This
study will look at direct instruction withnotes and work sheets with a more teacher based approach, inquiry labs
where students do more labs than anything, and a class that does direct instruction, inquiry based labs, and
incorperates technology into the lessons. Research will be done to see which of these teaching strategies is the
best by comparing pre test to post test results in a unit of biology.

Research Question and Alternative Hypothesis

The research question this research will address is: What instructional strategy (Inquiry based, videos,
direct) best facilitates positive impact on student learning of biology concepts in Mr. Vs biology class at Elyria
High School? The independent variables are the instructional method used. This is a categorical variable. The
dependent variable is the assessment at the end of the unit which would be a continuous variable. My
hypothesis is A mix of all 3 major instructional strategies will help students in Mr. Vs biology class, at Elyria
High School, facilitates the most positive impact on students learning biology concepts.
The definition of inquiry based is seeking knowledge, information, or truth through questioning
Retrieved from http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/inquiry/. The definition of videos is a movie,
television show, event, etc., that has been recorded onto a videocassette, DVD, etc., so that it can be watched on
a television or computer screen retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/video. The
definition of direct instruction is the use of straightforward, explicit teaching techniques, usually to teach a

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specific skill. Retrieved from http://study.com/academy/lesson/direct-instruction-teaching-method-definitionexamples-strategies.html. The definition of biology concepts is in an experiment, you identify biological
concepts by relating the results, background information, what's happening during the experiment itself etc. to
the concepts you have learned in biology retrieved from http://community.boredofstudies.org/158/search-betterhealth/226060/what-definition-biological-concept.html.
Literature Review
Introduction
Science instruction is very important to our students and the teachers need to be using the best
method to help our students think critically and learn these concepts that can be difficult sometimes. There are
many science instructional concepts. The old ways of teching science like looking up words in a glossary just
do not work any more. Some teachers are now using techniques such as peer learning, role-playing, and
incorporating current events in science lesson plans. These techniques help engage students and help them
understand the importance of science. They also make it fun to teach scientific concepts and help students
understand common topics in the scientific world. (Stanford, G. (n.d.)
Today there is a huge job market growing in the STEM fields yet not many students take advantage of
STEM classes in schools. We also know that only 16 percent of American high school seniors are proficient in
math and interested in a STEM career. (U.S. Department of Education) This needs to be emphasized and
students need to be engaged and taught well so more students will want to go into this field.
The use of big data, instruction through mobile devices, online learning (including MOOCs), and virtual and
remote laboratories that emulate real ones are the technologies that will have the greatest impact on "STEM+" education
over the next year. (Schaffhauser, D. 2013) Using technology in science as well can help students grasp
concepts easier but also help keep students engaged and wanting to explore in the sciences.

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Science Instruction strategies
There are many strategies to teach science. The two main strategies to teach science are inquiry based
learning as well as using the 5 E learning model. Inquiry may be referred to as a technique that encourages
students to discover or construct information by themselves instead of having teachers directly reveal the
information (Uno, 1999). Most science teachers in the past have though of memorization and direct
instruction to teach science concepts and move on. This is not the case. Students need to engage and explore
and ask questions and not just be given the answers right away all the time. To make a lesson that follows the
5E allows the students to engage and explore first so when the concepts are finally explained there is
experiences to build from. Bybee (1997) wrote, Using this approach, students redefine, reorganize, elaborate,
and change their initial concepts through self-reflection and interaction with their peers and their environment.
Learners interpret objects and phenomena, and internalize those interpretations in terms of their current
conceptual understanding" (p. 176).
Current STEM Outcomes for US students
In the 21st century, scientific and technological innovations have become increasingly
important as we face the benefits and challenges of both globalization and a knowledge-based economy. To
succeed in this new information-based and highly technological society, students need to develop their
capabilities in STEM to levels much beyond what was considered acceptable in the past. (National Science
Foundation) Other countries are putting effort and real emphases on STEM in schools and acknowledge the
importance not just for our students but also for the future. Many jobs in the future will be dealing with some
sort of STEM field and will create many jobs for Americans.

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Using Technology in STEM Instruction
Using technology helps students learn concepts and can benefit students in learning difficult
material. Simple technology such as videos can be a great tool to help teach science. A research study
by Rockman et al. (1996) for example found that students that watched Bill Nye were able to recall and
understand science concepts better that the studnets that did not and just had instruction in class. Videos
could be used to help with many concepts and to review concepts in a different way than the teacher is
to help give multiple angles to the material.
Summary

National Research Council (2000) published a classroom in which students use scientific
inquiry to learn is one that resembles those that research has found as being the most effective for
learning for understanding (p. 124). Science needs to be engaging where students can explore,
questions can be explained, students can expand their knowledge and as a class they can evaluate their
understanding of science and the teacher can determine where they can move onto next. Science
teaching reform is upon us and it is up to the next generation of science teachers to make sure the best
methods of teaching science are moved to help with the future generations.

Methodology
Design
The design for this study is a practical action research because the researcher wants to examine if
students learn science concepts better with inquiry based labs, movies, direct instruction, or a mix to help
improve the teaching methods of science teachers. . I used a Weak Experimental Pre-Post Design to collect data
during the teaching of a lesson where 3 classes each received a different type of instruction to see which class
did the best on the post compared to the pretest.

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Participants
The participants are sophomores at Elyria High school who are in Mr. Vs Biology class. This urban
district has 71% of its students in poverty. It is a diverse group with 54% Caucasian, 21% African American,
15% multiracial, 10% Hispanic.
The sample is a Non-random purposive sample with the sample being the students that are in Mr. Vs
biology. There are 106 students at the age of 15-16 years old. 41 are girls 65 are boys. 36% are African
American, 1% Hispanic, 63% Caucasian.
Instrumentation
To measure the independent variable the lesson plan will be reviewed by a co-teacher to identify which
method of teaching is being used. To measure the dependant variable a pretest and post test will be given to the
students before and after the lesson to assess the amount learned during the unit which will let us get a better
clue which method of instruction is the best for the teaching of science. The pretest and post test will be the
same assesment which will have 20 multiple choice questions and 5 fill in the blank questions that all pertain to
the unit that is given at the time of the research.
Procedures
The Participants are 10th graders in Mr. Vs biology class. Students will not know other classes are
being taught differently and there will be no danger to the students that the students need to know about the
research. The instructor will look at the difference of a pre and post test results from a unit comparing 3 classes.
Date collection will take place in Mr. Vs biology room 230 at Elyria High School. The data will be collected
During the unit and an observer will sit in and take notes to make sure all classes received the same instruction.
One class will learn from watching videos and labs, one from direct instruction, and one from a mix of labs,
direct instruction, and videos. At the end of the lesson the students will be assesed and the reults will be
compared to the pre test to see which class understood the biology concepts the best.

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Limitations
In this research there are implementation threats, and testing. Students previous knowledge might
hinder the finding of the research. The instructor might teach or guide students to what is on the posttest during
instruction which would hinder the results of the videos. Not enough samples might be an issue and this
research might need to be repeated with other teachers participating.

References
Bybee, R. (1997). Achieving scientific literacy: From purposes to practices. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Publications.
National Research Council. (2000). Inquiry and the national science education standards: A guide for teaching
and learning. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
National Science Foundation. (1998). Science and you: Working together. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Rockman et al. (1996). Evaluation of Bill Nye the Science Guy television series and
outreach: Executive summary. San Francisco, CA: Author.
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math: Education for Global Leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.ed.gov/stem
Schaffhauser, D. (2013, October 21). 12 Technologies To Dominate STEM Education. Retrieved from
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2013/10/21/12-technologies-to-dominate-stem-education.aspx
Snook, R. (2015, September 5). The way the U.S. teaches science doesnt work.
Stanford, G. (n.d.). Teaching techniques for science teachers. Retrieved from http://www.edunova.com/teaching-techniques-for-science-teachers.htm
The 5 E's. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2016, from http://enhancinged.wgbh.org/research/eeeee.html
Uno, G. (1999). Handbook on teaching undergraduate science courses: A survival training manual.

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Independence, KY: Thomson Custom Publishing.