Sixth Grade Students

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Sixth Grade Students Perceptions of Scienceand
Scientists FollowingA Field-Based
ScienceInvestigationA Prospectus byTerrie L.
Kielborn
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Purpose for the Study

• Everybody needs some understanding of
• science, its accomplishments and its
• limitations, whether or not they are
• themselves scientists or engineers.
• Improving that understanding is not a luxury
• it is a vital investment in the future
  well-being
• of our society (Royal Society, 1985 as cited
  
• in Driver, Leach, Millar Scott, 1996, p.
  10).

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Learning Science

• To be proficient at doing science students
  must be able to think like scientists, and
  engage in scientific inquiry (Hurd, 1994, p.
  105).
• For children to learn science, they must learn
  to see the situation (phenomena) in the same way
  as scientists (Shepardson, 1997, p. 883).

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Using Middle School Students

• When students responded to the question Do you
  like science?, only 68 of eighth graders
  answered yes (Baker Piburn, 1997).
• Students science self-concept can be positively
  or negatively affected by what happens in middle
  school and secondary science classes (Chiapetta
  et al., 1998, p. 65).

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Using the field

• The field provides experiences for the student
  with real objects needed to form primary concepts
  and such experiences are needed for students of
  all age levels (Novak, 1976).
• Don Moses of the Smithsonian said that time spent
  in the field is apt to generate more excitement
  than classwork alone (Medrich, Rosen, Rubin
  Buckley, 1981).

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• If educators are to truly impact students
  perceptions of scientists in a positive manner,
  and thus increase the numbers of students
  entering science programs and careers, then more
  study on student perceptions is needed (Finson,
  Beaver, Cramond, 1995, p. 195).

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Purpose of the Study

• The purpose of this study is to understand the
  perceptions that sixth grade students have
  regarding science and scientists after they
  engage in three field-based science
  investigations.

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Research Questions

• 1)   How will sixth graders perceptions of
  scientists be influenced by their involvement in
  three science field-based investigations?
• 2)   How will sixth graders perceptions of
  science be influenced by their involvement in
  three science field-based investigations?

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Theoretical Framework

• Constructivism
• Constructivism is a theory of knowledge in which
  we construct or build knowledge based on our
  prior experiences.
• Constructivism means that people do not find or
  discover knowledge as much as they construct
  or make it.

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Theoretical Framework

• Inquiry
• Inquiry is the process by which scientists pose
  questions about the natural world and seek
  answers and deeper understanding, rather than
  knowing by authority or other processes (NRC,
  1996).

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Science as a Culture

• Learning science in the classroom involves
  children entering a new community of discourse, a
  new culture (Driver, Asoko, Leach, Mortimer
  Scott, 1994, p. 11).

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Science is Influencedby Values

• When teaching science, we must realize that
  science is deeply embedded in values and these
  values may or may not agree with those of the
  students.
• Scientists also value their beliefs within
  their individual paradigms (Kuhn, 1996).

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Quantitative Methodology

• Draw-A-Scientist-Test (DAST) (Chambers, 1983) as
  scored by the DAST-Checklist (DAST-C) (Finson,
  Beaver, Cramond, 1995)
• Modified Attitude Toward Science Inventory
  (mASTI) (Weinburgh, 1999)
• Both will use approximately 60 sixth grade
  students

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DAST (Chambers, 1983)

• The DAST was developed by Chambers (1983)
• The following criteria are indicators of the
  standard image of a scientist
• Laboratory coat
• Eyeglasses
• Facial growth of hair
• Symbols of research
• Technology
• Relevant captions

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mASTI (Weinburgh, 1999)

• Inventory was modified by Weinburgh (1999) to fit
  the needs of fifth or sixth grade students from
  Gogolin Swartz, 1992
• Survey uses 25 questions using a Likert-type
  scale
• Uses a six-point scale ranging from
  Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree

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Qualitative Methodology

• Naturalistic Inquiry Design (Lincoln Guba,
  1985 Patton, 1980)
• Such studies take place in the natural
  environment of the phenomena being observed.

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Naturalistic Inquiry

• Use of natural setting
• Use of human subject (3)
• Use of qualitative methods
• Use of inductive data analysis

• Use of interpretation
• Use of an emergent design
• Use of negotiation or member checking as
  described by Guba Lincoln (1989)

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Selection of Participants

• A sixth grade team at Oak Mountain Middle School
  in Eagle County School District
• All 60 will take DAST and mASTI at the beginning
  and at the conclusion of the study
• Three students will be selected by the
  participating teachers to serve as the primary
  subjects to be interviewed

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Procedures

• Sixty students will complete the DAST and the
  mASTI
• prior to and at the conclusion of the study
• Three primary participants will be interviewed by
  the researcher using the questions approved by
  FSU and UWG Human Subjects Committees
• prior to study, after each stream investigation,
  and at the conclusion of the study

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• The researcher will assist in teaching the
  students about
• Using water quality tests
• Using weather instruments
• Using identification guides
• Using science processes

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• Students will first learn what they will need to
  know and do at the stream site
• Students will practice in the classroom
• Students will apply knowledge at the stream site
  on three different occasions

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Quantitative Data Analysis

• The will Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test be used for
  analyzing the data from the DAST and the mASTI
  using the Statistical Packet for Social Science
  (SPSS) Computer program
• A quick-tally sheet will be used to display
  responses as well (Henerson, Morris, Fitz-Gibbon,
  1987)

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Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test

• Compares exactly two groups, such as pre- and
  post- test
• Analyzes only the differences between the paired
  measurements for each subject
• (httpwww.graphpad.com/instatman,1998)

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Qualitative Data Analysis

• All interviews will be transcribed
• The three primary participants will have
  opportunity for additions or revisions through
  member checking
• All qualitative data will be analyzed by the
  researcher for emerging patterns
• All qualitative data will be entered onto
  NUDIST, a computer program designed for
  descriptive and interpretative types of research

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Qualitative Data

• Artifacts
• Documents
• Newsletters
• Data collected and recorded by students

• Personal journal of researcher
• Observations
• Reflections
• Interviews
• Fieldnotes

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Trustworthiness Criteria

• Credibility
• Transferability
• Dependability
• Confirmability

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Credibility

• Credibility insures that the inquiry was
  conducted in such a manner that the subjects were
  accurately identified and described.
• The researcher should provide an in-depth
  description of the variables and interactions
  (Marshall Rossman, 1995).
• Vignettes will be used as descriptive stories for
  each of the primary participants

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Transferability

• Lincoln and Guba (1985) substitute
  generalizability with the idea of
  transferability.
• Thick descriptions provided by the researcher
  will enable the reader to determine value of the
  findings.
• Thick description is the main tool for
  transferability (Blanchard, 1998).
• Readers will have to decide for themselves the
  value that the descriptive vignettes provide for
  their situation.

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Confirmability

• Confirmability answers the question Can another
  confirm the findings of the study?
• Using a variety of data is the criterion for
  confirming the general findings (Marshall
  Rossman, 1995).

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Dependability

• Dependability is accounting for conditions in the
  phenomenon chosen for study to provide a clearer
  understanding (Marshall Rossman, 1995).
• Fieldnotes, personal reflections, and the
  multiple interviews with the three students, will
  be the attempts to provide a clear account for
  each outing.

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• Reviewing educational research for over 20
  years, Cronbach (1975) concluded that social
  phenomena are too variable and too context-bound
  to lend themselves to generalization.
• Interpreting data in context should be
  emphasized rather than reducing the context to
  make generalizations.

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• The perspective a reader uses to make
  generalizations of a particular study is much
  like looking at a hologram.
• The appearance of an object in a hologram
  varies depending on the perspective of the viewer
  (Lincoln Guba, 1985).

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• I do not expect my findings to be generalized due
  to the small sample used and the anticipated
  complexity of the findings. However, this
  complexity should have the potential to provide a
  richer source of information on each participant
  and serve as a piece of the puzzle for research
  studies on students perceptions of science and
  scientists as influenced by participation in a
  field-based science investigation.

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