Hands-on and minds-on approach to school science

In a paper presented Thursday, April 12, at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Ronna C. Turner of the University of Arkansas reported an evaluation of the fifth year of a university and public school partnership that has the potential to be a model for improving science and math education in the schools.

The program, “K-12, I Do Science” or KIDS, has earned a second round of funding from the National Science Foundation with an eye toward institutionalizing the program.

KIDS involves the inquiry method of instruction, a learn-by-doing approach in which students actively engage their natural curiosity in learning advanced science and math concepts. It has earned the support of teachers, parents and school administrators and has contributed to improved test scores for middle school students.

“An increase in the use of ‘hands-on and minds-on' learning can significantly increase the degree to which students become active learners in the classroom. It is important to note that the use of inquiry alone is not the focus of the KIDS program; it is necessary that the inquiry activities address specific math and science content standards in order to be effective at increasing student knowledge,” Turner said.

As a whole, students in KIDS classrooms showed greater improvement in test scores than their peers in conventional classrooms. Students in KIDS classrooms showed improvements for both males and females, minority and non-minority students, and low performing and high performing students.

The KIDS program is a collaboration of public school teachers, university education and research methods faculty, and faculty and graduate students from University of Arkansas science, engineering and mathematics departments. A four-week summer training workshop on campus provides graduate students and teachers with training in the inquiry method of instruction with the goals of increasing teachers' knowledge base in advanced science and mathematics, of increasing graduate students' ability to communicate their knowledge of the sciences, and of providing teachers with assistance in developing inquiry-based activities to teach Arkansas middle school math and science standards.

During the academic year, the graduate students from fields such as physics, microelectronics-photonics, biology, chemistry, biochemistry, engineering and mathematical sciences spend 10 hours per week in the middle school classroom team-teaching with their K-12 teacher partners, using inquiry methods. In its first five years the KIDS program has funded 38 graduate students and 27 K-12 teachers. Over the course of the program, teachers developed increased confidence in their own knowledge of advanced science and math concepts while obtaining assistance in incorporating inquiry learning into classroom instruction.

Data obtained by trained classroom observers shows that when inquiry activities were used in the KIDS classrooms, more than 80 percent of the students were actively engaged in the lessons. More than 25 percent of the time, teachers incorporated the two highest levels of the inquiry method – activities that were initiated by teachers and facilitated by students or activities initiated and facilitated by students. Evaluators found student testing of hypotheses and manipulation of active learning tools to be the most successful procedures in the program to actively engage students in the inquiry learning process.

The KIDS program is funded by a $1.5 million GK12 award from the National Science Foundation combined with $1.25 million in matching funds from the university. After the first five years of funding, the NSF awarded the KIDS program a second six-year grant with the goal of institutionalizing the program. The university and the public school partners have committed resources to continue the KIDS program after the NSF funding runs out.

Turner is an associate professor of educational statistics and research methods and director of the Office of Research, Measurement and Evaluation. Co-authors of the evaluation presentation are Jennifer Killian, a graduate student in educational research and policy studies; Greg Salamo, Distinguished Professor of physics and co-director of the Center for Semiconductor Physics in Nanostructures; Paul Calleja, assistant professor in kinesiology, and Morgan Ware, program director of the KIDS program. Turner and Calleja are faculty in the College of Education and Health Professions; Salamo and Ware are in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

The evaluation, titled “Impact of Inquiry Training and Scientist – K-12 Partnerships on Classroom Practices and Teacher Attitudes: Evaluating the KIDS Project,” was to be presented at 4:05 p.m. April 12 at the AERA annual meeting in Chicago.