Project Name:
Scientific Method Write-Up
Purpose:
To improve the scientific method write-ups that students create by teaching them to use technology to write, create charts and to analyze, critique, and edit their write-ups.
Goals:
1. To teach students to use word processing to format and type up scientific method write-ups.
2. To teach students to design data tables and logs using spreadsheet.
3. To teach students to create meaningful charts from the data tables they design using spreadsheet.
4. To teach students to critique their work and to revise when necessary.
5. To give students a consistent way to critique their scientific method write-ups.
6. To give students the understanding that by utilizing technology, they can use tools such as spell check, grammar check, and that they can easily edit or revise their work without having to rewrite the whole write-up.
Tools Created:
A web-based checklist for students to step through to critique their scientific method write-up. Students will check that they have all sections and check off whether their work meets specific questions asked regarding a scientific write-up. There are some links within the tool to definitions to help students remember and learn scientific terms.
Two tutorials that had been previously created by myself were used to teach students the basics of word processing, spreadsheet, and graphing.
Technology Used:
1. ClarisWorks word processing
2. ClarisWorks spreadsheet and graphing
3. Macintosh computers
4. Macintosh web sharing tool on a Macintosh Ethernet network (Intranet only at this time)
5. Inkjet printers
6. Floppy disks
Issues:
As a science teacher, my colleagues in science and I have discussed many times that we receive very few good scientific write-ups. We often discuss the following problems we see in the students’ work:
1. Poor handwriting – we can’t read their work
2. Missing sections – students skip main parts of the scientific method
3. Unorganized – students do the write-up and when they miss parts, they draw arrows to the part or squeeze in something they expect to count for that part
4. Students don’t want to rewrite write-ups to put them in proper form and to be sure they get all parts included
Overview:
This site is started to assist students in writing better scientific method write-ups. Students will utilize technology to create the write up and a web-based tool, which I am developing, will let students check different sections of the write up by checking off a list of questions for each section of the method. If the student does not check a question, he or she should go back and review that section of the write-up. At some point, I am going to have a page where students can go to print out the checklist so they can take it home to work on revision the labs. The students can print each page separately for now. Eventually the site will include a place for students to type in the sections of the write-up and be able to edit as they go through the questions and then they can print out a final copy of checklist and write-up. I plan to add links to sites that would encourage furthering their knowledge in science and scientific writing.
Sequence
1. Research, permission forms, and surveys approved by University of Illinois
2. Teachers, students, parents receive permission forms to participate in research.
3. Teachers and students participate in first lab and create a scientific write-up without the use of technology.
4. Teachers and students take pre-surveys.
5. Students do two tutorials on word processing and spreadsheet / graphing.
6. Teachers and students participate in second lab and create a scientific write-up with the use of technology: word processing, spreadsheet and charting, Intranet web tool to check and revise work.
7. Teachers and students take post-surveys.
The 6th - 8th grade science teachers are participating from a K-8 district. The elementary teachers seem to shy away from science. Students performed a lab and created a lab write-up by hand. Each student had to critique their own work. Students also had to ask another student to critique their lab for them. The students were suppose to revise their work based on the critique of others. Students were also given a chance to rewrite lab after teacher graded write-ups.
Pre-survey Results
Students performed a lab and created a lab write-up by hand. Each student had to critique their own work. Students also had to ask another student to critique their lab for them
Student (150 6th – 8th graders)
|
Answer |
Yes |
No |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do you use the scientific method when doing a lab? |
22% |
78% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do you know all the steps to the scientific method? |
28% |
72% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Have you done a scientific write-up using all the steps? |
86% |
14% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grade |
K |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
At what grade did you learn the scientific method |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
120 |
5 |
10 |
|
Lowest –1 2 3 4 5 -- Highest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your skill at using the scientific method. |
2.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your skill at creating a scientific method write-up. |
2.2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Teachers (3 teachers)
|
Answer |
Yes |
No |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do you have students use the scientific method when doing a lab?
|
67% |
33% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do your students know all the steps to the scientific method (rating of
students) |
39% |
61% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do you have students create a scientific write-up using all the
steps?
|
33% |
67% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grade |
K |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
At what grade do you think students should learn the scientific
method? |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Lowest –1 2 3 4 5 -- Highest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your skill at using the scientific method. |
4.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your students’ skills at using the scientific method. |
3.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your skill at creating a scientific method write-up. |
4.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your students’ skills at creating a scientific method write-up. |
3.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Teachers felt the students found the scientific method cumbersome. They did not like to write that much and felt they did not like having to rewrite to improve when they made mistakes. They often mixed up parts. They have a hard time not putting analysis in the conclusion. They also had a hard time keeping the write-ups just on facts and removing bias. Some teachers felt they could not take the time to do a real write-up very often. Teachers felt once a quarter was enough, if at all, for students to do a full write-up. Teachers’ felt it was too much work to grade many write-ups.
Teachers felt that the method could be taught in elementary grades if there was a science teacher to teach it. Teachers felt that the students learned it in 6th grade and that that was too late. However, teachers did not want to take the time to do write-ups very often. Some of the teachers skip some parts of the write-up such as the research section or some parts of the experiment.
Students did not like doing scientific write ups. Their surveys said they did not do one or learn the scientific method until 6th grade unless they came from a different school district. They felt it was too confusing sometimes in trying to write the problem and figuring out a hypothesis. They felt they should put analysis in the conclusion. They felt it was a lot of writing and if they made mistakes, it was a lot of work to redo the write-up. They didn't like critiquing their own, nor critiquing the work of others. Many times students who critiqued the work of others did a poor job of it. The level of critique seemed to depend upon the skill of the student in applying the scientific method.
The first set of labs produced mixed results. Teachers reported the grades for the first round of write-ups in 6th – 8th grade. Out of 150 students, there were no A's. There were 20 B's, 80 low C's, no D's, and 50 F's. A few of the students rewrote the lab when given the opportunity, but not all partners participated in the rewrite and it was mainly the better students doing the rewrites and not the students who received low grades.
Post-survey
The students did a second lab. They got to type lab write-up on the computer using word processing and spreadsheet/graphing. They were able to save their work to a disk so they could edit it. The students had to utilize the web-based tool for critiquing and editing their work.
Students
|
Answer |
Yes |
No |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Did you have a better understanding of all the steps to the scientific method after using the site? |
65% |
35% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Were you successful at using the site to critique your scientific method write-up? |
84% |
16% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do you think you could use this site effectively to learn to create a good scientific write-up? |
81% |
19% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grade |
K |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
At what grades do you think students could learn from this site? |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
7 |
118 |
17 |
8 |
0 |
|
Lowest –1 2 3 4 5 -- Highest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your skill at using the scientific method after using the site. |
2.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your skill at creating a scientific method write-up after using this site. |
3.7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Would you use this site again? |
4.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Would you recommend this site to other teachers / students/ |
3.9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Teachers
|
Answer |
Yes |
No |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Did you or your students have a better understanding of all the steps to
the scientific method after using the site? |
100% |
0% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Were you or your students successful at using the site to create a
scientific write-up? |
67% |
33% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Do you think students could use this site effectively to learn to create a
good scientific write-up?
|
100% |
0% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Grade |
K |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
|
At what grades do you think students could learn from this site? |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
Lowest –1 2 3 4 5 -- Highest |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your skill at using the scientific method after using the site. |
4.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your students’ skills at using the scientific method after using this site. |
3.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your skill at creating a scientific method write-up after using this site. |
5.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rate your students’ skills at creating a scientific method write-up after using this site. |
4.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Would you use this site again? |
4.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Would you have you students use this site again? |
4.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Would you recommend this site to other teachers / students? |
3.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Students felt that using the site helped them check their work to see that all parts and all relevant sections were included. Many students felt that when they had a problem with the site, it was because they did not understand that section of the scientific method. Students who had had several science teachers who used the scientific method said that not all teachers taught it with the same sections under experiment. Students also said that some teachers wanted just a prediction under hypothesis with no reasoning, while other teachers wanted reasoning to support the prediction. Students felt confused.
Students felt that using technology to write the write up helped a lot with editing and revising. Students liked using spreadsheet to create data tables and to graph data after experiment had been completed. Students felt that the site should be used before doing an experiment. They thought that when they wrote up the scientific method from problem down to designing the experiment that critiquing it before doing the experiment would help. Students also wanted more links to help on definitions and links to science sites for research. Links to other science sites was not possible since the school was waiting for Internet to be installed. The phone company was 4-1/2 months behind in installing a line for Internet at the school.
Teachers felt that having the students use the site was worthwhile. Teachers also felt that using technology to create the write-up was great because they could then read the labs and students put more effort into dividing out the sections. Teachers felt that many students still wrote skimpy analysis, but felt that overall more of the parts of the scientific method were present in the write-ups they got. Teachers would like a printable rubric to go along with the site that they could use. Teachers felt that with a rubric and the site, that they might bring some consistency in how they teach and grade scientific methods.
The second set of labs produced better results. Teachers reported the grades for the second round of write-ups in 6th – 8th grade. Out of 150 students, there were 25 A’s, 50 B’s, 50 C’s, 15 D’s, 10 F’s. While the overall grades were better,
I do not believe that I can conclusively say that technology was the sole contributing factor to the higher grades. I feel that many other factors may have contributed:
· Students had improved skills in using the scientific method better after doing the first lab. Students reviewed their first lab to find out what they missed or did wrong and gained a better understanding of the scientific method
· Groupings of students assigned to work as lab partners may have been better
· The second lab that students were doing was easier to understand
· Teacher may have reviewed the scientific method to raise students’ understanding of it
· Amount of teachers and students participating was very low
· Technology skills of students in this district are very poor compared to surrounding schools. Students might have done as well on second lab write-up without the web-based critique tool by merely using word processing and spreadsheet
· Many of the students had little experience in doing a full scientific write-up
· How teachers taught the scientific method might have an impact on students’ approach to write-ups. Each teacher may approach it a different way.
· How comfortable a teacher is with using the scientific method may have an impact on how students view using the scientific method
· How much students liked the labs they were doing in science
· How well students understood the different sections of the scientific method
I did meet the goal of teaching students to use word processing and spreadsheet. The students that participated had very little technology training. Most students did not utilize these tools previously in any class at school. A few of the students had a computer at home and did utilize word processing before. Many students started asking to use these tools to do work for language arts. The students did learn the ease of editing and revising using a computer and most students did revise their work to improve their write-ups. Students also used spreadsheet to design data tables and logs. Students were also able to enter data into the tables and logs and then create graphs to aide in analysis of the work.
The web tool I created needs more work. It is hard to create a tool to critique all types of experiments. The tool needs evaluation and input from many teachers and students so it can evolve into a good tool. I do, however, think that I created a good tool to start with and that it is usable by students and teachers. It forces the student to respond by clicking a check box if their work meets what was asked in the question. They can print out the screen so they can take it with them to refer to when revising the write-up. I believe that using a tool like this is better than relying on other students to critique the work of students. I also think that if a student repeatedly uses a tool like the one I developed, they might increase the knowledge of the scientific method.
The teachers and I discussed some of the issues that we had before the exercise. We agreed that using technology made it possible for us to read the student’s work. Students included more sections of the write-up and most students handed in the write-ups with better organization. Teachers also saw more willingness by students to edit their work and more of the lower scoring students were willing to attempt rewrites of their labs knowing that they could edit or insert parts that were poorly written or missing. It seems that some of the issues the teachers had could be addressed by using technology.
This researched has raised some issues for me in science education: do most schools wait to teach the scientific method at the junior high age; do teachers really teach the scientific method differently and do many let students skip sections for sake of time or because it causes too much grading; why hasn’t this school grasped the use of technology as a tool earlier in the students’ education?
In conclusion, while it seemed that the use of technology helped the write-ups, I believe that further research would need to be done to come to a real conclusion as to whether my web-based tool to critique the scientific write-up helped the students, or if the use of technology aided them, or if by doing the first lab, they learned enough to effectively do better on a second lab.
There were too many outside variables that were not controlled.
Resources:
Stephen S. Carey, A Beginner’s Guide to Scientific Method, 1998, Wadsworth Publishing Company
Illinois Junior Academy of Science, Guidebook & Policy Manual, Sept. 2000-August 2002, Illinois Junior Academy of Science
Janice Koch, Science Stories Teachers and Children as Science Learners, 1999, Houghton Mifflin Company
Earl S. Morrison & Alan Moore, Science Plus - Technology and Society (Level Green), 1997, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Inc.