s International 36(11): 7368A. Champagne, A. (1987). The psychological basis for a model of science instruction. Commissioned paper for IBM-supported design project. Colorado Springs, CO:

The BSCS 5E Instructional Model: Origins and Effectiveness

This study examined the long-term impact of the Summer Science Exploration Program (SSEP), a 2-week inquiry-based science camp, conducted at Hampshire College Amherst, MA from 1992 to 1994. The goal of the program was to stimulate greater interest in science and scientific careers among middle-school students. One hundred fifty-eight students were selected from a pool of applicants to attend the program using stratified random sampling procedures. In 1996, 22 participants were selected to participate in follow-up interviews using stratified random sampling procedures. Two quantitative surveys, the Science Opinion Survey and the Career Decision-Making Revised Surveys, were administered to 79 SSEP students and 35 students who applied but were not accepted (the control group). Pretest and posttest scores were analyzed for any significant change over time. Additionally, a cohort of over 500 students who were enrolled in the same grades and public schools that SSEP students attended completed the two surveys in both 1992–1994 and 1996–1997. The interviews and surveys suggested that SSEP students maintained a more positive attitude towards science and a higher interest in science careers than students who applied to the program but were not selected. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed86:693–705, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/sce.10039

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Longitudinal impact of an inquiry-based science program on middle school students' attitudes toward science

Calls for reform in university education have prompted a movement from teacher- to student-centered course design, and included developments such as peer-teaching, problem and inquiry-based learning. In the sciences, inquiry-based learning has been widely promoted to increase literacy and skill development, but there has been little comparison to more traditional curricula. In this study, we demonstrated greater improvements in students’ science literacy and research skills using inquiry lab instruction. We also found that inquiry students gained self-confidence in scientific abilities, but traditional students’ gain was greater ‐likely indicating that the traditional curriculum promoted over-confidence. Inquiry lab students valued more authentic science exposure but acknowledged that experiencing the complexity and frustrations faced by practicing scientists was challenging, and may explain the widespread reported student resistance to inquiry curricula.

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Effects of Inquiry-Based Learning on Students' Science Literacy Skills and Confidence.

This project consisted of a meta-analysis of U.S. research published from 1980 to 2004 on the effect of specific science teaching strategies on student achievement. The six phases of the project included study acquisition, study coding, determination of intercoder objectivity, establishing criteria for inclusion of studies, computation of effect sizes for statistical analysis, and conducting the analyses. Studies were required to have been carried out in the United States, been experimental or quasi-experimental, and must have included effect size or the statistics necessary to calculate effect size. Sixty-one studies met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. The following eight categories of teaching strategies were revealed during analysis of the studies (effect sizes in parentheses): Questioning Strategies (0.74); Manipulation Strategies (0.57); Enhanced Material Strategies (0.29); Assessment Strategies (0.51); Inquiry Strategies (0.65); Enhanced Context Strategies (1.48); Instructional Technology (IT) Strategies (0.48); and Collaborative Learning Strategies (0.95). All these effect sizes were judged to be significant. Regression analysis revealed that internal validity was influenced by Publication Type, Type of Study, and Test Type. External validity was not influenced by Publication Year, Grade Level, Test Content, or Treatment Categories. The major implication of this research is that we have generated empirical evidence supporting the effectiveness of alternative teaching strategies in science. 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 1436-1460, 2007

A Meta-Analysis of National Research: Effects of Teaching Strategies on Student Achievement in Science in the United States

The shortage of graduates in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), has led to numerous attempts to increase students’ interest in STEM. One emerging approach that has the potential to improve students’ motivation for STEM is integrated STEM education. Nonetheless, the implementation of this new instructional strategy is not straightforward due to the lack of consensus about instructional practices in integrated STEM. This paper contributes to this challenge by providing a well-defined framework for instructional practices in integrated STEM in secondary education, based on the results of a systematic review of existing literature. The framework contains five key principles: integration of STEM content, problem-centered learning, inquiry-based learning, design-based learning and cooperative learning. The proposed framework has several benefits, including its applicability in the classroom and the possibility to describe integrated STEM on multiple dimensions. Nonetheless, further research is necessary to investigate the effects of integrated STEM on students’ cognitive and affective learning outcomes.

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Roger K. Purser

Papers

Results of two tenth‐grade biology teaching procedures