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INTEGRATING JOURNAL WRITING WITH INQUIRY BASED SCIENCE INSTRUCTION IN A SECOND GRADE CLASSROOM
Title
INTEGRATING JOURNAL WRITING WITH INQUIRY BASED SCIENCE INSTRUCTION IN A SECOND GRADE CLASSROOM.
Creator
Zissman, Lauren, Lewis, Nancy, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
This action research study investigated the effects of using science journals to promote science writing and to investigate changes in student attitudes in a second grade inquiry-based science class. This was an action research study in which qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The data was collected using science journals, pre and post inventories, field notes, teacher observations, videotaped science inquiry lessons, and surveys. The students demonstrated a true fondness for...
Show moreThis action research study investigated the effects of using science journals to promote science writing and to investigate changes in student attitudes in a second grade inquiry-based science class. This was an action research study in which qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The data was collected using science journals, pre and post inventories, field notes, teacher observations, videotaped science inquiry lessons, and surveys. The students demonstrated a true fondness for journal writing and expressed interest in continued use. After concluding this action research study, I better understand the benefits of utilizing journal writing to enhance my teaching of the science curriculum as well as the other disciplines I facilitate.
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Date Issued
2005
Identifier
CFE0000437, ucf:46383
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000437
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERACTIVE SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS ANDTHE EFFECT IT HAS ON STUDENTS WRITING
Title
THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERACTIVE SCIENCE NOTEBOOKS ANDTHE EFFECT IT HAS ON STUDENTS WRITING.
Creator
Braxton, Eva, Jeanpierre, Bobby, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not my practice of implementing Interactive Science Notebooks (ISN) impacts 4th grade students writing in science. Through this action research, studentsÂÃÃÂ...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to determine whether or not my practice of implementing Interactive Science Notebooks (ISN) impacts 4th grade students writing in science. Through this action research, studentsÂÂÂÂÂÂ' writing was analyzed to determine whether the use of ISN affected studentsÂÂÂÂÂÂ' use of details, support claims and justifications in their written responses. Also through the use of the Interactive Science Notebook, studentsÂÂÂÂÂÂ' use of science vocabulary in their writing was also analyzed. Finally, studentsÂÂÂÂÂÂ' reflective writing practices were examined in order to determine how students understood and explored physical science. A triangulation of data gathered consisted of the use of rubrics, focus groups and one-on-one conferencing. The data collected from this action research implied that the Interactive Science Notebooks did indeed have an impact on studentsÂÂÂÂÂÂ' scientific writing. Students writing reflections demonstrated an increase in the use of claims and evidence, and meaningful questions related to the science topic investigated.
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Date Issued
2010
Identifier
CFE0003058, ucf:48320
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003058
The Effect of a Metalinguistic Approach to Sentence Combining on Written Expression in Eighth Grade Science for Students who Struggle with Literacy
Title
The Effect of a Metalinguistic Approach to Sentence Combining on Written Expression in Eighth Grade Science for Students who Struggle with Literacy.
Creator
Telesca, Lynne, Ehren, Barbara, Zygouris-Coe, Vassiliki, Kong, Anthony Pak Hin, Hahs-Vaughn, Debbie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Recent data indicate that less than 50% of American secondary students are able to demonstrate grade-level proficiency in reading, writing, and science (National Center for Educational Statistics [NCES], 2007, 2011, 2012a, 2012b). Secondary students' are expected to develop advanced literacy skills, especially in writing, in order to be ready for college and careers. Students are expected to develop these advanced literacy skills, within all academic subjects. In other words, they are...
Show moreRecent data indicate that less than 50% of American secondary students are able to demonstrate grade-level proficiency in reading, writing, and science (National Center for Educational Statistics [NCES], 2007, 2011, 2012a, 2012b). Secondary students' are expected to develop advanced literacy skills, especially in writing, in order to be ready for college and careers. Students are expected to develop these advanced literacy skills, within all academic subjects. In other words, they are expected to develop disciplinary literacy skills. The statistics are alarming overall, but they are particularly alarming in the area of science. Students need strong literacy skills, including written expression, to be prepared for employment opportunities in science fields, which currently are being filled by graduates of other industrialized nations, who have a more advanced skill set. This loss of occupational opportunity poses a threat for the U.S. to remain globally competitive in science innovation and advancement, which ultimately secures economic prosperity. Despite these staggering concerns, there is little research conducted to evaluate effective instructional methods to develop complex writing skills in academic disciplines such as science.To address this critical issue, the present study examined the effects of a metalinguistic approach to the writing intervention of sentence combining with eighth-grade students who struggle with literacy. The researcher conducted the study in a typical science classroom in an urban American school setting. The focus of the intervention was to increase students' metalinguistic awareness of science text, to improve written sentence complexity in science, as well as the written expression and determination of comparison and contrast of science content. The study employed a quasi-experimental design. The participants consisted of an experimental group (two classes) who received the treatment during typical science instruction and a comparison group (three classes) who did not receive treatment, but participated in their typical science instruction. There were four participating teachers and 84 participating students. The researcher conducted the study over a period of seven weeks within regularly scheduled science classes. Twenty intervention sessions were conducted for a length of 20 minutes each, totaling 400 minutes or 6.6 hours. Hierarchical repeated measures ANOVA and hierarchical repeated measures MANOVA analyses revealed that the experimental group performed significantly better than the comparison group on their ability to determine similarities and differences (compare and contrast) related to science content, with a medium effect. The experimental group achieved a slightly higher marginal mean over the comparison group on their ability to combine sentences, with a small effect. Multiple statistical analyses revealed a trend of higher marginal means in favor of the experimental group over the comparison group on several measures of written sentence complexity on both the science compare and contrast writing prompt (small-medium effect) and the science expository essay (medium to large effect). One experimental class also demonstrated higher scores in their overall sentence correctness on science expository essay as compared to all the other classes. These findings suggest that sentence combining, utilizing a metalinguistic approach, may hold promise as an effective writing intervention in a content area classroom, for secondary students who struggle with literacy. Furthermore, the findings suggest that a metalinguistic approach to sentence combining can be successfully embedded within a content area class, which may result in increased concept knowledge and writing skills in that academic discipline. Implications for practice and future research directions are discussed.
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Date Issued
2015
Identifier
CFE0005891, ucf:50897
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005891
GORE'S SCIENCE: THE KAIROS OF AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SCIENCE WRITING
Title
GORE'S SCIENCE: THE KAIROS OF AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR SCIENCE WRITING.
Creator
Glasshoff, Carolyn, Applen, J.D., University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description
Modern Americans are exposed to scientific and technical information on a daily basis that urges them to react as well as learn about new ideas. The popular science writing that circulates this information must be portrayed in a way that makes it easy for lay people to understand complicated ideas while at the same time remaining complex enough to convince readers that the information is reliable, accurate, and worth learning. In making decisions about how to accomplish this balancing act,...
Show moreModern Americans are exposed to scientific and technical information on a daily basis that urges them to react as well as learn about new ideas. The popular science writing that circulates this information must be portrayed in a way that makes it easy for lay people to understand complicated ideas while at the same time remaining complex enough to convince readers that the information is reliable, accurate, and worth learning. In making decisions about how to accomplish this balancing act, science writers make decisions that influence the audience's opinion about new scientific ideas, how easily the audience will accept or reject these ideas, and how the audience will react to the new information. In order to be as influential as possible on their audience, science writers must take full advantage of rhetorical kairos, or opportune timing. For this, they must keep in mind not only the chronological time and physical space, but issues including political maneuverings, society's morals, popular culture, and a myriad of other considerations. Any text must be influenced by the kairos that exists both before the text is created and during the presentation. In addition, each text helps create a new kairos for texts that come after. This is especially true in the field of popular science writing. Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth is a useful text for analysis of this process, as he portrays scientific information to a lay audience in order to promote acceptance of a controversial idea and to encourage action based on that acceptance. Because he is working on a delicate topic for the time, Gore had to rely heavily on the kairos of the moments before and during his presentations, and he created a fertile kairos for continuation of the environmental discussion.
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Date Issued
2011
Identifier
CFE0003941, ucf:48699
Format
Document (PDF)
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003941