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theses

The National Research Council, American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and Advanced Placement Physics 1 and 2 guidelines all set the goals of engaging students in experimentation and authentic scientific reasoning while developing normative concepts to help them develop essential skills and competencies necessary to succeed in our rapidly changing world. As a result, activities that place greater emphasis on reasoning and argumentation and engage students in experimental practices are finding their ways into both high school and university-level courses. One way to meeting the above goals is through the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) approach, which fully aligns with national recommendations. The ISLE approach focuses on two major issues: engaging students in the activities that mirror scientific practice, while constructing and applying new knowledge; and empowering them as learners during that process. This ISLE approach forms the foundation of this study.

While student learning through the ISLE approach was studied extensively in college classrooms, very few studies have been done at the high school level. We do not know whether or how learning through the ISLE approach helps students meet the standards set by national organizations. In addition, there are no studies of the long-term effects of learning physics through the ISLE approach. To address these gaps this multiphase mixed-methods study has two goals: to explore how first-year high school physics students who learn physics through the ISLE approach show changes in their science-process abilities, attitudes, and motivation towards experimental science; and to determine the long-term effects of such learning. The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, written laboratory reports, attitudes surveys, and confidence surveys were collected from 230 first-year honors physics students over a three-year period. In the second phase, a survey was sent to alumni who learned physics through the ISLE approach. A subset of these students participated in interviews and a focus group.

The research aims to address not only how high school students develop science-process abilities, but how the opportunity to revise and improve their work affects this development. Furthermore, this research aims to learn how student attitudes concerning investigative learning and experimental design change over the course of a school year as well as how student mindset and motivation factor into these changes. Finally, this research aims to better understand the long-term effects of learning in an investigative physics course on student attitudes, learning strategies, and performance in future educational experiences and careers.

ETD_10732

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-qbdm-gk78

ETD doctoral

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