Is Hands-On Inquiry Science Any Good? A Comparison of Student Learning in Hands-On and Textbook-Based Elementary Science Classes

这项研究是一项为期三年的研究，旨在考察学生在两种不同类型的基础科学课堂上学到了什么：传统的说明性、以文本为导向的教学与动手、以探究为导向的教学。后者描述了一种学习方法，在这种方法中，学生获得知识和对科学思想的理解，以及对科学家如何研究自然世界的第一手经验理解。强调在做中学习、在讨论中学习，优先培养科学思维能力和概念理解能力。在第二阶段，这项研究考察了两种教学条件下高成就和低成就课堂的教学情况。在过去的几十年里，数百万美元用于支持亲身实践的探究科学改革。然而，这些大规模的努力对全国不太富裕的学生尤其重要，很容易受到攻击，因为一些人认为这些努力对教师过于昂贵或要求过高。此外，几乎没有证据表明这两种方法的相对优点。全国范围内对问责制的强调，对识字和数学的强烈关注，以及对容易检验的事实知识的偏见，迫使学校远离动手探究科学。本研究比较了两种教学条件下五年级学生的学习情况，每种教学条件下有20个班级的关键特征相匹配。本研究将有助于我们关于基础科学教学与学生学习之间关系的知识基础，对从业者、决策者和公众具有重要意义。此外，这项研究利用教师调查、访谈、作业和课堂观察的数据，探索了学生表现和教学之间的联系。学生的成绩通过一系列措施进行评估，包括语言艺术和数学的标准化考试；NAEP或TIMSS的标准化科学知识项目和表演任务；其他短期科学表演任务；以及为本研究开发和验证的扩展科学调查任务。这项研究将着眼于长期、重要的成果，如2061项目所要求的成果：深刻的概念性理解、对困难问题的坚持、随着时间的推移保留重要知识，以及将调查战略转移到具有挑战性的新情况。

This study is a three year effort to examine what students learn in two different kinds of elementary science classrooms: traditional expository, text-oriented instruction compared with hands-on, inquiry-oriented instruction. The latter describes an approach to learning in which students acquire knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas as well as first hand experiential understanding of how scientists study the natural world. The emphasis is on learning by doing and discussing, and the priority is on scientific thinking skills and conceptual understanding. In a second phase, the study examines the teaching associated with high- and low-achieving classrooms for each of the two instructional conditions. Millions of dollars have gone into supporting hands-on inquiry science reforms over the past several decades. These large-scale efforts, particularly important for less affluent students across the country, are vulnerable however, for they are viewed by some as too expensive or too demanding of teachers. Furthermore, there is little evidence of the relative merits of the two approaches. The nationwide emphasis on accountability, with an intense focus on literacy and math and a bias towards easily tested factual knowledge, pressures schools away from hands-on inquiry science. This study will contribute substantially to our knowledge base on the relationship between elemetary science instruction and student learning, with important implications for practitioners, policy makers and the public.This study compares 5th grade students' learning in two instructional conditions, with 20 classes in each condition matched for key characteristics. In addition, the study explores connections between student performance and instruction, utilizing data from teacher surveys, interviews, assignments, and classroom observations. Student achievement is assessed with an array of measures, including standardized tests of language arts and math; standardized science knowledge items and a performance task from NAEP or TIMSS; other short science performance tasks; and extended science investigation tasks developed and validated for this research. The study will address long-term, important outcomes such as those called for in Project 2061: deep conceptual understanding, persistence at difficult problems, retention of important knowledge over time, and transfer of investigation strategies to challenging novel situations.