A Quantitative Synthesis of Research on Elementary Science Programs

所有学生在科学方面的成功已经成为一个优先事项，因为经济的未来取决于在科学、数学、技术和工程方面有能力的劳动力。一个重点领域是基础科学，儿童对科学的早期态度和取向是在这里形成的。鉴于近年来对基础科学项目的高质量评估的增长，以及了解什么在科学教育中起作用的需求，需要一份最新的评估，确定基础科学的有效项目和可塑因素。该项目的目标是进行一项荟萃分析，以协助建立坚实的证据基础，为早期科学教育领域的进一步研究、实践和政策提供信息。该小组之前完成的荟萃分析发表了大约十年前的研究结果。该项目将带来早期科学教育领域最新的元分析文献。拟议的基础科学项目定量综合的审查方法将类似于What Works Clearinghouse所使用的方法。审查程序的重点是及时性、全面性、透明度和尽量减少偏见。该项目的目标是获取和综合评估基础科学项目的全部文献，以发现什么有效，为谁有效，在什么条件下有效。该团队将系统地审查2010年至2021年间可用的英文文献，以找到符合既定和公认标准的每项研究。其次，研究按类别分组，以寻找研究效应大小的模式。该团队将使用元回归技术来测试类别的统计显著性，并将探索跨领域的实质性和方法学因素，以及关键的调节和中介因素。该团队将把研究结果传达给许多受众，包括学术期刊、从业者期刊和公众。探索研究K-12项目（DRK-12）旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具（rmt），显著提高K-12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和实证依据。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The success of all students in science has become a priority, as the economic future depends on a workforce that is capable in science, mathematics, technology, and engineering. One area of emphasis has been on elementary science, where children’s early attitudes and orientations about science are formed. Given the growth of high-quality evaluations of elementary science programs in recent years and the need to know what works in science education, an up-to-date review identifying effective programs and malleable factors in elementary science is needed. The goal of this project is to conduct a meta-analysis to assist in establishing a solid base of evidence to inform further research, practice, and policy in the area of early science education. The previous meta-analysis completed by this team published findings from approximately ten years ago. This project will bring up-to-date the meta-analysis literature in the area of early science education. The review methods in the proposed quantitative synthesis on elementary science programs will be similar to those used by the What Works Clearinghouse. The focus of the review procedures is on timeliness, comprehensiveness, transparency, and minimizing bias. The goal of the project is to obtain and synthesize the entire literature evaluating elementary science programs to discover what works, for whom, and under what conditions. The team will systematically review the literature available in English between 2010 and 2021 to locate every study that meets well-established and accepted standards. Second, studies are grouped by categories, to look for patterns among effect sizes across studies. The team will use meta-regression techniques to test statistical significance of the categories and will explore cross-cutting substantive and methodological factors, as well as key moderators and mediators. The team will communicate findings to many audiences, including scholarly journals, practitioner journals, and the public.The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by pre-K-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools (RMTs). Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.