Agriscience Education Through Inquiry-Based Learning: Investigating Factors that Influence the Science Competence of Middle School Students

Skelton, Peter; Blackburn, J. Joey; Stair, Kristin S.; Levy, Natalie S.; Dormody, Thomas J.

doi:10.5032/jae.2018.01223

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The Figure 1 model was previously tested by Skelton, Dormody, & Lewis, (2016) and Skelton, Blackburn et al, (2018) with samples of primarily Hispanic and economically disadvantaged middle school youths. A promising result from the Skelton, Dormody & Lewis 2016 study was that students performing below grade level made up considerable ground on students performing at or above grade level after being taught a water chemistry lesson developed based on the model.…”

Section: Yasc Conceptual Model For Improving Youth Science Comprehensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1). The Skelton, Blackburn et al, (2018) study determined that science reasoning ability and science skills were significant predictors of grade-level expectations for sixth-grade students taught lessons in soil pH and water quality developed based on the model. For eighth-grade students, science skills were a significant predictor of grade-level expectation.…”

Section: Yasc Conceptual Model For Improving Youth Science Comprehensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Assessing the Impact of Weather and Climate Curriculum on Youth Science Comprehension

Dormody,

Skelton,

Rodriguez

et al. 2021

JAE

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The researchers developed a youth weather and climate curriculum using a science comprehension model that integrates experiential and inquiry-based learning approaches with developing science knowledge, science skills, and reasoning abilities. The purpose of this study was to pilot the curriculum to determine if it would improve youth science comprehension. Participants were 8 th grade, predominately Hispanic and economically disadvantaged youths, at a middle school in Las Vegas, New Mexico served by an innovative Extension youth agricultural science center. Youths were taught five weather and climate science lessons that included setting up experiments and developing and testing hypotheses for local climate trends from online weather station data. After being taught the curriculum, youths improved in overall science comprehension and its subdimensions of science knowledge, science skills, and reasoning abilities. Their science comprehension also improved for four of five lessons. The number of youths preferring learning by doing over other learning modalities also increased from pretest to posttest. Youths most frequently mentioned the experiments, that the earth is getting warmer, and the greenhouse effect and gasses when asked what interested them about the lessons. Pilot test results were used to strengthen the curriculum before making it available to educators online. Further research is recommended to establish the curriculum's impact on science comprehension retention and on science comprehension development when the curriculum is used as part of an elementary to secondary learning progression.

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Section: Yasc Conceptual Model For Improving Youth Science Comprehensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Yasc Conceptual Model For Improving Youth Science Comprehensionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Impact of Weather and Climate Curriculum on Youth Science Comprehension

Dormody,

Skelton,

Rodriguez

et al. 2021

JAE

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“…Despite criticism of DI, some argue that DI taught properly and systematically has its place in the classroom (Kuhn, 2007;Schwartz & Martin, 2004). However, reforms in science education (NRC, 2012) and agricultural education (Hock, 2019;NRC, 2009;Skelton et al, 2018; have promoted student-centered instruction methods such as IBI. New models and methods of teaching in SBAE, such as the 5E method of IBI, must be empirically compared to more traditional forms of instruction, such as DI.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing the 5E Method of Inquiry-based Instruction and the Four-Stage Model of Direct Instruction on Students’ Content Knowledge Achievement in an ENR Curriculum

Colclasure¹,

Thoron²,

Osborne³

et al. 2020

JAE

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The purpose of this study was to compare the 5E method of inquiry-based instruction (IBI) and the four-stage model of direct instruction (DI) on students’ content knowledge achievement. The population for this study was all secondary high school students enrolled in the CASE® Natural Resources and Ecology course and whose teachers completed the CASE® Institute for Natural Resources and Ecology certification between the years 2013 and 2017. This study was quasi-experimental and used a nonequivalent control group, pretest-posttest design. A convenient sample of 13 teachers and 222 students was collected. Each teacher was randomly assigned to deliver a set of 16 lesson plans that utilized either the IBI or DI approach. Lesson plans were grouped into four modules, each lasting approximately two weeks. Prior to the delivery of each module, teachers administered content knowledge pretests. Posttests were administered at the completion of each 2-week module. Students in both groups demonstrated significant gains in content knowledge achievement. ANCOVA statistical procedures were used to compare student achievement for both instructional methods. Results of the ANCOVA indicated that the 5E method of IBI and the four- stage model of DI are equally effective on students’ content knowledge achievement.

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“…The bulk of research related to students and STEM illumination in the SBAE curriculum has related to student behavioral factors, specifically student achievement (Despain et al, 2016;DiBenedetto et al, 2015;Haynes et al, 2012;McKim et al, 2018;Nolin & Parr, 2013;Pearson et al, 2013;Skelton et al, 2018;Smith & Rayfield, 2017;Thoron & Myers, 2011). Despain et al (2016) and Nolin and Parr (2013) used state standardized tests to compare SBAE student achievement among science to non-SBAE students.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another thread of research in student achievement revolved around the impact of methods of teaching on student learning outcomes in science (DiBenedetto et al, 2015;Haynes et al, 2012;McKim et al, 2018;Pearson et al, 2013;Skelton et al, 2018;Smith & Rayfield, 2017). Pearson et al (2013) discovered that a Science-in-CTE program in which a context-based approach was used to teach technical concepts that emphasized academic content was found to have a substantial, positive effect on post-test scores for students in the second, third, and fourth pre-test quartiles, with this magnitude increasing with each quartile increase.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications of Science Illumination on Student Content Knowledge of Technical Floriculture and Core Scientific Ideas

Ferand¹,

Dibenedetto²,

Myers³

et al. 2022

JAE

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With fewer people entering agricultural career fields every year, the need for skilled workers in STEM fields continues to grow, which is an issue compounded by the growing demand for food and energy worldwide. An employment pool of skilled applicants who understand agriculture as a whole and comprehend applied concepts of STEM is needed, especially now as the world has stepped into an era of scientific and precision-based agriculture. School-based agricultural education (SBAE) provides opportunities to facilitate the application of core scientific ideas in real-world settings, as many agricultural contexts and problems typically involve numerous disciplines. This study analyzed the effects of purposeful science illumination on students' content knowledge of scientific core ideas and technical floriculture concepts. Students who received a specialized science illuminated curriculum displayed higher achievement on core science and technical floriculture content than their peers who received the standard curriculum. Further, students whose teachers received specialized training in STEM illumination outperformed the other two groups of students in both scientific core ideas and technical floriculture concepts. It is recommended that teachers seek both content-specific professional development opportunities and specialized curricula. Lastly, focus should be placed on methods of instruction to allow for students to engage with core scientific ideas within the context of agriculture.

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Agriscience Education Through Inquiry-Based Learning: Investigating Factors that Influence the Science Competence of Middle School Students

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

Assessing the Impact of Weather and Climate Curriculum on Youth Science Comprehension

Assessing the Impact of Weather and Climate Curriculum on Youth Science Comprehension

Comparing the 5E Method of Inquiry-based Instruction and the Four-Stage Model of Direct Instruction on Students’ Content Knowledge Achievement in an ENR Curriculum

Implications of Science Illumination on Student Content Knowledge of Technical Floriculture and Core Scientific Ideas

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