An evaluation of children's performance on certain cognitive, affective, and motivational aspects of the systems and subsystems unit of the science curriculum improvement study elementary science program

Abstract

since 1961. "The immediate goals of this program are to acquaint the child with specific examples of objects and organisms, to let him investigate examples of natural phenomena, and to help him develop skills of manipulating equipment and recording data. The long range goals of the program are to contribute to the intellectual development of the child and to increase the scientific literacy (that is, the functional understanding of basic scientific concepts) of the school population and hence the adult population."' This evaluation is the third year of a larger study that will extend, eventually, through Grade 6. The purpose of this evaluation is to produce information that can be used in making curriculum decisions.The writer carried out an evaluation of the SCIS Grade 1 Material Objects unit during 1 9 6 9 , '~~ and the Grade 2 Interaction unit during 1970." No published evaluation ofthis unit is known to the writer. Design of the StudyThe purpose of this study was to investigate whether, when certain objectives are considered, participation in the SCIS elementary science program (Physical Science Section) at the Grade 3 level results in a performance superior to that of Grade 3 nonparticipants in the program. The Experimental PopulationA full description of the experimental population is contained in the writer's evaluation of The present study employs the same children who were used for both first and second the Grade 1 SCIS program.2 7 3 *This study was financed by a research grant from the University of Hawaii. Thanks are due to the principals and teachers of the schools involved for access to children, to the testers who interviewed the children involved, and to Dr. Daniel Blaine of this University for statistical facilities and assistance.

The science curriculum improvement study and student attitudes

“…The purpose of this study was to investigate the cumulative effect of the Science Curriculum Improvement Study program (SCIS) in terms of students' attitudes. Using a questionnaire technique, Allen (1972Allen ( , 1973 found no change in students' attitudes as a result of experiencing two SCIS physical science units. For the present study it was hypothesized that students who had been exposed to the complete SCIS program (six years) would evidence a greater degree of positive attitudes toward science, experimenting, and the scientist than those who had not been exposed to the curriculum.…”

Gender and science achievement: A reanalysis of studies from two meta‐analyses

“…Other studies have followed subjects for several years, noting the relation of gender to participation and performance in science classes over time. Such studies (e.g., Allen, 1970;1973) may provide several measures of science achievement as well, but for the same subjects at different points in time. (Since reports of longitudinal studies are often published sequentially, it is important to identify common subject pools across articles to avoid dependence in the meta-analysis data.)…”

The relationship between attitudes toward science and science achievement

“…Instruments measuring attitudes toward science seem to reflect these same problems. SCIS tried to use symbolic smiling and frowning faces as a means to measure attitudes toward science (Allen, 1973). The results of these studies indicate that the faces were not discerning enough measure to reveal significant differences in attitudes.…”

“…The relationship between attitudes toward science and science achievement has been proposed and investigated by many studies (Allen, 1973;Brown, 1955;Faust, 1962;Frey et al, 1967; Hedley, 1966; Littlefield, 1975). However, some of the results of these studies have not supported this relationship.…”