245 Geoscience Education (Posters) IV

Wednesday, 12 October 2011
9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Hall C

EFFECTS OF TECHNOLOGY-ENHANCED INQUIRY ON MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROCK CYCLE

Paper number: 245-12
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

Previous research indicates that college students have significant conceptual barriers to understanding the rock cycle, but there has been no equivalent research on K-12 students. Middle and high school students in Rhode Island also struggle on rock cycle portions of standardized tests. As part of the RITES program, an NSF-funded initiative whose goal is to improve STEM literacy in RI, a computer module was created to increase student knowledge of the rock cycle. The module uses hands-on and computer-based inquiry techniques to allow students to investigate the clues in rocks that help geologists learn about their formation. This provides students the opportunity to piece together the history of an area using just the rocks present. Students recorded observations, explorations, and interpretations directly in the computer module, although an important part of the module involves handling rocks. In this pilot study we evaluated the effectiveness of this computer module in increasing content knowledge and decreasing misconceptions of middle school students to determine if students gained a deeper understanding of the rock cycle and the value rocks provide in determining Earth’s history. In essence, we evaluated whether the computer module helped students to view rocks more as professional geologists might.

To determine the effect of the module on the students an assessment was given to 54 eighth-grade and 35 sixth-grade students before and after completing the module. Open-ended and multiple-choice assessment questions were designed using known misconceptions. Preliminary results indicate significant learning gains in student comprehension. Prior to instruction, students answered 36% of questions correctly, but after completing the RITES Rock Cycle module, students answered 77% of questions correctly. Of the 89 students assessed, 74 (83%) had positive learning gains and only 4 (5%) showed negative learning gains. This study indicates that the RITES Rock Cycle module may help address conceptual barriers in middle school students, develop the foundation for students to view rocks more as geologist do, and potentially raise test scores on the rock cycle portion of standardized tests.