Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Effects of storytelling on students' beliefs and attitudes about the nature of science and doing science(Montana State University - Bozeman, Graduate School, 2012) Spady, Dale; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Peggy Taylor.The purpose of this study was to investigate how storytelling, combined with opportunities for dialogue and inquiry, would impact middle school students' beliefs and attitudes about the nature of science and doing science. Specifically, the study sought to determine if storytelling sessions, involving science mysteries and historical narratives about scientists and their discoveries, would be effective instructional aids for helping students understand the way science is conducted. The study involved thirty-one sixth graders in two sections of a life science class. The storytelling sessions and related inquiry activities were implemented on a bi-weekly basis during a three month period. Pre and post-treatment surveys and interviews, periodic questionnaires, and daily observations were used to assess students' perspectives and reactions. The results of this study showed that storytelling combined with dialogue and inquiry improved students' attitudes about doing science and generated fresh depth and breadth of perception about the nature of science. The historical narratives were well suited to making science facts more meaningful and memorable, while the science mysteries were more effective in helping students generate investigative questions.Item Backroads to learining : the use of narratives in high school biology(Montana State University - Bozeman, Graduate School, 2012) Reuer, Marcie Diane; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Peggy Taylor.This research paper is set within the context of the grade twelve biology class in Grande Cache Community High School, located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Many students lack adequate reading strategies to learn biology content from expository texts. A series of short stories about science, written in narrative form, was developed by the teacher. The question posed was: What is the effect of science narratives on content retention and interest in Biology 30? Average and low achieving students showed significant gains on exam performance, 10.9% and 13.9% increase respectively, and all cohorts of students indicated an increase in interest as determined by surveys, small-group interviews and an analysis of engagement during regular instruction and instruction using science narratives.