Scholarship & Research
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Item Reading a novel in middle school science: the impact of socioscientific issues(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2021) Dobkins, Susie Ellen; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisThis study was conducted at Eileen Johnson Middle School, a 6-8 public middle school with about 400 students located in Billings, Montana. Since the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, schools have been under increased scrutiny to raise their student test scores in reading and math. Many schools have begun taking away students' science, social studies, and elective courses if they are testing below average in reading and/or math and placing them in an additional reading and/or math intervention course. This study aimed to see if incorporating a novel in a seventh-grade life science class could have a positive impact on students' enjoyment of reading, science content understanding, build 21st century skills such as perspective-taking and global-mindedness, as well as increase students understanding of socioscientific issues. Students were given a pre and post survey before beginning their Traits and Reproduction Unit. Students read between five to eight pages of the book per day at the beginning of class. The class then discussed what had occurred during that section and the discussion flowed wherever students wanted it to. Students in the treatment group showed a medium normalized gain in science content understanding whereas students in the non-treatment group showed a low normalized gain. Students showed a 75% increase in the answer response that showed an understanding of socioscientific issues, empathy, and a desire to be the scientist who cures malaria. Students showed an overall increase in responses that related to socioscientific issues such as who owns scientific information. Students who read the book had a large increase in seeing reading as useful in science. This study showed larger normalized gains in science content knowledge for the treatment group than the non-treatment group meaning reading a book on socioscientific issues could have helped students understand science content information. It also showed an increase in students understanding of socioscientific issues and global mindedness. In addition, students who read the book had an overwhelming increase in ability to see reading in science as useful in building their knowledge about the world and understanding of science content.Item Investigating reading strategies in a high school earth science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2020) Webb, Mary Kohnstamm; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisThe majority of science teachers consider reading to be an important skill for students to master yet most teachers agree that their understanding of how to teach the cognitive and metacognitive processes to increase student comprehension of scientific text is lacking (Yore, 1991). My goal was to address this gap in my pedagogy, by integrating four different reading strategies into my Earth Science curriculum. The primary purpose was to measure the students' comprehension of scientific text using four reading strategies. The secondary research questions investigated the change in student attitudes and self-confidence when using reading strategies, how choice impacted student comprehension, attitudes and self-confidence, and finally how including reading strategies impact my teaching practice. To answer these questions, students completed a Likert survey measuring student attitudes, self-confidence and beliefs towards reading. Then each reading strategy was taught, first by modeling for the entire group, then with small groups and finally each strategy was completed independently. Students completed assessments using word associations to measure student comprehension using each reading strategy. After students mastered each strategy, they began to choose which strategy to use when reading. The same Likert survey was administered at the conclusion of the study. The results showed that implementing a reading strategy increased student comprehension of scientific text to a statistically significant margin. However, there was no statistical significance when comparing student comprehension rates between each reading strategy. The scores between Likert surveys did increase significantly, however there was not a significant difference in student self-confidence when reading using a reading strategy. According to student interviews, choice was the largest factor to impact student behavior towards reading. The implications of the action research project finds that reading can be integrated into the inquiry process to create a more student centered approach to teaching.Item Using feedback and self-reflection to empower adult learners in math, reading and writing(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2019) Brown, Katherine Tyler Swaim; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisAdults bring a wealth of accumulated experience to a classroom, and studies have shown that adult students benefit from relevant, student-centered practices that involve them in their education. Assessment methods must be appropriate and offer time to act upon the result. This study looked at the impact that clear learning objectives, timely teacher feedback, and opportunity for student reflection would have on a student's understanding of their own progress towards class advancement in a class that did not offer grades and could be repeated. A portfolio of student work was compiled to judge student effort. Additional factors assessed included attendance, mindset, and attitude toward the teacher and student role in the classroom. The study found that when students are given a clear statement of course goals and feedback about their work through self-reflection and instructor communication, they have a solid understanding of their academic progress. In addition, the instructor has sufficient evidence to make a compatible decision. Students whose move-up decision matched the instructor's tended to have greater attendance and higher mindset motivation scores than those whose decisions did not match the instructor's.Item Impact of close reading strategies in chemistry(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2017) Savastano, Guy David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Walter WoolbaughMany high school students have difficulty learning content by reading -- a key component of scientific literacy -- since they often lack the skills, confidence and motivation to read expository text. This study investigated the impact of close reading strategies on reading comprehension, attitude and motivation for textbook-based reading in chemistry, and the perceived utility of reading strategies for chemistry and other subjects. Students were taught three literature-based reading strategies -- a text and visuals scanning strategy, an annotation strategy, and a writing and dialogue strategy -- that addressed the pre-reading, during-reading and post-reading stages, respectively. During each three-week treatment phase, students learned a new reading strategy, and were given three reading challenges to practice the strategy. In a final treatment phase, students used all three reading strategies in concert. Data collection instruments included the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) and Classroom Assessment Techniques (CAT) to assess comprehension, the Survey of Adolescent Reading Attitudes and Adolescent Motivation to Read Profile (AMRP) for attitude and motivation, a student survey for strategy usefulness, and individual interviews and a teacher reflection journal to appraise student and teacher experiences. This study found that reading comprehension improved significantly posttreatment as measured by the QRI, with an effect size in the large range. Analysis of CAT scores showed that only the post-reading stage writing and dialogue strategy resulted in a significant increase in reading quiz scores. Though student attitude towards reading the textbook was largely unaffected, both facets of motivation measured by the AMRP -- student's self-concept as a reader and student's value of reading -- increased significantly, with a small effect size. Over 90% of students agreed or felt neutral that all of the strategies helped them read the textbook more carefully and understand the chemistry textbook better, and students reported an even preference for reading strategies. A plurality of students agreed that the strategies learned in chemistry could be applied to English and social studies and 60% of students interviewed had already applied a strategy learned in chemistry to another subject. This study confirmed the value of teaching students scientific literacy skills related to reading expository text.Item Textbook reading strategies in the middle school science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, Graduate School, 2013) Tabor, Sarah A. F.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Peggy Taylor.The majority of middle school students have not been specifically taught strategies to read textbooks. My goals were: to determine whether learning a textbook reading strategy would improve the students' understanding of the content, to measure any shift in attitudes towards reading textbooks after being taught specific strategies, and to evaluate any effect that teaching these strategies might have on my teaching. Many of my middle school science students struggled to locate information within their textbook during coursework. This impacted their reading assignments, which were rarely read, and homework assignments, which had low scores. The Common Core Standards mandate that technical writing and reading of informational text be incorporated into science curriculum. Two textbook reading strategies, THIEVES (Manz, 2002) and PLAN (Radcliffe, Caverly, Hand, & Frank, 2008), have been used successfully with middle school students. Over the course of four units, teaching of the reading strategies was alternated with using no reading strategy. The quantitative data that were collected included; test scores, quiz scores, homework scores, and final class grades. The qualitative data that were collected included; student surveys before and after learning the reading strategies, student interviews, and my own journaling. This study's findings were that quiz and test scores remained relatively consistent throughout the investigation, but homework scores did show an improvement during the final unit that used the PLAN reading strategy. Final academic grades remained the same for some of the students, while most students' grades improved or declined. Survey results indicated that students shifted from extreme feelings about reading textbooks, i.e. that they either loved or hated reading them, to having more neutral feelings about reading textbooks. The majority of the students preferred the PLAN reading strategy because they felt that it made them more familiar with the content and that their final product in their science notebooks had value to them, as it aided them in studying for tests. I also preferred PLAN due to the ease of teaching the strategy, the writing component that is built into the reading strategy, and the creative final product from the students.Item Reading strategies in a high school science classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, Graduate School, 2012) Hart, Yvette Strandell; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Peggy Taylor.Are teachers enabling students to be poor readers of science text by not routinely making reading assignments because students usually do not complete them? If students become more effective readers of science text will their attitudes and values towards reading change? In this study reading strategies were implemented with the purpose of helping students read more effectively. Students were instructed in the use of six different strategies. As students used the strategies, their reading skills, values and attitudes were measured using standardized tests, surveys and formative assessments. The results indicated that students improved their reading skills and would complete reading assignments. It was also found that when students are aware of effective reading strategies, they would be likely to use them independently in the future.Item The effects of using literature circles on understanding middle school earth science concepts(Montana State University - Bozeman, Graduate School, 2011) Dooley, Joyce; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Peggy Taylor.The use of Literature Circles (LC) in classrooms has been studied extensively as it deals with literacy development. However, there has been little research done using LC with learning science concepts. LC can be used for encouraging the unmotivated students to read to acquire content knowledge. Working with peers promotes accuracy and enjoyment of the subject. When students are expected to prepare to respond to selected readings they pay more attention to the content of their reading selections. LC promotes metacognitive awareness. Students answered survey questions reporting their use of various reading strategies; this awareness helped them build self-monitoring techniques. Building self-monitoring techniques is essential toward learning difficult content. Based on the data, students who are more metacognitively aware of their learning are more successful in class. Using LC, students are better prepared for formative assessments, as well as summative assessments.