The efficacy of a high school biology storyline curriculum

Abstract

This project aimed to determine if biology storylines could help students increase engagement and comprehension of the Next Generation Science Standard concepts when compared to a traditional linear-unit curriculum. Storylining is a curriculum replacement that engages students with a phenomenon and continues to be driven by student-generated questions. Concepts are spiraling in nature and are revisited in ever-increasing depth as the curriculum unfolds. Data was collected for two years. The first year of biology was taught using a traditional linear-unit curriculum where individual units were taught in isolation. In the subsequent year, a storyline curriculum was introduced. At the end of each year, students took a computerized test in biology to assess comprehension. Students also provided feedback through both a written and verbal survey. Not only were test scores higher in the group using storylines, but students also reported overwhelming support for storylines. Comprehension, engagement, and coherence all improved with storylines while providing students with an authentic learning experience connected to real-world data.