The effect of scientific explanation instruction on extended response performance by eighth grade science students

Abstract

This action research-based classroom project sought to discover if direct instruction of scientific explanation will improve student performance on extended response style questions. Students were taught to write a scientific explanation using Katherine McNeill's Claim-Evidence-Reason Framework. Student activities were scaffolded for increasing difficulty, culminating in an inquiry project requiring them to write a scientific explanation from data they collected. Eight of nine students in the research group showed improvement in scientific explanation writing skills. Students' confidence in their abilities to write explanations also improved.