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Science Teachers' Implementation and Students' Reactions Jennifer Ann Reid-Smith Iowa State University Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2013 Historical short stories as nature of science instruction in secondary science classrooms: Science teachers' implementation and students' reactions Jennifer Ann Reid-Smith Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, and the Science and Mathematics Education Commons Recommended Citation Reid-Smith, Jennifer Ann, "Historical short stories as nature of science instruction in secondary science classrooms: Science teachers' implementation and students' reactions" (2013). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 13633. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/13633 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Historical short stories as nature of science instruction in secondary science classrooms: Science teachers’ implementation and students’ reactions by Jennifer Ann Reid-Smith A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Education Program of Study Committee: Michael Clough, Co-Major Professor Joanne Olson, Co-Major Professor Eunjin Bang James Colbert Isaac Gottesman Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2013 Copyright © Jennifer Ann Reid-Smith, 2013. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION To my son for all the love, laughter, and joy you have given me. To my parents for your unconditional love, encouragement, and unwavering belief in my ability to complete this journey. Thank you for the many long phone conversations and frequently reminding me of what I am capable of achieving. To my sister and brother-in-law for the frustrations, happiness, and laughter we’ve shared through graduate school and becoming parents. To my grandmother for teaching me to persevere in the face of so many obstacles. You will be greatly missed. Thank you all for your love and everything you have done to make this possible. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Dedication ii Table of contents iii List of Figures viii List of Tables ix Acknowledgements xi Abstract xii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 The Nature of Science in Secondary Science Education 1 Rationale for Teaching the NOS in Secondary Science Classes 3 Effective NOS Instruction 4 NOS and HOS Curricular Materials 6 The Problematic Nature of NOS and HOS Curricular Materials 6 Post Secondary Historical Short Stories Project 7 Historical Short Stories for Secondary Science Classrooms 8 Study Purpose and Research Questions 8 Overview of Methodology 10 Study Limitations 14 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature 16 Introduction: The Goals and the Current State of Science Education 16 The Nature of Science and Why NOS Instruction is Crucial 21 Characteristics of NOS 21 Inadequacy of consensus lists and tenets 23 Rationales for Including NOS in Secondary Science 26 Inevitability of NOS Instruction: 29 Components of Effective NOS Instruction 30 The Role of History of Science in NOS Instruction 35 Teachers’ Use of NOS and HPS Curricular Materials 39 The Scarcity of Effective NOS Instruction 39 Recent research regarding teachers’ incorporation of NOS 41 The Problematic Nature of Curricular Materials for Teaching NOS and HPS 43 Using Science Short Stories to Teach the NOS 44 In Summary 48 Chapter 3: Methodology 50 Overview 50 Study Purpose and Research Questions 51 Overview of Methodological Framework 52 Short Story Materials Utilized in the Study 54 Study Participants and Context 56 Data Collection and Analysis 58 Overview of Participant Subgroups and The Research Questions 58 iv Investigation of Factors Influencing Teachers’ Implementation 61 Teachers’ NOS Understanding: 61 Classroom Observations 64 Teacher Post-Implementation Interviews 66 Classroom Artifacts 67 Data Reduction and Analysis 67 Investigation of the Impact on Students’ NOS Understanding 69 Data Analysis 70 Investigation of Students’ Interest in and Attitudes Toward the Stories 70 Student Interest and Attitude Surveys 70 Data Analysis 72 Study Assumptions and Limitations 75 Chapter 4: Results and Analyses 77 Overview and Research Questions 77 Research Question 1: Factors impacting Teachers’ Implementation of Stories 78 Case Studies of Teacher Participants’ Story Implementation 78 Henry 78 Context 78 Implementation in Chemistry Classes 78 Implementation in General Chemistry Classes 80 Classroom Culture 81 Jessica 81 Context 81 Implementation 82 Classroom Culture 83 Carol 84 Context 84 Implementation 84 Classroom Culture 85 Ken 86 Context 86 Implementation 86 Classroom Culture 88 Will 88 Context 88 Implementation 88 Classroom Culture 90 Hillary 90 Context 90 Implementation 91 Classroom Culture 92 Laura 93 Context 93 Implementation 93 Classroom Culture 94 Rick 95 v Context 95 Implementation 95 Classroom Culture 96 Vicki 97 Context 97 Implementation 97 Classroom Culture 98 Beth 99 Context 99 Implementation 99 Classroom Culture 100 Karen 101 Context 101 Implementation 101 Classroom Culture 103 Jill 103 Context 103 Implementation 104 Classroom Culture 105 Kaleb 106 Context 106 Implementation 106 Classroom Culture 107 Development and Analysis of the Story Implementation Evaluation Protocol 107 Development of the Story Implementation Evaluation Protocol 107 Analysis of Teachers’ Implementation of the Stories 111 Factors Potentially Influencing Teachers’ Implementation 114 Teachers’ NOS Understanding 114 Teaching Experience 117 Factors Teachers Report Impacting their Implementation Decisions. 118 Course Curricula 123 Student Understanding 124 School Constraints 126 Student Resistance and Ability 128 Perception of Constraints, Impact on Students, and Other Goals for Students 131 Impact of the Control-Treatment Design 135 Teachers’ Perceptions of Story Features and Resources for Implementation 137 Story Features Teachers Found Beneficial 138 Story Features Teacher Recommend Changing 139 Additional Resources Teachers would Find Beneficial for Future Implementation 141 Summary of Findings For Research Question 1 147 Research Question 2: Impact of Stories on Students’ NOS Understanding 148 Reliability of the VOSSI Instrument 148 Differences Between Control and Treatment Students’ NOS Understanding. 149 Analysis of Henry’s Students’ Understanding of the 6 VOSSI Components 152 Summary of Findings for Research Question 2: 153 vi Research Question 3: Students’ Interest and Attitude Towards the Stories 154 Students’ Interest in and Perceptions of the Short Stories 156 What Students’ Liked and Disliked About the Short Stories 158 What Students Liked About the Short Stories 158 What Students Disliked About the Short Stories 163 Summary of Findings for Research Question 3 166 Research Question 4: Factors Correlated with Students’ Interest in the Stories 167 Reliability of Interest and Attitude Survey Multi-Item Indices 167 Factors Correlated with Students’ Interest in the Short Stories 170 Summary of Findings For Research Question 4 172 Chapter 5: Discussion and Conclusions 173 Study Overview 173 Research Question 1: Factors Associated with Teachers’ Implementation 173 Summary of Findings for Research Question 1 173 Discussion of Research Question 1 174 Teachers’ Experience 174 NOS Understanding 175 Perceptions of and Reactions to Constraints 177 Lack of Modeling for Effective Implementation 180 Research Question 2: Impact of Stories on Students’ NOS Understanding 181 Summary of Findings for Research Question 2 181 Discussion of Research Question 2 182 Problems with the Control-Treatment Design 183 Research Question 3: Students’ Interest and Attitude Towards the Stories 185 Summary of Findings for Question 3 185 Discussion of Question 3 186 Question 4: Factors Correlated with Students’ Interest in the Short Stories 187 Summary of Findings for Question 4 187 Discussion of Question 4 187 Implications 188 Recommendation for Further Study 192 REFERENCES 195 Appendix A. Biology Stories 212 Appendix B. chemistry Stories 244 Appendix C: Vossi questionaire 281 Appendix D: Semi-Structured Interview Questions 288 Appendix E: story implementation protocol and research derived exemplars 291 Appendix F: Vossi questionaire For Biology Students 296 Appendix G: Vossi questionaire For Chemistry Students 301 Appendix H: Student Interest and attitude survey 1 306 Appendix I: Multi-item indicies constructs from 309 vii Interest and Attitude Surveys 1 and 2 309 Appendix J: Biology Interest and attitude survey 2 310 Appendix K: Chemistry Interest and attitude survey 2 316 Appendix L: Control Interest and attitude survey 2 322 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Summary of participants and data collected for each research question 12 Figure 2. Summary of participants and the data collected for each research question 59 ix LIST OF TABLES Table 1. NOS Short Stories Provided to Participating Biology Teachers 55 Table 2. NOS Short Stories Provided to Participating Chemistry Teachers 56 Table 3. Overview of Teacher and Student Teacher Participants 57 Table 4. Student Participants for Each Participating Teacher 61 Table 5. NOS constructs measured in the VOSSI questionnaire 62 Table 6. Teacher Participation Type and Classroom Observations 66 Table 7. NOS constructs included in biology and chemistry
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