Understanding Elementary Students' Changes in Ocean
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CONNECTING CHILDREN TO THE OCEAN: UNDERSTANDING ELEMENTARY STUDENTS ’’’ CHANGES IN OCEAN LITERACY DURING A MARINE AQUARIUM SUMMER CAMP EXPERIENCE by JONG-MUN KIM B.Ed., Seoul National University of Education, South Korea, 1991 M.Ed., Inha University, South Korea, 2004 M.A., The University of Victoria, 2007 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Curriculum Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) June 2014 © Jong-Mun Kim, 2014 Abstract Relatively little research has been carried out on how to increase ocean literacy among students from diverse sociocultural backgrounds in both formal and informal educational contexts. To contribute to the pressing need for research in this important area, this study employed a mixed methods approach and examined changes in elementary students’ (Grades 3 to 5) ocean literacy during a five-day summer camp ( AquaCamps ) experience provided by the Vancouver Aquarium. A specially developed survey questionnaire, interview protocol, in-camp observations, and document analysis methods were used to collect data on the characteristics of changes in students’ ocean literacy as well as the influences of AquaCamps and other life experiences on the changes in their marine science knowledge and orientations (naturalistic, aesthetic, recreational, utilitarian, and negativistic). Quantitative analysis of the survey data revealed appreciable changes in students’ marine science knowledge and in their orientations. In particular, students’ marine science knowledge and naturalistic, aesthetic, and recreational orientations increased while utilitarian and negativistic orientations decreased after participating in AquaCamps . Qualitative data analysis elucidated AquaCamps program components that influenced these changes. The analysis also revealed additional sources including family members and multimedia, which affected changes in students’ ocean literacy. A noteworthy finding of this study is students’ limited understanding of their connections to the ocean and marine organisms as a whole. This study highlights the need for marine education to focus on building individual student’s ocean literacy by (1) helping individual students to explicitly understand how they are connected to ocean/marine organisms and (2) providing individual students with opportunities to ii build emotional connections to ocean/marine organisms through direct encounters. This study’s findings have implications for theory and practice in the field of marine education and provide a basis for offering suggestions on ways marine aquarium education might foster students’ ocean literacy. iii Preface This dissertation is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, J. Kim. Ethics approval for this research was provided by the UBC Behavioral Research Ethics Board, certificate number: H12-01249. iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Learning journey ................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 The problem ....................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research questions ............................................................................................................. 6 1.4 Methodological overview ................................................................................................... 7 1.5 Glossary of terms ............................................................................................................... 8 1.6 Significance ........................................................................................................................ 9 1.7 Organizations of chapters ................................................................................................. 10 Chapter 2 Literature Review and Theoretical Framework .................................................... 12 2.1 Ocean literacy ................................................................................................................... 12 2.1.1 Need for ocean literacy ........................................................................................... 13 2.1.2 Efforts to build an ocean-literate society ................................................................ 15 2.1.3 Issues related to ocean literacy ................................................................................ 17 2.1.4 Knowledge component of ocean literacy ............................................................... 20 2.1.5 Orientation component of ocean literacy ................................................................ 22 2.1.6 Potential impact of marine aquariums on developing visitors’ ocean literacy ....... 27 2.2 Sociocultural theory ......................................................................................................... 29 2.2.1 Sociocultural theory and learning ........................................................................... 29 2.2.2 Ocean literacy development in a sociocultural context .......................................... 30 2.3 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 31 Chapter 3 Methodology and Analytical Framework ............................................................... 33 3.1 Context of the study ......................................................................................................... 33 3.2 The study participants ...................................................................................................... 35 3.3 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 37 3.4 Methods ............................................................................................................................ 39 3.4.1 Quantitative methods .............................................................................................. 39 3.4.2 Qualitative methods ................................................................................................ 43 3.5 Data collection procedures ............................................................................................... 44 3.6 Data analysis .................................................................................................................... 46 3.6.1 Quantitative data analysis ....................................................................................... 47 3.6.2 Qualitative data analysis ......................................................................................... 52 3.7 Validity, trustworthiness, and quality of the study ........................................................... 58 v 3.8 Limitations ....................................................................................................................... 61 3.9 Ethical considerations ...................................................................................................... 62 Chapter 4 Changes in Students’ Marine Science Knowledge ................................................. 63 4.1 Changes in marine science knowledge............................................................................. 64 4.1.1 Overall changes ...................................................................................................... 65 4.1.2 Changes in each question ....................................................................................... 66 4.2 Sources of students’ marine science knowledge .............................................................. 86 4.2.1 Influence of AquaCamps on marine science knowledge ........................................ 86 4.2.2 Influence of other life experiences on marine science knowledge ....................... 101 4.3 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 105 Chapter 5 Changes in Students’ Orientations ........................................................................ 107 5.1 Changes in orientations .................................................................................................. 108 5.1.1 Overall changes .................................................................................................... 108 5.1.2 Categorical changes ...............................................................................................110