Date of Award

5-1-1973

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Teaching & Learning

Abstract

Purpose of the Study: The purpose of this research was to compare the learning which occurred in a college physical science class for pre-service elementary teachers between two teaching-learning methods identified as teacher- directed instruction and student self-directed study. The specific areas investigated were: (1) knowledge of physical science content, (2) development and application of the processes of science, (3) attitude toward physical science and (4) attitude toward student self-directed study.

Procedure: The research sample used in this study consisted of 95 elementary education majors enrolled in four sections of Chemistry 327 which is a required physical science course. The control group, consisting of two sections, experienced the teacher-directed method which included an introduction to the topic or experiment by the instructor, small group experimentation, analytical and interpretive discussions of the results of the experiments and discussions of assigned reading materials or problems from the textbook. The experimental group, consisting of two sections, was the student self-directed study method which required the students to design and implement their own mode of learning. All students were given the same topic outline.

Null hypotheses were formulated for each of the four areas under investigation. Data to test the hypotheses were obtained from the use of four test instruments consisting of: (1) a physical science content test, (2) the Processes of Science Test, (3) a science inventory which was used to evaluate the student's attitude toward physical science and (4) a student self-directed instruction inventory which was used to evaluate the student's attitude toward self-directed study. The research design was modeled according to the Solomon Four-Group Design. One-half of the research sample (subgroups of the experimental and control groups) was pretested at the beginning of the quarter. The entire sample was posttested twice, once at the end of the quarter and again after a period of 10 weeks. The data obtained from these instruments were analyzed using one-way and two-way analysis of variance. The F values obtained from these analyses were compared with the critical F values that were required for significance at the 0.05 level.

Conclusions: The conclusions derived from the analyses of the data are summarized below.

1. There was no significant difference between the means of the experimental and control groups on the content test at the time of the first posttest. There was a significant difference between the means of the experimental subgroup and control subgroup on this same test at the time of the second posttest. The mean for the experimental subgroup was higher than the mean for the control subgroup. From this result it was concluded that the students in the experimental group retained their knowledge of physical science content better than the students in the control group.

2. There were no significant differences between the means of the experimental and control groups on either of the two posttests for the Processes of Science Test. It was concluded that there was no significant difference between the student's development and application of the processes of science between the experimental and control groups.

3. There were no significant differences between the means of the experimental and control groups on either of the two posttests for the science inventory. It was concluded that there was no significant difference in the students' attitudes toward physical science between the experimental and control group.

4. There was no significant difference between the means of the experimental and control groups on the attitude toward self- directed instruction inventory at the time of the first posttest. There was, however, a significant difference between the means at the time of the second posttest. The mean of the control subgroup was higher than the mean of the experimental subgroup. It was concluded that the control group had a more positive attitude toward self-directed study than did the experimental group.

Recommendations for Further Research: Areas and topics for further research that are recommended by this researcher are:

1. Research is recommended to determine the factors that (1) facilitate learning through student self-directed study, (2) affect the student's attitude toward a subject area, and (3) affect the student's attitude toward the mode of learning.

2. A follow-up study of the teacher education students involved in this research should be conducted to compare the effectiveness of the science programs developed in their elementary classrooms.

3. Research should be conducted to determine the differences in learning and attitudes which result when students have a choice between independent study and a teacher-structured learning environment.

4. Research should be conducted to determine the differences in learning and attitudes resulting from independent study where the comparison is made between student self-designed learning activities, student-selected learning modules and teacher-designed learning activities.

5. Research is recommended for the refinement of instruments that measure attitudes toward science content areas and modes of learning.

6. Research is recommended to develop an instrument designed to measure knowledge and application of the processes of science using physical science items.

7. Research is recommended to determine the relationship of the various sciences studied in the secondary school and success in college science courses for elementary education majors.

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