Use of Supplementary Videos in a General Education Physics Course to Affect Scientific Reasoning Skills and Attitudes About Science

Publication Date

4-6-2018

Document Type

Poster

Department

Physics

Mentor

Rebecca Rosenblatt

Mentor Department

Physics

Co-Mentor

Raymond Zich

Co-Mentor Department

Physics

Abstract

Frequently student attitudes about science will be more negative after completing a science courses than before the course. Additionally, one goal of science courses is to teach scientific reasoning skills. This study investigated the effect on both student attitudes toward science, and student scientific reasoning skills, of an instructional interventionconsisting of eight 5 - 7 minute targeted videos on scientific topics. Each video consisted of an explanation of a specific concept, a hands-on demo with observations and YouTube clips highlighting the topic presented. The intervention was made more interactive by inclusion of a worksheet to be completed during the video. Questions on the worksheet tested comprehension of the concepts and the scientific reasoning employed in the video. The CLASS was used to assess student attitudes towards science, and Lawson's Scientific Reasoning Test was administered to assess student scientific reasoning skills. Analysis of data from the CLASS indicates that negative perceptions about science were reduced by up to 21%. Analysis of data from the Lawson test indicates that scientific reasoning skills increased overall by 4%, with the increase in the targeted areas increasing by 7%. This indicates that the supplementary videos were successful in improving both student attitudes toward science and students' scientific reasoning skills.

Comments

Sammons-undergraduate

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