Elementary Students’ Learning of Materials Science

Authors: Kristen Bethke Wendell HeeSun Lee

Publish Date: 2010/05/14

Volume: 19, Issue: 6, Pages: 580-601

PDF Link

Abstract

Materials science which entails the practices of selecting testing and characterizing materials is an important discipline within the study of matter This paper examines how third grade students’ materials science performance changes over the course of instruction based on an engineering design challenge We conducted a case study of nine students who participated in engineering designbased science instruction with the goal of constructing a stable quiet thermally comfortable model house The learning outcome of materials science practices was assessed by clinical interviews conducted before and after the instruction and the learning process was assessed by students’ workbooks completed during the instruction The interviews included two materials selection tasks for designing a sturdy stepstool and an insulated pet habitat Results indicate that 1 students significantly improved on both materials selection tasks 2 their gains were significantly positively associated with the degree of completion of their workbooks and 3 students who were highly engaged with the workbook’s reflective recordkeeping tasks showed the greatest improvement on the interviews These findings suggest the important role workbooks can play in facilitating elementary students’ learning of science through authentic activity such as engineering designThis study was funded by National Science Foundation Grant DRL0633952 but does not necessarily represent the policies or positions of the NSF We would like to thank the readers and reviewers who have offered helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper We also wish to thank the students who took part in the study and their teacher who generously devoted time and energy to the project and enthusiastically taught two new science units in her classroom in 1 year

Keywords: