Expanded Results Supplement to
Landsman, R. E. 2005. RIP-ing away barriers to science
education: Inquiry through the research investigation process. In Exemplary science in grades 9–12:
Standards-based success stories, ed. R. E. Yager.
[The following data analyses and narrative provide evidence for RIP
Program impact on teachers and students and the achievement of the NSES More Emphasis Conditions necessary for
the achievement of the National Science Education Standards.]
The indicators for success of the RIP Program meeting more emphasis conditions at HLCS are comprised primarily of on-going evaluation in the form of formative assessments and student, teacher, and parent questionnaires, but also include evidence of exemplar student products up to the current point of implementation. The indicators for success at AAST include student products (publications, research talks) and their accolades, post-high school education opportunities, and follow-up student, teacher, and parent questionnaires to examine the long-term impact of the program on student participants.
HLCS-Nature of the Evidence
The impact of the RIP Program on science education at HLCS was evaluated
over the period Fall 2002 through 2003. Success
indicators include results from teacher and student pre- and post-RIP
implementation assessment comparisons; student, teacher, and parent questionnaire
responses; and “authentic” assessment of student performance and products in
the form of Ho`ike (“to show or “display”) presentation assessment/evaluation
by a diversified community audience composed of parents, students, teachers,
elders, community leaders, and scientists (Table 2).
(Table 2 continued)
Open and closed format items from the Teacher and Student Pre- and Post-Assessments, administered before
and after week-long RIP teacher professional development and student/teacher
RIP training sessions, respectively, were compared (Items 23-31 and 10-19, respectively). These items consisted of content knowledge,
perceptions, attitudes, and opinions related to science and learning about
science. The Post-Assessment contained
three additional items that students could not respond to until becoming
familiar with the RIP (Items 20-22). Closed
response formats included three-item multiple choice, four- or five-point/anchor
Likert Scales, or placement of a vertical line to indicate response on a horizontal
scale (0-9 or 12 cm) with four or five equally spaced anchors. A brief open and closed format Student Post-RIP Questionnaire to assess
the attitudes and opinions of students about learning science through the RIP
was designed and administered to peers by HLCS high school students mid-year,
2003 (n=30 students; closed format: four point/anchor Likert Scale; Items 1-3). Parent Questionnaires
were administered to twenty-four parents at the end of 2003 to assess their
opinions and perceptions of student learning at HLCS during the previous year
at HLCS (before the RIP was introduced to the school) compared to the present
time (one-year after the RIP was introduced to the school) [closed format: seven
point/anchor Likert Scale, Items 4-9]. An
open and closed format Teacher RIP Impact
Questionnaire assessed observations and opinions of positive impact of the
RIP on their students and themselves (n=5 teachers; closed format: five point/anchor
Likert Scale; Items 32-39). Authentic
evaluations of student work for subject matter mastery and understanding of
underlying concepts, creativity and organization, and teamwork and effort
conducted at the Fall 2002 and the Spring 2003 Hoi’ke were compared (Hoi’ke Assessment of Student Products,
closed format: four point/anchor Likert Scale; Items 40-42).
Student and teacher research paper publications and science and science education talks, and awards and recognitions contribute further evidence of the impact of the RIP Program on student success in learning science (Tables 3 and 4, respectively). Student products consisted of contributions to scientific knowledge through published and “in-press” papers, invited and other student research investigation presentations and science education talks (Table 3, Items 1-7, 10). The results of science fair and science symposium participation serves as further evidence of quality of products (Table 4). Teacher products consisted of contributions to the field of science education through science education talks (Table 3, Items 8-10).
Impact on HLCS Students and Teachers
Interest and attitudes in learning about science and learning in
general
The majority of students appeared to enjoy using the RIP and felt that it helped them to learn science (Table 2, Items 1 & 22, Table 5). Approximately four-fifths of the students claimed that they enjoyed learning through the RIP, with 35% saying they experienced much to very much enjoyment using this process, while two-thirds of the students said they enjoyed learning about science through the RIP. Student interest in learning through RIP-based scientific inquiry was exemplified by their continuing their research investigations well into the evenings on many occasions and during holidays and vacations. Student comments reflected a positive attitude regarding the use of the RIP (Table 5). Teachers felt that the RIP greatly helped them understand and respond to individual students’ interests, strengths, experiences, and needs (Table 2, Item 33). All teachers agreed that student engagement in the RIP stimulated student interest to learn science to a great or extremely-great extent and were engrossed in and took ownership of their learning (Table 2, Item 32; Table 5). Teachers felt that engaging students in inquiry-based learning using the RIP had a very strong positive impact on changing students’ attitudes towards learning science and learning in general (Table 2, Item 36; Table 5). Parents claimed that students have shown more interest in attending school and more interest towards academics at school since the RIP Program was implemented (Table 2, Items 5 & 7).
Table 5. HLCS student and teacher
comments regarding the influence of the RIP on student interest to learn
science
|
Student Comments |
|
“The RIP Process is an
excellent way to learn.” |
|
“It makes learning science
easier and less confusing.” |
|
“The RIP is a much better
way of learning compared to how we learned before.” |
|
Teacher Comments |
|
“Students started taking
interest in studying and also began answering questions more frequently. When learning about science, students were
so engrossed in what they were doing that they did not look at the wall clock
anymore and would exclaim at the end of the day that they could not believe
it was time to go home already. The
average grade level of the entire class was raised in one semester and
students were more interested in learning than ever before.” |
|
“Instruction through the RIP
gave students more ownership over their own learning experience.” |
|
“The material covered had greater
relevance and was more interesting to the students than that from traditional
coverage of curriculum or simple hands-on approaches.” |
The RIP also impacted teacher attitudes towards learning science with their students. For example, one exemplar teacher stated, “It was very exciting and intellectually more satisfying learning science through the RIP with my students than by memorizing textbooks and doing labs that already have a known outcome.”
Opportunities for
scientific discussion and debate among students
HLCS teachers reported that the RIP greatly enhanced their ability to provide students with opportunities to discuss and debate scientific information and issues (Table 2, Item 34; Table 6).
Table 6. HLCS teacher comments
regarding the RIP providing opportunities for scientific discussion and debate
among students
|
Teacher Comments |
|
“The structure of the entire
day changed so that there were large blocks of time available for extended
discussion on topics of interest, without the feeling that we will not have
time to cover all the material. Daily
seminars were held for student’s to present background material relevant to
their research investigations to each other.” |
|
“High school students
presented their research investigations to their peers, middle school
students, teachers, parents, community
members and professional scientists.” |
|
“Most of the topics that
were discussed in the class were always started from a relatively simple
concept about everyday life. The
discussion was guided by the teacher and/or the students toward a more
complex topic without the student’s overt recognition that this was
happening. This helped students remove
the mental block against learning ‘difficult’ scientific information. I could feel their happiness and sense of
achievement.” |
Communication skills
Both HLCS teachers and parents felt that the RIP and RIP Program promoted development of skills and confidence to enable students to communicate effectively through speaking and writing (Table 2, Items 4 and 35). These perceptions were corroborated by external sources. Following a HLCS student research talk at a Hawaii Department of Education Inquiry Professional Development Workshop, one teacher participant commented that the student presenters did an excellent job conveying complex scientific concepts and information to a “scientifically-unsophisticated” audience of teachers. Moderator and Executive Director of Native Science Connections Dr. Mark Sorenson, after hearing two HLCS student research talks at the 2002 Conference, exclaimed to the audience, “I don’t believe that I was exposed to a scientific talk of this caliber until graduate school!”
PHOTOGRAPH:
STUDENTS PRESENTING THEIR WORK AT A SCIENCE EDUCATION CONFERENCE
Critical thinking and
decision-making ability
Teachers reported that they felt that the RIP substantially impacted student ability to make good decisions and had a strong impact on the development of their students’ critical thinking ability (Table 2, Items 37 & 39, respectively). They also claimed that the RIP had a great positive impact on student abilities to critically evaluate data and so-called “facts” (Table 2, Item 39).
Facilitation of
teacher learning and instruction about science through inquiry
Teacher knowledge and understanding of the scientific inquiry process including data organization, analysis, and application of mathematics and probability theory to decision making in science significantly increased by the end of the RIP training and conducting of a teacher research investigation (Table 2, Items 23, 28 & 29). Teacher respondents claimed that the RIP professional development sessions and actually engaging in a RIP inquiry facilitated their learning of science through inquiry (Table 2, Item 31; Table 7).
Table 7. HLCS teachers’ comments, following training
and conducting a RIP-based study, on facilitation of their learning and
instruction about science through inquiry
|
“For me, the RIP removes the
intimidation of learning science, particularly the types of science with
which I have the most difficulty (physical science and chemistry). It breaks scientific inquiry down into
understandable steps.” |
|
“It showed me that it was
very exciting and intellectually more satisfying learning science through the
RIP than by memorizing textbooks and doing labs that already have a known
outcome.” |
Cooperation, shared
responsibility, and respect for supporting a classroom community
According to HLCS teachers, successful learning of science through the RIP necessitated and fostered cooperation and shared responsibility, including accountability for learning, and respect for the classroom community (Table 8).
Table 8. HLCS teacher comments regarding cooperation,
shared responsibility, and respect for supporting a classroom community
|
“With the RIP approach,
students often work in groups and assume responsibilities usually chosen
based on their strengths. Doing what
they are best at helped them acquire more confidence, but also made them assume
more responsibility and accountability to the welfare of their group because
they were working from their strengths.
It also helped to create a community because they could learn the
information relating to other aspects of the investigation from other members
of their research team.” |
|
“Because the RIP has an
ethics component, students learn to respect their similarities and
differences. They begin to share
knowledge more and work as a team so that they all may gain from the
experience. They also learn the
ramifications of misbehavior, including cheating in science and the impacts
that unethical behavior has on the individual and on society as a
whole.” |
|
“The RIP encourages
cooperation and shared responsibility, especially in a group project because all
members of the group are needed to develop, implement, analyze, and make
conclusions based on the study. The
group pools ideas, discusses how to solve problems that arise, and is often
needed when the study is being run.
Many studies require multiple students carrying out tasks
simultaneously. Each student must be responsible for their assigned task and
must work cooperatively with the others to accomplish the study. Student investigators from one study would
help other groups of researchers to meet deadlines or by training them in
something that the former had already learned.” |
Parents reported that students showed more to much more improvement in
their sense of responsibility towards finishing assignments compared to before
the RIP program was implemented at HLCS (Table 2, Item 6). Overall, Parents also felt that since the RIP
Program was implemented into HLCS, their children showed improvement in
handling responsibilities at home (Table 2, Item 8). Team evaluators rated HLCS student Hoi’ke presenters
significantly higher in demonstrated shared responsibility related to uniform
effort and contribution across individual team members and in team
communication ability following six months of learning through the RIP compared
with immediately prior to formally introducing the RIP into the school (Table 2,
Item 42).
PHOTOGRAPH: STUDENTS WORKING TOGETHER IN THE RIP
Impact of the RIP on student learning of science content, including
scientific inquiry
HLCS students substantially increased their knowledge and understanding
of the scientific inquiry process, including the different components and how
they are connected since the RIP was implemented (Table 2, Item 10). This was accompanied by significant increases
in self-reported understanding of inquiry-based concepts and increased
confidence levels related to understanding of and proficiency in using
scientific inquiry to learn science after learning the RIP (Table 2, Items
11-14). Student understanding and
ability to apply mathematical concepts to their decision-making almost doubled
by the end of their training in and implementation of a RIP (Table 2, Items 15
& 16). These increases in
demonstrated knowledge and ability were accompanied by significant increases in
student’ self-reported familiarity and understanding of concepts related to
data presentation, analysis, and the use of statistics in making decisions in
science (Table 2, Items 17 &18). Students
exhibited a significant increase in confidence in their ability to learn
science following RIP training, with three-fourths of the students reporting
that they learned more science through the RIP-based inquiry than they had
learned previously through traditional lab investigations (Table 2, Items 19 &
20, respectively). The majority of
students predicted that the RIP would help them as a general learning tool to
learn more in school (Table 2, Item 21).
Students reported that they learned more in the one year period since
implementation of the RIP Program compared with the prior year at HLCS and that
the RIP was helping them to learn in general (Table 2, Items 2 & 3). Parents of HLCS students stated that they
felt that their children were learning more academically compared to the year
and one-half at HLCS prior to implementation of the RIP program (Table 2, Item
9). Hoi`ke team evaluators rated HLCS students significantly
higher in demonstrated proficiency in understanding and being able to explain
to others scientific content, including scientific concepts and the inquiry
process they used to investigate the concepts, following six months of learning
through the RIP compared with immediately prior to the RIP being formally
introduced into the school (Table 2, Item 40).
Evidence of
Creativity
The RIP Program at HLCS serves as an ideal medium for fostering student
creativity consistent with the school’s vision of merging Hawaiian culture with
Western-standards-based science education.
The student products presented in the next section exemplify the
students’ creative use of the RIP to successfully meet this goal. Hoi`ke team evaluators rated HLCS students significantly higher in demonstrated creativity
in their use of inquiry to learn scientific concepts following six months of
learning through the RIP compared with immediately prior to formally
introducing the RIP into the school (Table 2, Item 41). The RIP stimulates students to be creative in
their presentation of their research investigations as well as in the designing
of the RIP study. One student, for
example, developed an i-movie of her entire RIP-based inquiry on a CD for
presentation at a science education conference.
This product was subsequently honored in a movie contest (Table 4, Item
4 ).
Student and teacher
products contributing to science and science education
Many of the more measurable RIP products
were in the form of student publications, teacher and joint teacher-student research
talks, and poster presentations. One
student paper was published in and a second submitted to a secondary/college refereed
on-line scientific journal (Table 3, Items 1 & 2). The former comprised the first controlled
scientific study to demonstrate direct effects of kava on heart rate and the
latter was the first study to scientifically investigate a physiological impact
of the Hawaiian Breath of Life on
humans and compare its relaxation effects with those resulting from
diaphragmatic breathing. Five invited student research talks were
delivered (Table 3, Items 3-7). For
example, as a result of successful student research presentations by HLCS
students at a Native Science Connections Conference in science education in
AAST-Nature of the
Evidence
The RIP Program impact on students and teachers was measured using a variety of assessment and evaluation tools, and indicators collected from 1994 to the present. Tables 9 and 10 present data from student, teacher, and parent questionnaire items and RIP student college and university applications and acceptances, respectively.
(Table 9 continued)
The students included in this evaluation of the RIP Program
were 24 males and 16 females from the 1996-2000 graduating classes. Forty-five of the 75 students that were
involved in the RIP Program during 1993-1999 were randomly selected and
attempted contact was made via E-mail or phone with a request to respond to an
on-line questionnaire to measure their perceptions related to the impact of the
RIP Program on their high school, college and post-graduate education, careers,
and other aspects of their lives (RIP
Student Questionnaire). Each student
was given a unique validity code and the participants were assured that their
identity and responses would remain anonymous to the evaluator. The codes were randomly matched to names by a
third party so that the students’ identities remained anonymous to the
evaluator. Of the 43 students who
responded to the initial contact, 40, or approximately 93%, actually submitted
completed questionnaires with appropriate ID Codes. Eighteen (or 50%) of thirty-six contacted
randomly selected non-RIP students from those who were in the chemistry or
physics research programs at AAST responded to an abbreviated on-line version
of the RIP Student Questionnaire containing some of the same questions. Responses from this sample were statistically
compared with those from the RIP Program students, controlling for general
participation in high school research as a variable determining college,
university, and career impact (RIP Versus
Non-RIP Student Comparisons). Parents
of the RIP students selected for evaluation were e-mailed requests to
participate by completing an anonymous parent questionnaire asking for
perceptions and opinions of impact of the RIP Program on their son’s/daughter’s
schooling, careers, and lives (Parent RIP
Impact Questionnaire). A single
questionnaire was completed for each student by one or both parents
together. Forty-percent, or 16, of the
40 parents of the RIP students contacted responded with a completed parent
questionnaire. An on-line teacher questionnaire
was also completed by the two exemplary and two other teachers who were
involved with the RIP Program and its students (Teacher RIP Impact Questionnaire).
Student and teacher products; state science fair, science symposium, and other awards and accolades; and international and national media recognition of the RIP Program constitute authentic assessment- and evaluation-based evidence and demonstrate the program’s impact on contributions to science and science education (Tables 11 & 12).
Impact on AAST
Students and Teachers
Student interest in and
attitudes toward learning and pursuing careers in science
Overall, AAST students felt that their participation in the RIP Program had a strong influence on their future career objectives at the time of high school graduation and a large positive impact on their ability to achieve these objectives (Table 9, Items 4 and 5, respectively). Compared to non-RIP students (28%), significantly more of the RIP students (68%) pursued science as a career at some point after graduating high school (Table 9, Item 16). Significantly more RIP students also chose science as an undergraduate major (53%) and are currently in science careers and/or science graduate school programs (53%) compared to non-RIP students (5.9% and 7.1%, respectively) [Table 9, Items 17 & 18]. Students attributed much of their interest and enjoyment in learning science and learning in-general, in high school and later while pursuing careers related to science, to their participation in the RIP Program (Table 13).
Table 13. AAST student, teacher, and parent comments
regarding the effects of the RIP/RIP Program on student attitudes
|
Student Comments |
|
“It [the RIP Program]changed
my attitude about learning at the AAST, where before the program I did not
[have] the motivation to succeed that I did after the program. The program
completely changed my attitude and changed me from an average student to a
passionate one that was able to take on a leadership role in college. Not
only did I become involved in research when I started |
|
“The RIP Program at the
Academy fostered a love of learning, not just for science but all academic
disciplines. Through the program I
learned to be a self-starter, to search for the answers to my questions. Again this is a skill that I have taken
with me and applied even now as a medical student. My last evaluation for a rotation mentioned
my enthusiasm for learning and quest for knowledge. These are two attributes I contribute to my
invovlement [sic] in the RIP Program.” |
|
“It made what I was learning
directly relevant for my interests. I
was very interested in computer technology and I was able to apply this
interest directly to my research on color changes in fish. My techniques interested real scientists
and this made me feel very important and made science much more attractive to
me as a career. Also, I learned to
enjoy chemistry and physics more because I know [sic] could understand that they were relevant to my work that I
was interested in.” |
|
“I love to learn about
science. When I was encouraged to do
my own scientific research in high school, for the first time I felt that
outsiders were really interested in what I was doing. I was amazed that outside organizations
wiuld [sic]actually pay to have me
fly to places and present my findings because they were scientifically
important! This all somehow made me
feel respected and important and led me to really wanting to learn about
science.” |
|
“I would not only say that
it enhanced my high school experience, but it was the most influential part
of the Academy for me personally. …as I started taking the pre-research
class, my whole attitude changed. It brought out a passion for the scientific
process that I didnt know I possessed. Specifically, my interest in
statistics and performing original research was born in this program, and it
has growth and persisted since.” |
|
“The experience solidified
my interest in pursuing a career in a scientific field, which happened to be
medicine.” |
|
Teacher Comments |
|
“The flexibility of the
process as well as the program as a whole provided the opportunity to
differentiate my science curriculum and instructional practices. In other
words, the RIP allowed for the students to develop their own research
question that led to a study of a topic based on their own interest and
experiences. Because the RIP
incorporates team work and collaborative efforts amongst students, it allows
for flexible grouping by abilities.
Each student’s strength is tapped as he/she has an opportunity to take
the role of a ‘resident expert,’ taking the lead to perform specific
tasks. At the same time, as students
build confidence in their strengths, I then was able to challenge them in
their weaker areas.” |
|
Parent Comments |
|
“He went in wondering what he would like to
do as an adult and graduated with a clear purpose to become a scientist.” |
|
“While my daughter was already science
focused, the RIP Program gave her depth and challenges not available at and
way beyond any secondary experience I have ever heard of. Her investigations fed her interest in
science and opened a whole new field of career opportunities to my child.” |
|
“It made our daughter
realize that she must dig beneath the surface in every discipline in order to
truly understand it.” |
AAST teachers reported that the RIP had an extremely-positive influence on change in student attitudes toward science (Table 9, Item 23). They felt that the RIP enabled them to, an extremely-great extent, respond to student interests, strengths, experiences, and needs (Table 9, Item 20; Table 13). Parents of RIP Program students claimed that it had a strong positive affect on student attitudes towards learning science and towards learning in-general (Table 9, Items 35 & 36; Table 13).
Learning science became intrinsically rewarding as evidenced by student devotion for collecting data for testing their hypotheses or improving their studies, rather than for going to science fairs or publishing papers. Students were self-motivated and frequently used their summers and vacations at AAST conducting their RIP studies or preparing talks or manuscripts to be submitted for publication. According to one student, “We were fueled by our desires to learn the answers to our questions not those assigned to us by our instructors, this made all the difference.”
PHOTOGRAPH: GIRLS CVONDUCTING THEIR RIPS IN THE
IMMUNOLOGY LABORATORY
Impact on high school
experience, and subsequent academic and career opportunities and successes
Both students and their parents unanimously felt that participation in the RIP Program enhanced the high school experience (Table 9, Items 6 & 30; Table 14). Parents also felt that the RIP Program had a strong to extremely-strong positive impact on the students’ success in high school, many referring to the impact of the RIP Program on students’ ability to multi-task in high school and beyond (Table 9, Item 27; Table 14).
Table 14. AAST student and their parent’s comments
regarding RIP/RIP Program enhancement of their high school experience and later
academic and career opportunities and successes
|
High School Experience |
|
Student
Comments |
|
“It expanded my world-view
by taking the theoretical and making it practical, by making myself, as well
as my fellow students, active within a realm where we thought it was impossible
for us to even participate.” |
|
“Participating in the… [RIP] research program at AAST gave me the
opportunity for … learning in subjects which I might otherwise have never
studied in class -- or given much attention to if I had. The excitement and intense work required by
the RIP program drew together many of my skills, and gave me the opportunity
to engage areas of academic study to which I might not otherwise have paid
much attention.” |
|
“The RIP program provided a
lot of structure… . I learned a lot of
discipline while working on my project and my work ethic improved
dramatically.” |
|
Parent
Comments |
|
“He always came home from
school very excited about his study and what he was finding. I really believe that his engagement in
scientific research was the pinnacle of his high school experience and
encouraged his academic and personal growth.” |
|
“It taught him the process
of learning. He actively took the
responsibility to become a learner.” |
|
“The principles and methods
she learned in research were useful in evaluating statement and theories in
other subjects and life in general.” |
|
Subsequent Academic and Career Opportunities and
Successes |
|
Student
Comments |
|
“The process/workflow of
research that I learned at AAST helps adopt a methodical approach to my work and
studies to this day.” |
|
Learned to think about how
to design research to isolate the effects of variables. …the idea of
scientific inquiry led me to social science research in college. I have co-authored 1 book chapter and 1
paper in a peer reviewed journal, several newspaper opeds [sic] in major publications, and a
senior thesis based on my interest in research that began at the Academy. |
|
“The statistics that I
learned … was something that has been invaluable in my undergraduate finance
work and especially in my graduate business studies.” |
|
“I learned ways in which to
creatively use my time so that I could accomplish a number of things at
once. For example, in college I was
able to design a scientific research investigation that could fulfill the
requirements of two different classes: Speech and Biological Research. The Academy RIP program taught me how to
lump things together in my life so that I could gain the most advantage out
of doing one thing well instead of many things adequately.” |
|
Parent Comments |
|
“His experiences in high
school scientific inquiry laid the path for his future success as a
scientist. He is in the final year of
his PhD in neuroscience and we completely attribute his goal and drive toward
this goal as a direct consequence of the impact from the high school research
program.” |
|
“Because of this challenging
experience, he realized that that he could set his aims high and meet his
personal goals. Specifically, this confidence led him to successfully
complete a difficult double major in completely disparate fields at |
|
“The experience of
participating in the research program, which was demanding in terms of time and effort, not only
allowed our daughter to realize her abilities and potential in the field of
science, but forced her to be disciplined in her time management, so as to
pursue her other interests.” |
Regular and special undergraduate program application and acceptance data for the 40 RIP student respondents are shown in Table 10. There were a total of 237 college applications, or six applications per student. Among these, were 42 special program applications, or one per student. Five of six, or 83% of all applications and 93% of the special program applications led to student acceptances.
RIP Program students appeared to enjoy advantages over non-RIP students in post-high school academic and career opportunities. RIP students received significantly more college acceptances per application, a higher proportion of acceptances to their top four college choices, more academic or research/merit aid scholarships per college acceptance, and more college acceptances offering at least one scholarship (Table 9, Items 12-15). Also, significantly more RIP students that non-RIP students with college degrees graduated from or are currently attending post-graduate education institutions (Table 9, Item 19).
RIP students claimed that their participation in the RIP Program had a
strong positive impact on their ability to succeed in college and in college
level science courses, was very-helpful in enabling them to compete
academically in college, and had a large positive impact on their ability to
achieve their career objectives (Table 9, Items 1-3 & 5, respectively;
Table 14). Parents of RIP students concurred
that RIP Program participation contributed strongly to post-high school
success, strongly enhancing applications for colleges of choice and helping
students to achieve their career objectives (Table 9, Items 28-29 & 37).
Opportunities for
scientific discussion and debate among students
Teachers unanimously agreed that the RIP Program successfully provided opportunities for student scientific discussion and debate (Table 9, Item 21; Table 15). Some students provided unprompted mention of opportunities and the impact of discussion and debate on their learning of content that stemmed from the RIP Program in their responses to the questionnaire items (Table 15).
Table 15. AAST student and teacher comments regarding
opportunities for student scientific discussion and debate
|
Student Comments |
|
“Teachers seldom told us
what to do. We were usually on our own
to make decisions and then present them to the teacher and/or our classmates. Our research team would debate and discuss
each aspect of our RIP study. On many
occasions discussion would be carried from the laboratory into the classroom
so that it would involve the entire classes input and the teacher. We would search the Web, download relevant
articles from libraries, and even e-mail scientists when we needed to find
information relevant to the discussion.
Because the content of the “RIP was closely supported by the course
science content that we were studying, we were actually discussing the
material we needed to know and so these discussions and debates became part
of our background material for the RIP in addition to being the content of
the science course. This was a far
more exciting way, and for me much better, than getting our information from
the teacher and by reading a textbook.” |
|
“It was the students’
responsibility in each RIP team to teach other members of the class about the
content from their RIPs. It seemed
that we were always preparing something based on our research investigation
or other class material to present to each other for discussion.” |
|
“One of the most important
things I developed from the RIP program was the ability to stand on my own in
discussing and debating scientific information. The experience allowed me to have the
confidence and ability to question what I am reading and to find evidence to
build a successful argument for or against it.” |
|
Teacher Comments |
|
“We had in-house science
conferences and fairs. Both scientists
and students would present their scientific investigations to the audience at
our semi-annual science symposium. Also we held student-led weekly seminar
courses in which students were assigned articles, in many cases
contradictory, to read and present that focused on the content areas
surrounding students’ research investigations. Scientists from major
universities and companies were invited guests and would participate in
discussion and debate following the student presentations.” |
|
“When papers were prepared
for publication or posters for presentation, it always involved a group
effort and many hours of discussion and debate as to how to interpret and
discuss findings, how to express content, and how to design the
presentation.” |
|
“Students presented and then
defended their RIP story-board proposals in front me, fellow students, and
university and company scientists before their studies were actually
started. This process allowed all of
the students to discuss and contribute their ideas to their colleagues
investigations and well as to assist in assessment of the validity of all
parts of their investigations. |
The frequency of research investigation presentations and number of students presenting their work at in-house conferences and seminars, and professional science and science education sessions exemplify the varied opportunities and experiences afforded by the RIP Program (Table 11, Items 15-29.
Development of communication
skills
RIP students attributed their successful abilities to communicate through writing and speaking in college, graduate school, and/or in careers to the practice they experienced through giving research talks and preparing manuscripts of their work for publication in high school (Table 16).
Teachers felt that participation in the RIP program had an exceptionally-large positive influence on student ability to communicate effectively (Table 9, Item 22).
One teacher wrote,
I
will never forget when Audrey, Devika, and Keun Hee were presenting their research
talks at
Dr. Mc Gill later recognized the quality of the student’s presentations, constituting authentic evaluation, by statements published in an international trade magazine (Mc Gill, 1997):
…one
of the most interesting presentations I have ever heard from a professional laboratory scientist’s standpoint…” and,
“As well as the sheer interest value of the talks,
I was particularly impressed by the quality of presentation by high school students.
The work presented that Sunday morning would hold it’s own with that of most
universities in the
Table 16. AAST student comments regarding impact of the
RIP/RIP Program on their communication skills
|
Student Comments |
|
“I believe firmly that my
participation and work in the program not only gave me an education in the
subject matter I was investigating, but also in the areas of organizational
and communication skills, and aided the development of my writing and
speaking abilities.” |
|
“Many aspects of my job
involve reading and commenting on the wording of financial reports. I believe that my experience in publishing
a paper through the program gave me insight into how to concisely word
thoughts on paper.” |
|
“For part of my [college] degree
requirements I elected to conduct research and write a senior thesis. I also
finished my research and was able to write up an honor thesis and contribute
to a paper. I had worked on
presentations and papers in the Academy’s RIP Program and those experiences
served as my foundation in scientific writing.” |
Parents voiced agreement with students and teachers and suggested that their communication abilities benefited the students in aspects of their lives beyond high school. For example, one parent stated, “The presentation skills she [my daughter] developed through the RIP Program have been wonderful in real life situations.”
Confidence in abilities
to learn science and in other aspects of life
Students, teachers and parents agreed that students developed confidence
in their abilities through their participation with the RIP (Table 17). During
their presentations at professional science and science education conferences
and meetings, RIP students spoke and interacted with their materials and
scientists with such confidence in and command of their content knowledge and
communication skills that they appeared to be and were treated as “seasoned”
scientists. For example, Dr. David
Crews, a distinguished neuroscientist from the
Table 17. AAST student, teacher, and parent comments
regarding impact of the RIP/RIP Program on student confidence in abilities
|
Student Comments |
|
“I learned to have more
confidence in my own creative abilities.” |