Graduate Research Papers

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Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Abstract

What if you have determined that the students you teach need foundational knowledge and skills that are not addressed in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)? My Ninth Grade Physical Science class provides an introduction to the data intensive subjects of subsequent secondary science classes. Sound data requires accurate measurements. Students in my classes have struggled with layering the metric system of measurement on top of the Imperial system and the NGSS lacks a standard that directly addresses measurement with metric units.

I used the Backward Design process of Wiggins & McTighe (2005) to construct a unit centered on the physical characteristics of matter and the measurement units science uses to describe them. The result was an inquiry based unit in the style of the NGSS that was anchored in relevant phenomena and focused by the Crosscutting Concept of scale, proportion, and quantity. The unit featured activities for developing measurement skills, estimating quantities, and data presentation. Students showed growth in measurement skills, unit conversions, computational thinking and scientific reasoning on the units’ summative assessment.

The tenets of science are always open to revision in the light of new discoveries and developments. Science Education needs to exhibit the same flexibility displayed by science itself. Development of this foundational instructional unit highlights the need for feedback mechanisms between the teachers implementing the standards and the creators of the standards so the NGSS can remain as fresh and innovative as the day they were released.

Year of Submission

2024

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Science Education Program

First Advisor

Lawrence Escalada

Date Original

2024

Object Description

1 PDF file (88 pages)

Language

en

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