Science Education in Public K-12 Schools

Faculty Sponsor

Selina Bartels

College

Arts and Sciences

Discipline(s)

Elementary Education

Presentation Type

Oral Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-28-2022

Abstract

The central idea of my research was to prove that science education was beneficial to a student's overall education. This was an important problem for me to investigate because as a passionate STEM minor, I feel science education is under-taught at K-12 schools. Before my research began, I hypothesized that the inclusion of science lessons would increase classroom engagement. Inquiry based teaching, rather than lecture-style teaching stimulates student discussion, manipulation, and investigation. Due to the active, hands-on nature of science, I sought to research whether the inquiry of science education would increase engagement levels. In my recent three week practicum experience, I was placed in a kindergarten classroom in Michigan City. This high-need community provided the perfect opportunity for me to plan and give three hands-on science lessons to my students. I video recorded myself and the students during each of my lessons so I could track and timestamp the engagement levels of each student. To compare my results to a control, I also planned to record the science lessons from my Cooperating Teacher in the kindergarten classroom in Michigan City. The overall results showed that hands-on science showed a much higher engagement level than lecture-style lessons.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

Kelsey Eichenauer is from North Manchester, Indiana. She is in her 3rd year in the Elementary Education program, and she is actively involved in MSEED, Gamma Phi Beta, and she plays for the Valpo Women’s Golf team. She is most passionate about encouraging minds to think, hands to create, and hearts to love.

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