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A Comparative Analysis of Science-Technology-Society Standards in Elementary, Middle, and High School Science Curriculum Frameworks

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Date Issued:
2007
Summary:
An analysis of curriculum frameworks from the fifty states to ascertain the compliance with the National Science Education Standards for integrating ScienceTechnology- Society (STS) themes is reported within this dissertation. Science standards for all fifty states were analyzed to determine if the STS criteria were integrated at the elementary, middle, and high school levels of education. The analysis determined the compliance level for each state, then compared each educational level to see if the compliance was similar across the levels. Compliance is important because research s)lows that using STS themes in the science classroom increases the student's understanding of the concepts, increases the student's problem solving skills, increases the student's self-efficacy with respect to science, and students instructed using STS themes score well on science high stakes tests. The two hypotheses for this study are: H01: There is no significant difference in the degree of compliance to ScienceTechnology- Society themes (derived from National Science Education Standards) between the elementary, middle, and high school levels. H02: There is no significant difference in the degree of compliance to ScienceTechnology- Society themes (derived from National Science Education Standards) between the elementary, middle, and high school level when examined individually. The Analysis of Variance F ratio was used to determine the variance between and within the three educational levels. This analysis addressed hypothesis one. The Analysis of Variance results refused to reject the null hypothesis, meaning there is significant difference in the compliance to STS themes between the elementary, middle and high school educational levels. The Chi-Square test was the statistical analysis used to compare the educational levels for each individual criterion. This analysis addressed hypothesis two. The Chi-Squared results showed that none of the states were equally compliant with each individual criterion across the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The National Science Education Standards were created with the input of thousands of people and over twenty scientific and educational societies. The standards were tested in numerous classrooms and showed an increase in science literacy for the students. With the No Child Left Behind legislation and Project 2061 , the attainment of a science literate society will be helped by the adoption of the NSES standards and the STS themes into the American classrooms.
Title: A Comparative Analysis of Science-Technology-Society Standards in Elementary, Middle, and High School Science Curriculum Frameworks.
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Name(s): Tobias, Karen Marie, author
Kumar, David D., Thesis advisor
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Created: 2007
Date Issued: 2007
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 122 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: An analysis of curriculum frameworks from the fifty states to ascertain the compliance with the National Science Education Standards for integrating ScienceTechnology- Society (STS) themes is reported within this dissertation. Science standards for all fifty states were analyzed to determine if the STS criteria were integrated at the elementary, middle, and high school levels of education. The analysis determined the compliance level for each state, then compared each educational level to see if the compliance was similar across the levels. Compliance is important because research s)lows that using STS themes in the science classroom increases the student's understanding of the concepts, increases the student's problem solving skills, increases the student's self-efficacy with respect to science, and students instructed using STS themes score well on science high stakes tests. The two hypotheses for this study are: H01: There is no significant difference in the degree of compliance to ScienceTechnology- Society themes (derived from National Science Education Standards) between the elementary, middle, and high school levels. H02: There is no significant difference in the degree of compliance to ScienceTechnology- Society themes (derived from National Science Education Standards) between the elementary, middle, and high school level when examined individually. The Analysis of Variance F ratio was used to determine the variance between and within the three educational levels. This analysis addressed hypothesis one. The Analysis of Variance results refused to reject the null hypothesis, meaning there is significant difference in the compliance to STS themes between the elementary, middle and high school educational levels. The Chi-Square test was the statistical analysis used to compare the educational levels for each individual criterion. This analysis addressed hypothesis two. The Chi-Squared results showed that none of the states were equally compliant with each individual criterion across the elementary, middle, and high school levels. The National Science Education Standards were created with the input of thousands of people and over twenty scientific and educational societies. The standards were tested in numerous classrooms and showed an increase in science literacy for the students. With the No Child Left Behind legislation and Project 2061 , the attainment of a science literate society will be helped by the adoption of the NSES standards and the STS themes into the American classrooms.
Identifier: FA00000714 (IID)
Note(s): Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2007.
Subject(s): Science--Study and teaching--Research
Educational tests and measurements--United States
Inquiry-based learning
Third International Mathematics and Science Study
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000714
Sublocation: Digital Library
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00000714
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Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.