This is a RAPID award to investigators at the University of California, Irvine, to examine the first-year implementation of a program that will provide low-cost netbook computers and specialized software to fifth and sixth grade students in four schools in Southern California. The PIs collect baseline and early implementation data to determine effects if the intervention on students' academic achievement in science, academic writing in science, and interest in further STEM study. They also examine the extent to which participation in the program improves student access to, use of, and self-perceived proficiency with technology and how these attributes are mediated by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and English learner status. Additionally, they examine the effect of the program on teachers' knowledge of and use of technology for instruction.
Four schools from the same school district with similar demographics serve as comparison schools in the study. Additionally, all fifth and sixth grade teachers participate in the study with four program teachers (two at fifth grade and two at sixth grade) participating more extensively as focus teachers. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are used to examine the effects of the program.
The products include analysis of extensive data on implementation, learning and attitudes. A total of 531 students are involved in the study as well as their teachers. The findings are likely to guide subsequent implementation and research on full implementation within the targeted schools.
The United States continues to fall behind other countries in STEM education not so much due to poor performance among its best students, but rather due to huge gaps in academic achievement. In particular, the large and growing number of English language learners, Hispanics, and low-income learners in the US are falling further and further behind in science literacy and science achievement, with the achievement gap growing fastest starting in upper elementary grades. This study sought to evaluate the impact of a low-cost educational intervention using laptop computers and interactive software for science instruction among fifth and sixth grade students. The program took place in a low-income Hispanic community where more than half the students were non-native speakers of English. An experimental group of 516 students in four schools that implemented the program was compared to a control group of demographically similar students in four schools that did not implement the program. Each student and teacher in the experimental program received a low-cost netbook computer outfitted with two specialized software programs: Discovery Science Education, which has videos, simulations, and interactive labs on a variety of scientific topics, and MY Access!®, an online program for writing instruction, assessment, and feedback. Teachers in the experimental schools received training in use of these tools. Students in the control group followed the same curriculum, but without these extra technological tools. A wide range of data was collected over an academic year, including standardized test scores, surveys of all students, classroom observations, and interviews with students and teachers. In addition, writing samples on scientific topics were collected from all students and subject to both linguistic analysis and scoring by a team of experts who were "blinded" as to which essays were from which group. The study found multiple benefits for the experimental groups that received the laptops and interactive science instruction. First, students in the experimental group used computers more, not surprisingly, especially for accessing and writing about scientific content (see Figure 1). Second, at-risk learners in the experimental groups, including English language learners, Hispanics, and low-income students, all increased their scores on statewide science achievement tests more so than their counterparts in the control group (Figure 2). Third, the essays on scientific topics written by students in the experimental group were better. They were greater in length and with more diverse vocabulary (Figure 3), at a higher level of language complexity (Figure 4), and scored higher by the expert readers on multiple measures (Figure 5). Interviews with students revealed additional benefits for at-risk learners in the experimental group. Students spoke a good deal about how regular access to and use of laptops increased their motivation to pursue STEM-related careers. For example, several students said that watching and interacting with anatomical videos and simulations piqued their interest in becoming doctors. In summary, the study showed that the individual use of inexpensive laptop computers had a wide range of benefits for STEM instruction among at-risk learners. Observations and interviews made clear that the benefits were achieved not only due to provision of laptops, but more importantly due to the effective integration of the hardware and software in a coherent educational program focusing on hands-on interaction with scientific content and enhanced writing about science. Other school districts across the U.S. that seek to improve the scientific literacy and achievement of their at-risk learners, especially in the crucial upper elementary grade levels, will want to consider the lessons of this program.
