This project aims to serve the national interest by conducting basic research on the effectiveness of a commonly used teaching approach in K-12 STEM education, as well as by providing a tool that can help others do similar research studies. Specifically, the project will study the effectiveness of the 5E (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration, and Evaluation) model for instruction, which is commonly used in K-12 STEM education to organize instruction within programs, units, and lessons. More than 100 research studies have tested the effects of using the 5E model. However, these published studies differ from one another in content area focus, research methods, and other features. This project will use meta-analysis, a method that can scientifically combine results from many studies even when the studies are not identical. Through meta-analysis, the project will examine how the 5E model affects students’ STEM achievement, including their subject matter knowledge, critical thinking abilities, and scientific inquiry skills. In addition, this project will create a free, open-source tool that will it easier for other researchers to do meta-analysis. Thus, the project is expected to provide information about how science instruction can be improved and also improve the process of conducting meta-analyses.
This project’s primary focus is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies that evaluate the effectiveness of the 5E instructional model and interventions based directly on the 5E model on students’ STEM achievement outcomes. This project also will create an open-source, user-friendly data extraction and analysis tool specifically created for researchers conducting meta-analyses. The tool will advance the field by automating the codebook to data system process, applying established relational database techniques for data collection, and creating a simple graphical user interface for state-of-the-art meta-analytical techniques using the R platform. The two project activities will be conducted together, with the meta-analysis informing the creation of the meta-analytic tool, and the tool will be used to conduct the meta-analysis. The meta-analysis results will inform the design of STEM interventions (5E-based or otherwise) that have the goal of increasing STEM literacy and workforce outcomes, and the meta-analytic tool will advance the field of systematic review and meta-analysis methodology by providing applied meta-analysts with an open-source, free tool to streamline the meta-analytic process.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
