Date of Award
2004
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Eugene Costa
Committee Member
Marcia O'Brien
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
achievement, attitudes, biology, computer assisted instruction, contingency tables, control groups, departmental examinations, educational technology, effect size, fetal pigs, high schools, human body systems, interviews, posttests, pretests, science instruction, standardized tests, student achievement, suburban schools, surveys, t tests, tenth grade students, traditional dissection, virtual dissection
Abstract
This applied dissertation describes the evaluation of a program that compares achievement of 10th-grade biology students in a suburban high school with a student population of approximately 2,800. The study evaluated two methods for the teaching of human systems. One methodology incorporated the use of a traditional dissection, and the other incorporated the use of a virtual dissection. The control group was taught using the traditional methodology of the dissection of a fetal pig. The experimental group was taught using a virtual dissection model.
Using a departmental exam, the control and experimental groups were compared on pretest and posttest scores. Differences in achievement were compared using a t-test and effect size significant at the .05 level. The groups were assumed to be equal by results on a pretest using standard deviation and mean scores. The calculation of effect size was also used to determine any significance of treatment. Surveys and personal interviews were used to determine independence of attitudes and group.
The results on a standardized test revealed no statistical difference in scores between the experimental and control groups. A contingency table revealed a dependence of group and the answers to questions on a survey.