Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Laurelee L. Carr,
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
achievement, analysis, applied dissertation, classroom guest speaker, curricula, curriculum integration, earth science, experiments, field trips, geometry, integrated curriculum, mathematics, mathematics achievement, mathematics applications, mathematics education, mathematics integration, measurement, middle school, numeration, posttest, pretest, real-life applications, scientific method, science achievement, science education, statistics, student success
Abstract
This applied dissertation was designed to improve student success in science by integrating mathematics into the scientific method process. Students were routinely asked to perform experiments that required mathematical computations in measurement, numeration, geometry, and statistics; however, they were largely unable to perform these calculations because of their inability to apply mathematical concepts outside the mathematics classroom. The mathematics curriculum did not afford the student the opportunity to apply mathematics to real-life situations, nor did the science curriculum consistently apply mathematics to experiments.
The writer developed a series of science experiments that incorporated these four mathematical concepts into earth science experiments. By using an integrative approach, the mathematics and science teachers coordinated their curricula such that each math concept was taught prior to the series of experiments. In addition, the students participated in three field trips that emphasized mathematics and were provided a classroom guest speaker who demonstrated how mathematics was used in real-life occupations.
The success of this integrated curriculum was determined through an analysis of pretest and posttest data as well as the students’ ability to complete the science experiments. An analysis of the data revealed that students did benefit from this integrated approach and were able to successfully complete the science experiments that required mathematical computations. The students also gained an appreciation of how mathematics has real-life applications.