Masters Thesis

Shifting from Teacher-Centered to Inquiry-Based Student-Centered Science Teaching and its Impact on Student Achievement, Motivation, and Engagement in Fourth-Grade

With an emphasis on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), this thesis examined traditional teacher centered versus student-centered science instruction in a fourth-grade elementary school classroom. As part of a two year study, the following variables were measured: (a) student academic achievement, (b) student motivation, and (c) student engagement. A total of sixty-eight fourth-grade students participated in this study. Throughout the 2017-2018 academic year, thirty-two students took part in the initial student-centered science class. During the 2018-2019 academic year, thirty-six students participated in a completely student-centered science classroom. Across both academic years, and during a twelve-week unit on Energy and Waves, students interacted in groups with weekly investigations, answered relevant questions, and participated in whole-class discussions. A comparison between eighteen students in the initial (2017-2018) student-centered (shifting from teacher-centered) classroom and eighteen students in the completely (2018-2019) student-centered classroom was conducted. Student data was collected in the form of (a) student science notebooks, (b) student science achievement scores, (c) interest in science surveys, and d) student motivation and engagement rubrics. Study results indicate that student academic achievement in science increased when the completely student-centered instruction was utilized. In addition, student motivation and engagement towards the content being taught increased when the completely student-centered approach to teaching science was used by the teacher. This study provides important findings regarding the transition from traditional teachercentered science instruction to the use of an NGSS oriented student-centered teaching approach.

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