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A comparison of the effects of an investigative-based and a traditional laboratory program on students’ understanding of the process of science McCarthy, Thomas Andrew

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of two approaches to laboratory work in changing student understanding of the processes of science. An author-designed investigative-based laboratory approach was compared to a traditional laboratory method as outlined in conventional laboratory manual texts. This investigation was undertaken to provide empirical data concerning the effectiveness of an approach used in teaching laboratory work during the past five years. The study was carried out in a senior high school in the B.C. Lower Mainland. The sample consisted of 41 students enrolled in two blocks of the author's Biology 12 classes. One block was the control group, assigned to use the traditional laboratory approach and the other was the experimental group assigned to be exposed to the investigative-based laboratory approach. The experimental phase of this study took place over the first three months of the calender year 1983. The students in both groups were pretested using the Welch Science Process Inventory (SPI) instrument during the first week of the study. Following exposure to treatment, the students were posttested using the same SPI instrument. Data obtained from the instrument was analyzed using analysis of covariance with the posttest as the criterion variable. The F values obtained from this analysis were compared with the critical F values that were required for significance at the 0.05 level. From the analysis of data, it was found from the adjusted posttest means, that there was a significant difference between the laboratory groups with respect to an understanding of the process of science. Specifically, the investigative-based laboratory group was found to have a statistically significantly greater understanding of the process of science than the traditional laboratory group. Although it was concluded that the experimental group possessed a significantly greater understanding of the process of science, caution was suggested in attempting to generalize the application of the results of this study outside the limiting confines of the study. Recommendations for further research were proposed.

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