INTEGRATING NEW TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH IN SECONDARY SCHOOL EARTH SCIENCE EDUCATION

Research in science education has shown that students who participate in inquiry-based learning are more apt to excel and continue in studies of science. This cooperative research effort between Missouri State University and Kickapoo High School focuses on secondary school science education that involves two Earth Science students in studies of impact cratering.

In this effort, one student is collecting, processing, and interpreting ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data from a meteorite impact site in southwestern Kansas. Specifically, research in the project seeks to test the hypothesis that the Haviland impact left multiple craters, and to examine the distribution of nearby meteoritic fragments to see if they were related to atmospheric break-up rather than an explosive collisional break up within the only known impact crater. Greater understanding of the impact and materials associated with it will also help to determine the terrestrial age of impact. The student's role in this project is to image and interpret the buried crater floor and to identify possible meteorite fragments. Another student is analyzing post-deformational features of impact craters by using analog sandbox models and comparing post-depositional crater features to computer based models. This project seeks to test if computer-based models accurately depict the formation of post-modification features and if these features are a result of the excavation phase of impact cratering.

This study analyzes the effects of integrating undergraduate-level research projects on secondary students' scientific literacy, critical scientific reasoning skills, and attitudes towards the earth sciences. Assessment of student literacy and reasoning skills via professional presentations and unit formative and cumulative assessments demonstrated a significant increase when compared to students not involved in this level of research project. Responses of student surveys indicate a positive effect due to student's indicating more responsibility, higher expectations, and a sense of ownership of a project where outcomes exposed their competence and confidence in science resulting in a more positive attitude towards the earth sciences.