THE EARTH SCIENCE STORYBOOK PROJECT: USING MENTORED CREATIVE WRITING TO ENHANCE THE EARTH SCIENCE CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OF PRESERVICE ELEMENTARY TEACHERS

The Earth Science Storybook Project is a pilot research project being conducted with Brigham Young University’s (BYU) Physical Science 110B (PS 110B) class, which is introductory geology for Elementary Education majors. Under the project, preservice elementary teachers in PS 110B are mentored by university geology faculty as they author standards-based children’s storybooks in earth science. The storybooks are then professionally illustrated and made available to practicing teachers for actual classroom use. This is done by an interdisciplinary collaborative effort between the BYU Geology Department and the BYU Visual Arts Department, which is providing highly trained senior-level illustration students to illustrate the storybooks at a relatively low cost.

The goal of the project is to use the mentored writing experience as a means of improving geology content knowledge for preservice elementary teachers and fostering their positive attitudes toward learning and teaching science. These goals are assessed by (1) quantitative analysis of the PS 110B class exam scores of storybook authors versus a control group of PS 110B students in the same class who are not storybook authors; and (2) a pre- and post-class Attitude Toward Science Survey (ATSS). After an initial run of the project, results indicate that storybook students scored significantly higher (99% CI) on all class exams and had significant improvements (99% CI) at the end of the class in their ATSS scores. Non-storybook students had no significant improvements.

Interviews with a focus group of storybook students provided insights on why they experienced the positive results. First, each storybook student received individual mentoring from university geology faculty throughout the entire run of the class. This helped students clarify concepts, feel more confident in asking questions, and learn geology at a deeper level than non-storybook students. Also, storybook students felt that because they knew their storybooks would be professionally illustrated and made available to practicing teachers that the project was professionally meaningful to them—and not just a means to an end (i.e., just another class project for a grade). This was an impetus for learning geology better and developing more positive feelings toward learning and teaching geology.