SCIENCE LITERACY/NATURE OF SCIENCE GAINS IN NON-STEM UNDERGRADUATES INVOLVED IN RESEARCH: LOOK CLOSE AND SEE!

As part of an ongoing science curriculum reform funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), students enrolled in the introductory geology lab course at Iowa State University in the Spring 2011 semester participated in an authentic research project. The project focused on water and flooding and consisted of a research proposal and poster session. A primary purpose of this curriculum change is to increase students’ understanding of the nature of science (NOS). To measure changes in NOS understanding, students enrolled in the lab were assessed at the beginning and end of the semester using two instruments: the SUSSI (Student Understanding of Science and Scientific Inquiry; Liang et al. 2005) and the SLCI (Scientific Literacy Content Inventory; Nuhfer et al. in prep.). Out of 68 students enrolled in the lab, 47 students completed both surveys for the SUSSI and 24 completed both surveys for the SLCI.

Results from both surveys show that at the end of the lab students showed small but not statistically significant gains in NOS understanding. However, a closer look at the SUSSI data shows that students with less experience in science (first-year students, only one previous college science course, and/or non-STEM majors), showed significant gains compared with their more experienced peers (fourth-year students, more than four science courses, STEM majors) (all p<0.05). Focusing in on specific NOS topics, statistically significant gains (p<0.05) were made in the understanding that science requires imagination and creativity. Analysis of data from the SLCI does not show as robust patterns in gains as the SUSSI; however, significant differences exist in pre-survey results and overall changes between students with four or more previous science courses and students with no previous science courses in understanding the definition of the word ‘theory’ (pre-survey p<0.01; change p<0.05).

The results show significant changes among students with less science experience, suggesting that this kind of research project reaches the population targeted by the general education requirement, but is only a piece of the science literacy puzzle.