Creating and Teaching Science Lessons in K–12 Schools Increases Undergraduate Students’ Science Identity †
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Authors:
Jennifer A. A. Gubbels1,
Seasson P. Vitiello1,*
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Received 14 February 2018 Accepted 18 September 2018 Published 31 October 2018
- ©2018 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
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[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
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†Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: Augustana University, 2001 S. Summit Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57197. Phone: 605-274-5525. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract:
Success and persistence in the life sciences is influenced by a student’s self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and science identity. It has already been demonstrated that outreach experiences and service learning by graduate students in K–12 schools aid in the graduate students’ confidence and intrinsic satisfaction. Others have shown the importance of engaging scientists in outreach activities, both for the benefit of the K–12 student and as a way to engage scientists with the community. We predicted it would also be beneficial for undergraduates to engage in service-learning activities during their coursework because working with K–12 students would solidify their scientific identity and sense of belonging while deepening their understanding of the course content. Consequently, we implemented service projects in our upper-level molecular biology and human physiology courses at a primarily undergraduate institution that focuses on five core values: Christian, Liberal Arts, Excellence, Community, and Service. Outcomes such as the undergraduate students’ value of service, confidence in their knowledge of course content, ability to create effective lesson plans, and science identity were measured using anonymous surveys. Overall, students reported that they highly valued and enjoyed this unique experience. This type of activity could be used to increase future scientists’ awareness of synergistic activities such as academic service and of the joy found in such activities. Future plans include measuring the effects on the participating high school and elementary school students and visiting schools with a high proportion of students from underserved populations.
References & Citations
Supplemental Material
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Appendix 1: Elementary school service-learning lesson planning sheet, Appendix 2: Elementary school service-learning lesson plan rubric, Appendix 3: Elementary school service-learning example lesson plan, Appendix 4: High school service-learning lesson plan, Appendix 5: High school service-learning lesson plan rubric, Appendix 6: High school service-learning subway speech instructions, Appendix 7: High school service-learning subway speech rubric, Appendix 8: High school service-learning reflection questions, Appendix 9: Common post-survey, Appendix 10: High school service-learning example lesson plan, Appendix 11: Elementary school detailed faculty instructions, Appendix 12: High school detailed faculty instructions
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Abstract:
Success and persistence in the life sciences is influenced by a student’s self-efficacy, sense of belonging, and science identity. It has already been demonstrated that outreach experiences and service learning by graduate students in K–12 schools aid in the graduate students’ confidence and intrinsic satisfaction. Others have shown the importance of engaging scientists in outreach activities, both for the benefit of the K–12 student and as a way to engage scientists with the community. We predicted it would also be beneficial for undergraduates to engage in service-learning activities during their coursework because working with K–12 students would solidify their scientific identity and sense of belonging while deepening their understanding of the course content. Consequently, we implemented service projects in our upper-level molecular biology and human physiology courses at a primarily undergraduate institution that focuses on five core values: Christian, Liberal Arts, Excellence, Community, and Service. Outcomes such as the undergraduate students’ value of service, confidence in their knowledge of course content, ability to create effective lesson plans, and science identity were measured using anonymous surveys. Overall, students reported that they highly valued and enjoyed this unique experience. This type of activity could be used to increase future scientists’ awareness of synergistic activities such as academic service and of the joy found in such activities. Future plans include measuring the effects on the participating high school and elementary school students and visiting schools with a high proportion of students from underserved populations.

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Author and Article Information
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Received 14 February 2018 Accepted 18 September 2018 Published 31 October 2018
- ©2018 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
-
[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
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†Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: Augustana University, 2001 S. Summit Ave., Sioux Falls, SD 57197. Phone: 605-274-5525. E-mail: [email protected].
Figures

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FIGURE 1
Timeline of lesson plan preparation. Preparation took 4 class meetings for both the Molecular Biology course (left) and Human Physiology course (right). Some time is required outside of class for further development of the lesson.

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FIGURE 2
Students’ scientific identity. Students’ feelings about being a scientist were assessed using indirect quantitative measurements. A. Outcomes for Molecular Biology students—high school lesson plan. B. Outcomes for Human Physiology students—elementary school lesson plan.

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FIGURE 3
Students’ efficacy in the material. Students’ feelings about how much they learned the course content after completing the activity were assessed using indirect quantitative measurements. A. Outcomes for Molecular Biology students—high school lesson plan. B. Outcomes for Human Physiology students—elementary school lesson plan.

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FIGURE 4
Students’ value of service. Students’ feelings about service and service-learning after completing the activity were assessed using indirect quantitative measurements. A. Outcomes of Molecular Biology students—high school lesson plan. B. Outcomes of Human Physiology students—elementary school lesson plan.

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FIGURE 5
Students’ enthusiasm toward the service-learning activity. Students’ feelings about how much they enjoyed the service-learning activity were assessed using indirect quantitative measurements. A. Outcomes of Molecular Biology students—high school lesson plan. B. Outcomes of Human Physiology students—elementary school lesson plan.

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FIGURE 6
Students’ written comments following the service-learning activity. Students were asked to anonymously share their thoughts about the service-learning activity. Representative comments from both Molecular Biology and Human Physiology students are shown.

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FIGURE 7
Students’ grades for the lesson plan, dress rehearsal, and subway speech. Group grades for the dress rehearsal and lesson plan development (both elementary and high school presentations) and individual grades for the subway speech (high school only) are shown.

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FIGURE 8
Elementary and high school teachers’ comments about the lessons. Teachers were surveyed after the service-learning day to evaluate the effectiveness of the undergraduates’ lesson plans on their students.