Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Education
Fourth And Eighth Grade Students' Conceptions Of Energy Flow Through Ecosystems, Ashlie Beals Arkwright
Fourth And Eighth Grade Students' Conceptions Of Energy Flow Through Ecosystems, Ashlie Beals Arkwright
Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences
This mixed methods status study examined 32 fourth grade students’ conceptual understandings of energy flow through ecosystems prior to instruction and 40 eighth grade students’ conceptual understandings of the same topic after five years of daily standards-based instruction in science. Specific ecological concepts assessed related to: 1) roles of organisms; 2) the sun as the original energy source for most ecosystems; and 3) interdependency of organisms.
Fourth and eighth grade students were assessed using the same three-tiered forced-choice instrument, with accompanying tasks for students to defend their forced-choice selections and rate their level of confidence in making the selections. The …