Section VII: Science Education Tapley Hall, Room 130 Bonita Flournoy, Presiding (Calendar‪)‬

9:00 COMPARISON OF ACTIVE LEARNING AND TRADITIONAL LEARNING IN INTRODUCTORY BIOLOGY, Jonathan M. Lochamy, Georgia Perimeter College, Dunwoody, GA 30338. Preliminary to a broader application of active learning techniques in science curriculum, it was first our goal to reproduce the observation that content mastery was not reduced by techniques which took away from traditional lecture time. Three courses in Cell Biology and Genetics (for non-science majors) were taught with either traditional lecture alone or active learning techniques comprising 30% of the class time. Students were compared in performance on a 35 question test composed of content mastery questions designed by an independent committee. Students in the traditional lecture class showed no significant difference from students in the active learning class (64% vs. 66%, p = 0.73). Unexpectedly, student evaluations for the courses showed an average 0.87 point increase in the active learning class compared to traditional lecture (4.91* vs. 4.14). This added information suggests that, independent of aims to deepen conceptual understanding, active learning techniques have significant benefits to the learning process from the student perspective. 9:15 AN ACTION RESEARCH STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF GUIDED INQUIRY TEACHING ON STUDENT UNDERSTANDING AND VIEWS OF SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY, Anil Banerjee (1), Bonita Flournoy (1) and Susan Sneed (2), (1) Columbus State University, Columbus, GA 31907 and (2) Northside High School, Columbus, GA 31909. The study in a high school physical science classroom with 30 students is designed to improve our knowledge base on effectiveness of guided inquiry strategies to develop concepts in physical science, and explore how student understanding and views of science inquiry are related. The action research design includes pre-post tests, student interviews and reflections. Guided inquiry strategies include inquiry lessons, guided inquiry labs, post lab group discussion, and student reflection on inquiry. A 15-item science inquiry test and "Views of Scientific Inquiry" instrument were used as pre- and post- tests to collect quantitative data on student understanding and views of scientific inquiry, respectively. Student interviews and reflections are used to generate qualitative data on the effectiveness of inquiry on student understanding and attitudes about inquiry. Analysis of pre-tests indicate students have limited knowledge about inquiry skills, processes, and nature of science inquiry. Classroom observation and student reflection indicate improvement in science inquiry skills and attitudes about inquiry. Student participation in the guided inquiry labs also increased. Statistical analysis of pre-post tests data and inferences based on student interviews and reflection indicate some increase in student attitudes and inquiry skills.