The ideal science student: Exploring the relationship of students’ perceptions to their problem solving activity in a robotics context
Purchase or Subscription required for access
Purchase individual articles and papers
Receive full-text access to individual articles for $9.95 USD each.
Use PayPal button to purchase PDF copy of paper (35 pages)
Subscribe for faster access!
Subscribe and receive access to 100,000+ documents, for only $19/month (or $150/year).
Already have access?
Individual Subscription
If you have an individual subscription, sign in here for access
Institutional Subscription
You don't appear to be accessing the site through a subscribing institution (your IP address is 18.117.172.240).
If your university, college, or library subscribes to LearnTechLib, you may be able access full text articles through a login page.
You can search for your instition by name or by location.
Authors
JILR Volume 23, Number 3, July 2012 ISSN 1093-023X
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship of middle school students’ perceptions of the ideal science student to their problem solving activity and conceptual understanding in the applied science area of robotics. Twenty-six 11 and 12 year-olds (22 boys) attending a summer camp for academically advanced students participated in the study. This correlational study utilizes survey and observational data. Students completed the ideal science student survey and individually engaged in a problem solving activity that was videotaped. Students were instructed to think-aloud during the problem solving session. The final programming solution students created was scored using a conceptual rubric. Two dominant perceptions of the ideal science student were identified, a traits-based view and a process-oriented view. Students with a traits-based view tended to use domain general strategies to solve the robotics problem. Whereas, students with a process-oriented view tended to use domain specific strategies, Chi-Square (1, n=24) = 4.608, p = .032. Students with the process-oriented view evidenced stronger conceptual understanding in their final program solutions as revealed by an ANOVA, F (1, 22) = 5.367, p = .03. Qualitative analysis of the data indicates that students with the process-oriented view modeled, verified and expanded their understanding of the use of specific tools in the environment. Implications of these findings for pre-service science teachers and the design of learning environments are discussed.
Citation
Sullivan, F. & Lin, X. (2012). The ideal science student: Exploring the relationship of students’ perceptions to their problem solving activity in a robotics context. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 23(3), 273-308. Waynesville, NC: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved August 14, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/37115.
© 2012 AACE