Term
Spring 2023
Capstone
Thesis
Degree Name
MAED: NSEE
Primary Advisor/Dissertation Chair
Trish Harvey
Secondary Advisor/Reader One
Brian Farren
Peer-Reviewer/Reader Two
Kathleen Prager
Abstract
Digital photography is a valuable educational tool which has been shown to improve language acquisition and vocabulary usage. Photography can also be used to enhance hands-on laboratory activities in high school science classes. This study examined the impact of photographic documentation of lab activities on students’ literacy in science. In this convergent, mixed methods investigation, 9th grade biology students took photographs during a lab activity, which they used to create collaborative photo projects based on the activity. Changes in literacy were measured by assessing the students’ usage of scientific vocabulary terms before and after the photo project, and assessing the writing in the students’ lab reports. The scores on the lab reports which were written using the photo projects were compared to those written on a related lab activity that the students did not photograph. The results showed that when students used photographs to document their lab activities, the quality of writing in their lab reports improved, as did their ability to define and use scientific vocabulary terms. The findings suggest that photographic documentation of lab activities does improve science literacy in high school biology students.
Research Methodology
Action Research, Survey (attitude scale, opinion, questionnaire)
Keywords
Assessment, Literacy, Science, Technology
Recommended Citation
Radus, Mary, "Improving Science Literacy Using Photographic Documentation of Laboratory Activities" (2023). School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations. 4575.
https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/hse_all/4575
dc_type
text
dc_publisher
DigitalCommons@Hamline
dc_format
application/pdf
dc_source
School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations