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

Type

text

Publisher

Hamline University

Format

application/pdf

Source

School of Education Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations at Hamline University

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