The Impact of Writing-to-Learn Techniques on the Science Achievement of Fourth Graders

Date of Award

1988

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Program/Concentration

Urban Services - Urban Education

Committee Director

Robert H. MacDonald

Call Number for Print

Special Collections; LD4331.U54D93

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if writing-to-learn activities in a fourth-grade science program improve learning and retention of science content knowledge.

The nonequivalent control group design formed the framework to test the three directional hypotheses which included factors of writing, gender, and retention. Two schools in Virginia Beach, Virginia served as the experimental and control schools. The sample consisted of ninety-nine students in the experimental group and fifty-six students in the control group. Teachers in both schools taught the same curriculum, used the same textbooks, and alloted the same amount of time for teaching the unit about the solar system. Teachers of the experimental group used writing-to-learn activities as part of their daily science lesson plans. Students in both schools took the same test for the unit. The measuring instruments utilized were researcher-designed multiple choice tests with objective scoring. A repeated measures analysis of covariance, with combined pretest score used as covariate, was used to assess the treatment effects and the interaction of gender and recall.

The statistical findings of this study indicate that using writing-to-learn science techniques does improve the learning and retention of science knowledge. The first directional hypothesis (that fourth-grade students who are exposed to a write-to-learn science curriculum will perform better on a test that measures science content knowledge than fourth-grade students who are not exposed to the write-to-learn curriculum) is supported. The interaction effect of treatment and gender was not found to be significant. The hypothesis stating that fourth-graders who use write-to-learn strategies to learn science content will perform with greater achievement on a retention test is also supported.

This study establishes writing-to-learn as a viable technique for improving achievement in elementary science. Using writing-to-learn science techniques does improve science achievement and helps students retain content longer.

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