A National Study of Science Curriculum Effectiveness With High Ability Students

This study assessed student growth on integrated science process skills after being taught a 20-36 hour science unit. The prototypical unit, Acid, Acid Everywhere, was implemented in 15 school districts across seven states. Although seven science units for high ability learners have been developed t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Gifted child quarterly 1998-10, Vol.42 (4), p.200-211
Main Authors: VanTassel-Baska, Joyce, Bass, George, Ries, Roger, Poland, Donna, Avery, Linda D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Curricula
Effectiveness
Gifted
Gifted children
Grade 5
Instructional Effectiveness
Integrated Curriculum
Intermediate Grades
Science Curriculum
Science education
Science Instruction
Science Process Skills
Thinking Skills
Units of Study
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Summary:This study assessed student growth on integrated science process skills after being taught a 20-36 hour science unit. The prototypical unit, Acid, Acid Everywhere, was implemented in 15 school districts across seven states. Although seven science units for high ability learners have been developed through a federally funded project, the student outcome results only from Acid, Acid Everywhere, the most widely replicated unit, are reported here. All units were based on the Integrated Curriculum Model (ICM) developed specifically for gifted learners; the model stresses advanced content, high level process and product, and a concept dimension. Results indicate small, but significant, gains for students in integrated science process skills when compared to equally able students not using the units. Implementation data reflected satisfaction of teachers with the units, especially in terms of student interest and motivation. The effectiveness of this curriculum, designed to align with the new science standards and to be appropriate for gifted students, lends credibility to the argument for using the new content standards as a basis for curriculum development efforts with gifted learners.
ISSN:0016-9862
1934-9041
DOI:10.1177/001698629804200404