Date

Spring 2021

Document Type

Master's Thesis (Open Access)

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Teacher Education

Abstract

Graphing literacy is an essential skill in processing and developing scientific understanding; however, students graduating from secondary science education do not exhibit the proper skills to be graphing literate. Because graphing is linked to scientific literacy, this deficiency translates into lower science performance. This study focused on the connection between science and graphing through a quasi-experimental investigation on science literacy improvement of two seventh-grade science classes. Science literacy was assessed through a pre and posttest multiplechoice assessment derived from the online science program, STEMscopes. The intervention administered to the treatment group contained five lessons on specific isolated skills for building graphing literacy, while the control group carried on with regular science instruction. Independent and dependent t-tests were conducted to determine differences and growth in science literacy both across and within groups. No statistically significant difference was found on test scores between the control and treatment after the intervention. Further investigation is recommended with larger sample sizes and a longer integrated graphing literacy intervention with middle-school science students is warranted.

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