instructional technology because it is the dynamic union of the learner working ... Educational science video media in general, and the World of Chemistry video ...
JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE TEACHING
VOL. 34, NO. 6, PP. 617–631 (1997)
Effects of Integrated Video Media on Student Achievement and Attitudes in High School Chemistry
William S. Harwood,1 Maureen M. McMahon2 1
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2130 Mitchell Building, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742-5251
2Division
of Education, University of California, Davis, California 95616-8579
Received 22 December 1995; revised 13 December 1996; accepted 22 January 1997
Abstract: This study explored the effects of an integrated video media curriculum enhancement on students’ achievement and attitudes in a first-year general high school chemistry course within a multiculturally diverse metropolitan school district. Through the use of a treatment-control experimental design, approximately 450 students in Grades 9–12 were sampled on measures of chemistry achievement and attitude over the period of 1 academic year. The results revealed significantly higher achievement scores on standardized measures of achievement as well as on microunit researcher-designed, criterion-referenced quizzes for the treatment students who experienced a general chemistry course enhanced with an integrated use of a structured chemistry video series. Correlation of student achievement with logical thinking ability revealed that students with high levels of logical thinking ability benefited most from the video-enhanced curriculum. Treatment students also scored significantly higher than control students on the chemistry attitude instrument. These results along with qualitative supportive evidence suggest that this integrated video media curriculum intervention can positively affect student chemistry achievement and attitude across ability levels and across a diverse multicultural population. Furthermore, the data suggest that educational science video media in general, and the World of Chemistry video series in particular, are instructional tools that can be used effectively to bring the often abstract, distant worlds of science into close focus and within the personal meaningful realm of each individual student. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34: 617–631, 1997.
Introduction The focus of education is to provide students with knowledge, training, and learning opportunities while stimulating their physical and mental growth. According to the National Science Board Commission on Precollege Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology, in its report entitled Educating Americans for the 21st century (1983), the United States is failing Correspondence to: W.S. Harwood Contract grant sponsor: Annenberg/CPB Foundation Contract grant number: 1812-80843 © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
CCC 0022-4308/97/060617-15
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to provide its students with the tools needed to lead and excel in the 21st century. It is necessary to arm children with a strong broad background in the areas of math and science. Students must be given more than just a return to the basics; they must be offered the opportunities to grow in their problem-solving abilities, learn thinking and communication skills, and acquire scientific and technological literacy. In an attempt to offer excellence in teaching to the greatest number of students, many innovative teaching tools have been developed and used over the past 3 decades, among which have been television, videotape, and, most recently, interactive video instructional media. Research has shown (Enger, 1976; Savenye, 1989) that video media provides for (a) the capture of uncommon and hard-to-duplicate material and phenomena; (b) the ability to easily present static and moving material; (c) the alteration of visual, auditory, and temporal characteristics of material and phenomena; and (d) the option to incorporate animation for added clarity. A multitude of studies have sought to capture achievement effects following the use of television or video instruction with students of all ages (McNeil & Nelson, 1991). However, many of the studies investigated only the total replacement of live instruction with videotape/videodisk instruction. Results of these studies did show an initial increase in student motivation among students within the videotape/videodisk treatment groups, but did not yield a positive effect between the videotape/videodisk treatment and students’ achievement (Reeves, 1986; Levin, 1991). In addition, an argument was posed by Clark (1983) that it is not media’s influence on learning that should be studied. Clark argued that it is not media that caused the proposed changes in learning; he contended that media are merely vehicles to deliver instruction. Clark believed that media and associated attributes only influence the way learning is delivered. In contradiction to Clark, Kozma (1991) offered the argument that we must continue to investigate instructional technology because it is the dynamic union of the learner working with the medium that is important. Depending on the learner and the medium, the construction of knowledge will vary. Kozma’s beliefs are further supported and extrapolated by research work conducted on situated cognition. Brown, Collins, and Duquid (1989) proposed that knowledge is situated. That is, it is bound to any activity, context, or culture in which it is developed. If this is true, then the learner and the learning are heavily influenced and affected by the instructional use of media. We feel strongly that using media well can positively affect an individual’s learning. Can an effective methodology for enhancing science instruction with video technology be documented? Can the effects of media in teaching be observed and assessed? Many studies have been conducted that attempt to show a significant difference in achievement gains between treatment groups where media is used as the mode of instruction and those groups where no medium is being employed (Enger, 1976; Savenye & Strand, 1989; Levin 1991; McNeil & Nelson, 1991; Cohen, 1992). Most recently, video technology has been called on by Gabel and Bunce (1994) to assist in the chemistry classroom, because many teachers lack the correct conceptual understanding of a chemistry topic needed to teach it. These researchers assert that quality technology may play an important role in the teaching–learning process of chemistry to aid teachers in facilitating the construction of sound chemistry conceptual frameworks among their students. Studies to the contrary revealed that when novelty effects, teacher differences, and environment are controlled, significant differences proposed by the integration of media use into instruction all but disappear (Kulik, Kulik, & Cohen, 1980). Based on the multitude of contradictions in research results in the field of media effects on achievement and attitude, this study was designed to view multiple variables simultaneously, to possibly account for the incongruities. The study attempted to expose an interaction effect between integrated video media use and student logical thinking ability levels with respect to achievement and attitude among secondary general chemistry students. Teacher differences were
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controlled for by randomization and by prescribing a strict set of treatment procedures. Equality of student groups was confirmed by pretest of their prior knowledge of chemistry. If an interaction effect occurs between the two independent variables, it may lead to a better understanding for the dichotomy in many of the previously cited studies’ findings. Because the teacher, classroom instruction, and student ability are influential in student accomplishment and disposition, these variables must be considered during the research into video media effects. It is important that this complex interaction be examined. As access to technology becomes more commonplace in educational settings, and funding continues to diminish, educators will need to understand the strength of media as a learning tool as well as know how to implement the use of media most effectively and efficiently in the classroom. This study was designed to examine both achievement and attitude changes of secondary chemistry students who were exposed to the integrated video-enhanced microunits using the World of Chemistry video series. The use of video media in education is not new; however, its strengths have yet to be maximized. The quality of the video media, the target audience for whom video media will be most effective, as well as the most operative methodology with which to incorporate its use into instructional settings must be sought and discovered. Methods Subjects and Setting Approximately 450 first-year general chemistry students across 18 classrooms in a multiculturally diverse metropolitan region of the East Coast composed the subject population for the study. There were 7 treatment classrooms and 11 control classrooms from which all data were collected. The participating teachers’ range of experience varied from novice to master; however, an overall matched teaching population was found in the control and treatment subgroups. All the participating teachers were deemed to be successful science teachers in their district and were selected randomly from a pool of teachers who are active within their professional community. In addition, the student groups were shown to have equal prior knowledge of chemistry through their pretest performance on the High School Subjects Test: Chemistry, shown in Table 1. Treatment Educational science video media in general, and the World of Chemistry video series in particular, are instructional tools used to bring the often abstract, distant worlds of science into close focus and within the personal realm of each individual student. The World of Chemistry video series, produced at the University of Maryland, College Park, in the late 1980s, is designed to explore the basic principles of chemistry, understand chemistry’s historical foundations, appreciate its present contributions to society, and imagine its future directions in the world of the 21st century. Designed initially for the non–science-oriented person, the series strives to present chemistry enthusiastically, for students to receive more than simply a body of knowledge about transformations and processes. It was hoped the students would also develop insights into the nature of matter and problem solving, gain a sense of chemistry’s societal importance, and increase in their positive attitudes toward science and scientists (World of Chemistry, 1989, pp. 5–6). In this article, integrated enhanced-video media refers to the integrated use of the World of Chemistry video series within researcher–teacher-designed chemistry microunits. These micro-
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units include teacher lesson guides associated with each 30-min World of Chemistry videotape designed to enable the teacher to stop the videotape approximately every 5–7 min for a teacher–student question–answer interaction time. The two treatment levels of this variable were those teachers/classrooms implementing the integrated video media and those using no video media during the treatment time units. The treatment microunits, designed by the authors and nonparticipating chemistry teachers, were 1–3 days in length with at least eight mandatory interactive video-enhanced treatments (approximately 1/month) carried out in the treatment classrooms over the course of the academic year. The microunits were agreed upon by all teacher participants, treatment and control, prior to the study. Each microunit corresponds to a fundamental part of the general chemistry curriculum. The control teachers each received the microunits but no World of Chemistry videotapes. The control teachers taught the same microunit topics for at least the same amount of time as treatment teachers, but without the aid of video enhancement. Instruments Four assessment instruments were used in addition to direct classroom observations, student interviews, and teacher interviews. The instruments were as follows. The High School Studies Test: Chemistry is a 40-min standardized test that is norm referenced. The reliability coefficients are between .79 and .94. Normed tables containing percentiles, standard scores, and standard errors of measurement are provided with this test (Mitchell, 1985). The High School Chemistry Student Opinion Survey (Heikkinen, 1973) was selected as the quantitative measure of student attitudes toward chemistry. The measure is a 20-question Likert-scaled instrument (1–5) designed to collect high school students’ attitudes toward both the content and teaching of chemistry. The reliability reported for this survey is between .93 and .96. Microunit quizzes were designed by the authors and nonparticipating chemistry teachers based on state science outcomes, district chemistry curriculum, and teacher expert opinion. After construction was complete, the quizzes were sent out for expert review and modified accordingly. Each quiz reflects material deemed important to be taught to high school general chemistry students. The quizzes do not mirror specific examples or exact content covered by the videotapes, and so do not discriminate against the control students for whom no video intervention was conducted. The Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) is a 20-min paper and pencil assessment that was administered to all students as a way to measure logical thinking ability, a trait which correlates positively with problem-solving ability and achievement (Nagy & Griffiths, 1982). Both its predicted validity and internal consistency are high (! ! .85). Results and Discussion Student Achievement Statistics on comprehensive chemistry achievement for the treatment and control groups are displayed in Table 1. The treatment and control groups had similar numbers of subjects and students in both groups scored similarly on the standardized pretest measure of chemistry achievement. The posttest results indicated that the treatment and control groups’ gain varied widely from one another. The treatment students’ average gain of approximately eight points was a fac-
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Table 1 Comprehensive achievement as measured by the High School Subjects Test: Chemistry Group Treatment Control
Subjects
Mean Pretest
SD
Mean Posttest
SD
182 191
4.7 4.4
4.1 4.5
12.9 9.3
5.2 4.0
tor of three increase from their mean pretest score, while the control students’ increase was approximately a factor of two above their initial average achievement scores. The results of the repeated measures analysis of variance show via the differences in gain scores of the two groups that the groups are significantly different, F ! 24.04, p " .01, from each other on the measure of comprehensive achievement at the end of the school year. The treatment group subjects for whom the video integration occurred scored significantly higher than the control subjects on the High School Subjects Test: Chemistry posttest measure of achievement administered at the end of the academic year. The treatment group students gained significantly more chemistry content knowledge than the control group students during the academic year, as measured by this standardized instrument. The national mean on this standardized normed test is a score of 14 (Mitchell, 1985). This assessment tool was last normed in 1988. There are two important considerations to note while interpreting the posttest results. In 1988, the population of students who were taking chemistry in this country was different than the current population. As more and more states have increased graduation requirements, any additional science requirements usually move the average and below-average students from ending their high school science careers in biology to ending with a chemistry course. Hence, a high school chemistry population that was predominantly college prepatory in 1988 would now include a greater diversity in both student ability and motivation. This fact and the fact that this study’s population reflects a district with a 67% minority population lead the authors to point to the meaningfulness and significance of a mean score of 12.9 for the treatment group. Although the score is approximately one unit lower than the 1988 national norm, it is most probably similar to, if not higher than, what the current national mean would be if the instrument were normed now. The posttest chemistry standardized achievement data (High School Subjects Test: Chemistry) was analyzed using a repeated measures analysis of variance. The Pillai’s, Hotelling’s, and Wilks’ statistics displayed in Table 2 further highlight the magnitude of the results. Each of these statistics is a more conservative measure of significance. The fact that each of these results presents an F probability value or ! " .05 gives more credence to the weight with which we view the achievement data. It was decided that after each video-enhanced integrated lesson there should be a criterionreferenced assessment relative to only the chemistry topic content from which the theme of the video was centered. No such normed quizzes exist. Therefore, as described above, the authors designed appropriate quizzes for each microunit. The results of each of the researcher–teacherdesigned, criterion-referenced, posttest-only microunit quizzes follow the same statistical pattern as surfaced for the standardized achievement instrument data. Table 3 shows a summary of the microquiz statistical results. The treatment group consistently scored significantly higher, p " 0.05, than the control group on each microunit quiz. Across the 10 microquizzes, the treatment students scored an average of 35.3% higher than their peers in the control group. Although
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Table 2 Repeated measures analysis of variance (Chemistry Achievement Posttest) Source
df
Sum of Squares
Mean Squares
F Ratio
F Prob.
1 293 294
485.17 5912.75 6397.92
485.17 20.18
24.04
.0001
Test Name
Value
F Ratio
df
F Prob.
Pillai’s Hotelling’s Wilks’
.061 .065 .939
19.08 19.08 19.08
1 1 1
.0001 .0001 .0001
Between groups Error Total
control group teachers were given a detailed outline of the material to be covered in each microunit and were also provided with copies of the microunit quizzes prior to the teaching of the unit, control students still scored significantly lower than students in the treatment video-enhanced group on each of the researcher–teacher-designed, criterion-referenced microunit quizzes. These achievement results represent some of the first data to indicate consistent achievement gains over a lengthy time while viewing the effects of an educational technology interTable 3 Descriptive data and analysis of variance group results of researcher–teacher-designed, criterion-referenced microunit quizzes World of Chemistry Microunit Measurement Matter of state The atom The periodic table Chemical bonds The mole Water Precious envelope Metals Carbon
Group
Mean*
SD
Total No. Subjects
Treatment Control Treatment Control Treatment Control Treatment Control Treatment Control Treatment Control Treatment Control Treatment Control Treatment Control Treatment Control
6.4 3.4 7.1 3.6 6.9 3.4 7.7 4.3 5.5 3.2 5.1 2.6 6.7 3.1 6.4 2.5 7.9 2.3 7.3 3.3
2.3 2.0 1.7 2.1 1.9 1.7 1.9 1.9 1.7 1.6 2.0 1.6 2.0 1.7 1.9 1.5 1.6 1.3 2.0 1.7
179 182 172 127 163 203 166 204 138 211 171 183 151 94 141 101 119 57 105 95
*Each quiz has a total possible point value of 10.
F prob. .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001 .001
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vention—in this case, a set of videotapes. The achievement data are also unique because they factor in the teacher as an important facilitator and knowledgeable user of the technology. The significant achievement gains of the treatment students reflect a successful teacher–technology integrated treatment. The teacher was an intricate and meaningful entity in the teaching–learning partnership. The acknowledgment and interest in the importance of the teacher’s role in using technology as an instructional tool are fundamental to this study. In many of the prior educational technology studies, the teacher in the treatment classroom was replaced by one of many technological tools such as a computer software program, videodisk, or videotape. Those studies examined student achievement based on total replacement of the teacher with a multimedia or computer-based program. This study explored an intervention where video was used as an integrated instructional tool to offer students a visual and auditory conceptual enhancement to learning chemistry that could not be duplicated equally in any other fashion. Guided by their teacher, students were welcomed into a world where they could see atoms, walk through a steel manufacturing plant, experience exciting chemical demonstrations, and explore career options in which chemistry played an important role, all without leaving the classroom. Student Attitudes Data were collected on student attitude changes that occurred over the yearlong course in chemistry using the High School Chemistry Student Opinion Survey (Heikkinen, 1973). The results showed that all students entered chemistry with a basically neutral attitude toward the subject. It was hypothesized that students who experienced the video-enhanced treatment would show a significantly higher positive attitude change than their peers in the control classrooms based on the research purporting that video media is influential in raising students’ motivation levels (McNeil & Nelson, 1991). Table 4 conveys the descriptive attitude pre- and posttest results as measured by the High School Chemistry Student Opinion Survey. Although pretests showed the treatment and control groups to be significantly different from each other at the beginning of the study on their attitude scores, the repeated measures analysis of variance controls for this initial difference by addressing only the net change in student attitude. The statistically significant posttest results are displayed in Table 5. Once again, the Pillai’s, Hotelling’s, and Wilks’ statistics were calculated to provide a more appropriate conservative arrival at an F value. Each of these statistics is " .05; hence, the attitude results certainly show the treatment students’ net attitude change to be significantly more positive than the control students’ attitude changes.
Table 4 Chemistry attitude results based on High School Chemistry Student Opinion Survey Attitude Test Pretest (September 1993) Posttest (May 1994)
Group
Subjects
Mean*
SD
Treatment Control Treatment Control
168 137 150 187
69.0 64.0 69.7 63.0
13.2 13.8 15.3 17.0
*The possible range of attitude data is 20–100 points. A score of 60 on the 20-question Likert scale (1–5) is considered a neutral attitude toward chemistry.
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Table 5 Repeated measures analysis of variance (Chemistry Attitude Posttest) Source
df
Sum of Squares
Mean Squares
F Ratio
F Prob.
1 222 223
9181.84 75603.10 84784.94
9181.84 340.55
26.96
.0001
Test Name
Value
F Ratio
df
F Prob.
Pillai’s Hotelling’s Wilks’
.038 .040 .962
8.77 8.77 8.77
1 1 1
.0034 .0034 .0034
Between groups Error Total
Although a statistical significance does exist, we caution the reader to ask whether this difference is a meaningful. Both the treatment and control students’ posttest mean scores of 69.7 and 63.0, respectively, as well as their pretest mean scores remained in the neutral attitude range for the instrument used. Although treatment students’ overall net gain was significantly greater than control students’ net gain, both group’s pre- and posttest scores reflect neutral attitudes toward the subject and teaching of chemistry. This finding does not support the hypothesis that the treatment students would exit with a significantly more positive attitude than the control students. This was perplexing because the majority of earlier studies showed a significant motivational or attitudinal positive effect with the use of media in an instructional setting. Upon careful reflection, two ideas surfaced. Initially, it is important to note that the students did not exit with negative attitudes; they simply did not show a meaningful increase toward the positive. This finding is interesting in its own right. In a time when the nation is afraid that students are being turned away from science, this large, multiculturally diverse population of students clearly told us they have enjoyed science through their years in school and continue to have a neutral attitude even after taking high school chemistry. Second, the issue of why this study’s data do not reflect that of earlier studies is more complex. After extensive review of many of the designs of the earlier multimedia educational research studies, a major point of interest became clear. Most of the earlier studies assessed student attitude changes over a 3-week to 3-month period (McNeil & Nelson, 1991). It can be conjectured that under short periods of time, the multimedia treatment remains new and novel for the students and brings with it the many strong feelings that researchers have come to accept as novelty effects. The posttest attitudinal data in this study were collected after 1 year. The video-enhanced treatment had ceased being a novelty in the treatment classrooms. The posttest attitude results reflected a stable treatment and control population experiencing no novelty effects, who simply replied to the attitude survey with reference to their overall experience in firstyear high school general chemistry. Although some students’ attitudes changed drastically, the overall mean of both groups remained in the neutral range, suggesting that their chemistry experience at least had no significant negative attitudinal effects on them. Interaction Effect The TOLT was administered as a measure of logical thinking ability (Tobin & Capie, 1981). An initial question in formulating this study was whether children of differing logical reason-
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ing abilities would be differentially affected by the video integration. We wondered whether the video images, audio, animation, and chemistry relevance to the real world, all provided through the World of Chemistry video series, would affect any one student ability group preferentially. The statistics show an interaction effect between the treatment and logical thinking ability, signaling that children are not all equally effected by media. Figure 1 displays the standardized achievement data by treatment group, taking individual student TOLT scores into account. Clearly, the treatment group students scored higher than did the control students at all levels of logical thinking as measured by the TOLT. Note, however, that the slopes of the two lines are markedly different. This difference in slope reveals that children of higher logical thinking ability are preferentially effected by the video media intervention. This finding suggests to us that students who are of a higher logical thinking ability may have the strategies and cognitive tools to more effectively benefit from the visual and auditory images and concepts video media have to offer. If integrated video-enhanced instruction can aid students in learning chemistry, is it more effective for any one group of students? This question was posed with the prediction that average and below-average logical thinking ability students would be greater recipients of the strengths integrated video media have to offer. The rationale for this thought was based on the results of past studies which have shown lower-ability students to rely more heavily on pictures and manipulatives while learning (Pressley, 1977). The visual media would provide for these images which theoretically would assist in the learning process of lower logical ability thinkers. Results showed that all students who received the integrated video media scored significantly higher than those students who received no video intervention. However, when logical ability was entered as a variable, it was the higher logical thinkers who showed even greater gains. After contemplation, the following plausible explanation was generated. First, we recognize that
Figure 1.
Achievement–treatment–logical thinking ability interaction.
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the lower logical thinkers do benefit from the video media because they scored higher than their peers in the control classrooms. In addition, the higher logical thinkers in the treatment group also scored significantly higher than their peers in the control group. Perhaps because the higher logical thinkers have more strategies for learning, they benefit even more from the visual and auditory stimuli provided by the video media. Higher logical thinkers can capitalize on the strengths of the video media because they have strategies and scaffolding techniques with which to construct more meaning and knowledge (Schuell, 1986). This is a significant and practical finding for educators, especially educators of gifted students. All too often, gifted students are expected to learn in the world of the abstract, without visual or auditory aids. Clearly, these findings suggest that in this study, the higher logical thinkers were able to make even greater gains when provided with video media enhancements. It is interesting to note that generally students did not score high on the TOLT. An average mean of approximately 2 of a possible score of 10 was found for the total population of students. It is an accepted fact that logical thinking ability and the ability to solve problems are positively correlated. If one were to make a conjecture, it would be reasonable to assume that success in chemistry and logical thinking ability would also be positively correlated, as problem solving is fundamental to a traditional chemistry curriculum. As more and more average and below-average ability students come to chemistry to fulfill state mandates, it will be necessary for teachers to realize a possible need for remediation in the area of logical thinking. Integrated video-enhanced instruction could provide for quality remediated instruction while supporting the individual learners’ needs for visual and audio scaffolding tools. Student Opinions Surveys, interviews, and classroom observations were conducted throughout the study to gather and document the opinions and attitudes of the treatment students regarding the prescribed integrated video-enhanced intervention. A pool of treatment students was randomly chosen from the large sample for surveying and interviewing purposes. Their reactions were sought in the form of personal interest and motivation spawned by the use of the World of Chemistry videotape series as well as detailed commentary on the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the series. Finally, researcher observations in the treatment classrooms were conducted to verify adherence to the treatment intervention and gather details on student involvement and teacher–student interaction during the integrated video-enhanced treatment lessons. Each of the participating teachers’ classrooms was visited biweekly over the yearlong study. These visits were designed for maintenance and teacher support. The visits provided a time when deliveries of study materials were made, and questions and concerns of the teachers were handled on a personal basis by the authors. Often, informal classroom observations were conducted during these brief visits. The adherence to the prescribed treatment was near perfect. Each of the treatment teachers used the supplied integrated lessons for each observed microunit. Each treatment teacher asked many, if not all, of the recommended questions and stopped the videotapes in the prescribed places for student questions and interaction. However, use of the strict intervention style did not appear to be comfortable for the teachers until the second semester of the study. As strong as the negative treatment teacher reaction was to the format of the intervention, so, too, was that of the treatment students during the initial observations. Early in the study, several students were observed to voice frustration and finally put their heads down on their desks in disgust at the interruption format of the videotape viewing. During one observation, a student clearly stated, “We don’t watch TV like this at home. Why are we doing it this way here? I hate it!” Another student’s comment in a highly academic classroom was, “I don’t understand why we’re doing all this stopping and starting. I’m just getting comfortable
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and into it, and we have to stop and talk about it.” Although much frustration was observed among many of the students in the early months of the school year, positive responses were also noted. Students were observed answering the questions posed by the teacher during the planned pauses in the viewing of the videotapes. They were asking to watch sections of the videotape again to answer questions which they could not clearly explain after only a single viewing. Moreover, they adjusted quite quickly to the new pause-oriented integrated style of using the video technology. Researcher observations showed that the majority of students were untroubled by the new technique as early as November of the first semester. Other treatment student reactions of interest include a growth in their discussion of chemistry topics related to the world around them. Students began to ask more application and conceptual questions during the video-enhanced microunits. Questions referring to the “how do you do . . .” of a problem or exercise were replaced by the “what if we were to . . .” proposals of a scenario. It was not uncommon to hear students voice that they did not realize chemistry was involved in so many different subject areas or jobs or careers. Students began using the images seen on the videotape to answer questions, defend their thoughts, and propose new questions involving the chemistry shown on each videotape. Treatment student responses were gathered in two separate ways: student surveys and individual student interviews. Four classrooms were randomly selected to be surveyed from all of the possible treatment classrooms. The four teachers’ classrooms yielded approximately 150 student responses to the student survey which was administered at the close of the study. Table 6 displays student descriptive data from the population of students who completed the student survey. The students were then queried as to their feelings about the World of Chemistry videotapes and the use of interactive video in the classroom. The parts of the videotapes given the highest rankings by the students were “Visual information instead of reading,” “Demonstrator and the demonstrations,” “Chemistry shown in careers,” and “Real world chemistry issues.” Each of these characteristics of the videotapes was ranked positively (1–4 on a 1–8 scale) by over 60% of the students responding. The lowest ratings were bestowed upon the “Narrator (Nobel laureate) discussing chemistry” and “Scientists discussing issues.” Over 70% of the students ranked these characteristics as the least appealing (5–8 on the same 1–8 scale) parts of each of the videotapes. Finally, the student survey provided the students the opportunity to respond to the following question: If you were told that your entire chemistry class would be taught over television, what would your reaction be, and why? This question addresses our concern with the desire expressed by some to replace teachers entirely by media presentations. Most students reTable 6 Student descriptors based on the student survey (self-reported) Grade in School 9th
0.0%
10th
70.5%
11th
28.1%
12th
1.4%
This is My [ ] Time Taking Chemistry 1st
99.3%
2nd
0.7%
Top Reasons for Selecting Chemistry Required course
75.3%
I’ll need it for my career
14.0%
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sponded favorably to the inclusion of television and its uniqueness. However, almost every student commented strongly on the need for the teacher to remain in the classroom. Less than one percent of the students wished for the television chemistry course to become a substitute for the teacher. Comments such as, “I need my teacher so I can ask questions,” and “When I don’t understand I need my teacher to explain . . . the TV can’t do that” were common themes through most of the student responses. Informal student interviews supported the findings of the student survey. Approximately 50 students were informally interviewed at random during the course of the yearlong study. Interviewed students generally felt that they learned from the videotapes and that the tapes showed chemistry in a way their teacher could not within the constraints of the classroom. Students verbally noted their interest in seeing the explosions, seeing the demonstrations, visiting industrial sites, watching the animated molecules, and seeing how chemistry is used in the real world as positive characteristics of the video series. The narrator’s lengthy talks and the long interviews with scientists were consistently labeled as the series’ weakest attributes. Students displayed strong feelings when queried as to the merits of the technique of stopping and starting the videotape as the instructional method employed by their teacher. Students explained how no other teachers in their schools used the videotapes in this way. They uniformly felt that they learned more when the tape was stopped often and questions were asked. One student’s comment summed up many students’ feelings well as she stated, “When I know she [the teacher] is going to stop the tape, then I know I am supposed to be listening for stuff and that she will ask questions. It’s not like I have to watch this tape for the whole period and then I find out that I didn’t even get the point. When my teacher stops the video she asks questions, and if no one knows the answer, she rewinds the tape and we listen again. It takes some getting used to, but at least you learn that way.” The student surveys and interviews added some color to the neutral attitude picture painted by the quantitative data as well. Although treatment student attitudes did not show a meaningful change as measured by the High School Chemistry Opinion Survey, many of their verbal and written comments suggested their perception of the positive effect the integrated video-enhancement had on their chemistry experience. Many students spoke of the importance of seeing chemistry in the real world. Others commented on the worth of seeing the many careers in which chemistry plays an integral part. Still others documented the ability to see microscopic and even smaller particles as “something we just can’t do in class” and as very “cool and important.” In tandem with this were the positive comments made about the animations. One student’s comment summed up many students’ feelings when he suggested, “I try to imagine in my mind what the molecules and atoms must be doing, but seeing the cartoon particles move around on the screen really helps me a lot.” Demonstrations were another area in which the video scored high in the eyes of the students. Many students recognized that because of safety, money, or space, their teachers could not perform most of the chemical reactions they witnessed on the videotapes. Some of these student comments reference the area of understanding and achievement; however, it is important to note that all comments surfaced while students were writing or speaking about what they found positive, interesting, or powerful about the video series. Their chosen adjectives of “cool,” “neat,” “excellent,” “necessary,” “interesting,” “decent,” and “wild” were survey reflections of their attitudes regarding the content and quality of the videotapes as well as how these tapes were integrated into their chemistry course. Implications and Conclusions As Kozma (1991) suggested, there is much more to be explored in the area of technology’s integration into the instructional arena of schools. The results of this study are meaningful in
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that they support the importance and effectiveness of appropriate media instructional use within the general high school chemistry classroom. It is important to note that unlike earlier studies conducted over a shorter time frame, our results found a significant achievement change over the course of an entire academic year. Through quantitative student achievement and attitude instruments, classroom observations, teacher and student interviews, and participant surveys, a detailed dynamic picture developed. The data show how treatment teachers successfully integrated video into their instruction in a fashion which produced significant achievement gains in chemistry content knowledge during individual microunits as well as across the span of the academic year. The statistical results of the quantitative data revealed that students who received the video-enhanced instruction scored significantly higher than those in the control classrooms across all measures of achievement and attitude. The qualitative data composed of the interviews, surveys, and observations provided depth to the picture (Bogdan & Biklen, 1992). Student feedback revealed a positive acceptance of the video as an instructional technique and a successful learning tool. Student interviews suggested the video enhancement was able to provide for visual and verbal information that was novel, meaningful, and relevant to students’ lives outside of school. Attitudinal data showed that video was something the students said they enjoyed, learned from, and wished they could see more of in the chemistry classroom. We were enabled by the qualitative information to better report personal attitudes and opinions of the student participants. It is not enough to know there is a statistical advantage in using the video media provided for by the World of Chemistry video series. The understanding of how and why there is a statistical advantage provides meaning for chemistry teachers and multimedia researchers alike. It is important to note that while student attitudes toward the videos and their use in class were positive, their measured attitude toward chemistry was essentially unchanged. That is, students generally had a slightly positive attitude toward the subject at both the beginning and end of the year. This result differs from other studies, but the positive results reported by earlier studies may be an artifact caused by a novelty effect. Earlier studies were short in duration and the use of video was a novelty in those classrooms. In our study, the video use became a regular and standard teaching technique. There is a strong national focus on increasing science achievement among the nation’s youth as well as a strong national commitment to the support of technology use through the advent of the information superhighway. Attempting to effectively and efficiently interweave the tools of technology into the teaching of science in our schools thus seems to be a natural reaction to such national goals. Many studies to date have shown nominal achievement effects and marginal to strong motivational effects among students who received a technological intervention within a classroom learning setting. Few of these studies have included the teachers in the decision-making processes, inserviced the teachers sufficiently, or committed to a long-term treatment and data collection experimental design; all of these were accomplished in this study. Moreover, few of the studies have addressed the important questions of why and how to infuse technology into the teaching of science. This study addressed formative and summative measures of student chemistry achievement, student attitudes toward chemistry, and the personal opinions and attitudes of the students regarding the infusion of video-enhanced integrated lessons into the teaching and learning of high school chemistry. This study supports the caution expressed by Berger, Lu, Belzer, and Voss (1994) that it is not enough simply to have multimedia and computers in the schools. Berger et al. stated that simply accepting technologies’ merits as a given will lead to wasted monies and time and poor instruction, and produce detrimental effects on the learners. Baird (1988) suggested that requirements should be met if schools are to seriously consider the instructional uses of technology. These requirements include involving practicing teachers in the design and implementation
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of the instructional technology program; contracting trainers, programmers, and cognitive scientists to support such a program; acquiring major funding to include design and implementation of the technology program; continuing interaction between the teacher participants and the instructional technology design team; and making available low-cost products for teacher purchase. This video-enhanced instructional integration study fulfilled these tenets. The data show that video-enhanced instruction can be effective, but only when these requirements are met. Teachers need to be involved in the decision-making process, sufficiently inserviced in the use of technology, extensively supported for a long time after initial integration of the technology, and offered technologies easily available within their schools. Historically, educational technology research has centered on the question, “Will the use of technology increase student learning over and above that of students not receiving instruction enhanced with technology?” Perhaps, as was suggested by Berger et al. (1994), the more appropriate question should be, “What are the most effective ways educators can use technology to positively effect student learning?” This study provides a case in which technology was used as a successful instructional tool within a traditional classroom setting, and challenges us to continue to investigate settings in which technology’s attributes are being maximized for student learning. The authors thank the Annenberg/CPB Foundation for their support of this work through Grant 181280843. They also thank the Prince George’s County Public Schools for their support and cooperation. The administration and especially the teachers were extremely helpful in, patient with, and understanding of the research process. Finally, they acknowledge the assistance of two undergraduate students, Samantha Dix and David Wren. Their help made many tasks much simpler for everyone.
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