theeffectsofhands-onactivitiesonstudentunderstanding.docVIP

The Effects of Hands-On Activities on Student Understanding and Motivation in Science Kimberly J. Vogt, Student Teacher, University of Dayton Abstract This research was undertaken to examine how different teaching strategies can be used to increase student motivation to learn science. The first step in this project was to gather information about what motivates students to learn. Twenty-nine 9th grade students at Dayton Early College Academy were asked to complete academic interest surveys. Many students indicated that hands-on activities could be used to increase their interest in a particular subject. The second step of the project was to examine the effect of hands-on activities on student understanding and motivation in science. A 3-day lesson on the topic of mitosis and meiosis was presented to a class of 11 students. The lesson included a lecture component and an activity component. The students were asked to complete a pre-test before the first day of the lesson, a post-test after the lecture component, and a post-test after the activity component. The results of this study show that 6 students scores increased on the second post-test, while 3 students scores decreased. The class average score increased after each part of the lesson. It was expected that students would be more interested in the subject while conducting an activity than while listening to a lecture. The results of a post-lesson survey show that only 1 student out of 10 found the lecture to be more interesting than the activity. Most students ranked the activity as either interesting or very interesting. The results of this study indicate that students appreciate when activities are used in conjunction with a lecture. Further research should be done to determine how often and for what purpose hands-on activities should be used in a science classroom. Introduction The importance of motivation in education has been a topic of great interest in the last few decades. Resea