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Background: The language of the science curriculum is complex, even in the early grades. To communicate their scientific observations, children must produce complex syntax, particularly complement clauses (e.g., I think it will float; We noticed that it vibrates). Complex syntax is often challenging for children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), and thus, their learning and communication of science may be compromised. Aims: We asked whether recast therapy delivered in the context of a science curriculum led to gains in complement clause use and scientific content knowledge. To understand the efficacy of recast therapy, we compared changes in science and language knowledge in children who received treatment for complement clauses embedded in a first-grade science curriculum to two active control conditions (vocabulary + science, phonological awareness + science). Methods: This two-year single-site three-arm parallel randomized controlled trial was conducted in Delaware, USA. Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), not yet in first grade and with low accuracy on complement clauses, were eligible. Thirty-three four to seven-year-old children participated in the summers of 2018 and 2019 (2020 canceled due to COVID-19). We assigned participants to arms using 1:1:1 pseudo-random allocation (avoiding placing siblings together). The intervention consisted of 39 small-group sessions of recast therapy, robust vocabulary instruction, or phonological awareness intervention during eight science units over four weeks, followed by two science units (one week) taught without language intervention. Pre/post measures were collected three weeks before and after camp by unmasked assessors. Results: Primary outcome measures were accuracy on a 20-item probe of complement clause production and performance on ten 10-item unit tests (eight science + language, two science only). Complete data were available for 31 children (10 grammar, 21 active control); two others were lost to follow-up. Both groups made similar gains on science unit tests for science + language content (pre vs. post, d=2.9, p<.0001; group, p = .24). The grammar group performed significantly better at posttest than the active control group (d=2.5, p = .049) on complement clause probes and marginally better on science-only unit tests (d=2.5, p = .051). Conclusions: Children with DLD can benefit from language intervention embedded in curricular content and learn both language and science targets taught simultaneously. Tentative findings suggest that treatment for grammar targets may improve academic outcomes. Funding: NSF 1748298 Trial registration: Clinical Trials.gov Identifier NCT03438760. Data Availability: https://osf.io/p2jd5/?view_only=2d52215aa5fa4e62ad6642a9554a68aa
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The effectiveness of an integrated STEM curriculum unit on middle school students' life science learning
Recent calls for reform in K-12 science education and the National Academy of Engineering's Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century emphasize improving science teaching, students' engagement, and learning. In this study, we designed and implemented a curriculum unit for sixth-grade students (i = 1305). The curriculum unit integrated science and engineering content and practices to teach ecology, water pollution, and engineering design. We investigated the designed integrated STEM unit's effectiveness in students' science learning outcomes on pre-, post-, and delayed post-assessments. We collected pre-and post-assessment data of students' science learning outcomes for both the baseline group (taught via existing district-adopted curriculum) and an intervention group (taught with integrated life science and engineering curriculum). We used a quasi-experimental research design and examined differences between baseline and intervention groups. We used ANCOVA to explore differences in students' learning in baseline and intervention groups. Furthermore, for students in the intervention group, we conducted repeated-measures ANOVA to investigate knowledge retention. Our analyses also accounted for students' gender and People of Color (POC) status. We conducted multiple regression analyses to explore the relationship between students' gender, POC status, and their learning outcomes. The results indicated that the intervention group students performed significantly better than the students in the baseline group. The repeated measures ANOVA showed that students in the intervention group retained science knowledge after 8 weeks of instruction. Finally, the regression analysis for the baseline group showed that gender and POC status were not significant predictors of their post-assessment scores. However, POC status was a significant predictor of post-assessment scores and knowledge retention for the intervention group. Overall, this study provides valuable findings on how an integrated STEM curriculum designed with engineering design and practices improves students' science learning outcomes.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1721141
- PAR ID:
- 10353427
- Editor(s):
- Troy Sadler & Felicia Moore Mensah
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of research in science teaching the official journal of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching
- Volume:
- 59
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 1098-2736
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1204-1234
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21756
