Premium
Science curriculum effects in high school: A quantitative synthesis
Author(s) -
Weinstein Thomas,
Boulanger F. David,
Walberg Herbert J.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660190610
Subject(s) - curriculum , percentile , mathematics education , norm (philosophy) , psychology , science education , test (biology) , medical education , pedagogy , mathematics , political science , medicine , statistics , paleontology , law , biology
Abstract To assess the impact of the innovative precollege science curricula of the past twenty years on learning, a search was conducted using the computer‐assisted Bibliographic Retrieval System (BRS) , the ERIC Annual Summaries of Research in Science Education , and Dissertation Abstracts International. A total of 151 effect sizes were obtained from 33 studies representing 19,149 junior and senior high school students in the United States, Great Britain, and Israel. Study‐weighted analysis yielded an overall mean effect size of 0.31 significantly favorable to the innovative curricula [ t (25) = 2.183, p < 0.05] on all outcomes. Student performance in innovative curricula averaged in the 62nd percentile relative to the control norm. Tabulation of signed comparisons indicated that sixty‐four out of eighty‐one unweighted outcomes were favorable to the innovative curricula. Separate analyses for test content bias, methodological rigor, type of learning, and student characteristics showed no significant differences across these categories.