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1、 An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Science Field Trips and Hands-On Classroom Activities at the Maria Mitchell Association, Nantucket, MA An Interactive Qualifying Report submitted to faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute in partial requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science. By Jet
2、ta Garrity, Kellen Pastore, and Allison Roche Dated December 15, 2010 Submitted to: Dr. Dominic Golding Project Advisor Worcester Polytechnic Institute Nantucket Project Center Dr. Janet Schulte Sponsor Liaison Maria Mitchell Association i Abstract This report presents an evaluation of the effective
3、ness of science field trips and hands-on classroom activities offered and coordinated by the Maria Mitchell Association (MMA). Through our analysis of focus groups, interviews, observations, and surveys, we conclude that the programs are effective in meeting the goals of local teachers. Nevertheless
4、, we make several recommendations, including the implementation of a teacher-provider summit and other professional development activities. We developed a quick and easy evaluation tool for the MMA to gauge the relative success of future field trips and to identify how to improve them. ii Acknowledg
5、ements Our team would like to thank our sponsor, the Maria Mitchell Association, along with our liaison Dr. Janet Schulte for supporting our project and also housing our team. We would also like to thank Andrew McKenna-Foster for contributing greatly to our project by attending our weekly meetings a
6、nd leading the field trips we observed. We greatly appreciate the help and input we received from Jenny Mayberry, Cheryl Beaton, Leslie Bresette, Emily MacKinnon, Marjan Shirzad, Michael Varbalow, Harry Payne, John Bartlett, and Amy Cabre. Our group would like to thank all of the teachers from the N
7、antucket Elementary School for being so excited and willing to help us, especially the fourth grade teachers who let us observe the field trips they went on and also filled out our online evaluation form. Also from the Nantucket Elementary School, we would like to thank the secretaries for helping u
8、s distribute and collect the surveys. In addition, we would like to thank Dr. Dominic Golding for helping us produce this project and report. Lastly, we thank the other teams from Worcester Polytechnic Institute that also did their projects on Nantucket for being supportive throughout the past seven
9、 weeks. iii Executive Summary Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields are becoming increasingly important in the modern world. Unfortunately, the number of professionals entering these fields in the United States has stagnated, while it continues to rise in other c
10、ountries. Research shows that collaboration between formal and informal learning experiences can promote increased engagement in science learning. So, many informal education institutions including science museums have created outreach programs in a joint effort with schools to bolster an interest a
11、nd enthusiasm for STEM careers from an early age. On Nantucket Island, the Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) offers many programs of this nature to the general public and to the schools. In the fall of 2009, the MMA received a grant from the Nantucket Golf Club Foundation to develop a Nantucket-theme
12、d K-5 Science Curriculum at the Nantucket Elementary School (NES), involving field trips and other hands-on classroom activities. The scope of the programs includes field trips directed by MMA staff that take place on the MMA campus, off-site on the island, and in the classrooms, as well as field tr
13、ips directed by other third-party professionals after MMA facilitated contact between these individuals and the teachers. The overall goal of this project was to evaluate the science programs provided by the MMA, and those facilitated by the MMA for other program providers, for grades K-5 of the Nan
14、tucket Elementary School. The five crucial objectives involved in the pursuit of this goal were to characterize the K-5 programs offered by MMA, evaluate whether these programs meet the needs and expectations of the teachers, acquire perspectives of field trip providers, obtain alternative perspecti
15、ves on field trips from other interested parties, and finally develop an evaluation tool for future use by the MMA. Through focus group sessions with the teachers of each grade level team at NES, the project team assessed their opinions on the MMAs current programs and on the importance of field tri
16、p experiences in general. The feedback was almost entirely positive, and all teachers agreed that field trips provide valuable hands-on learning opportunities that enable students to make stronger connections and understand “real world” applications of the classroom concepts, but the content of the field trip must be closely tied to curriculum content for teachers and administration to approve. Funding the field trips poses a serious challenge for the school s
