Date of Conferral

2019

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Cheryl D. Bullock

Abstract

Local High School, a pseudonym, located in Northwest Mississippi has in place two differing Biology 1 curricula; in one curriculum, the students use interactive notebooks daily and in the other curriculum, they are not used. The purpose of this ex post facto quasi-experimental study was to investigate the impact that an instructional tool, such as the interactive notebook, could have on student achievement. Instructional design theory and the materials, methods, environment, collaboration, content, and assessment (MMECCA) framework served as the theoretical framework for this study. The standard measure of science proficiency was provided by the test results from the Biology 1 Subject Area Testing Program assessment (SATP). Using data from 2016-2017 Biology 1 students who took the pretest, CASE 21 assessment, and the posttest, Biology 1 SATP assessment (N = 184), three independent samples t tests were used to analyze the data. The first independent samples t test performed on data from the pretest established that the two groups began the study with similar science proficiencies. The second and third independent samples t tests, conducted using overall mean scores and the mean scores for each of the individual six categories from the SATP Biology 1 assessment, determined that there was a statistically significant difference in the overall science proficiency of the two groups. A position paper was developed recommending the use of the interactive notebook to improve science proficiency. Positive social change is expected to occur as this information can be used to inform educational policy makers and close the achievement gap.

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