SIMPLE Science boosts student understanding, interest

Independent evaluation of the SIMPLE Science project by The Learning Partnership, based in Western Springs, Illinois, revealed that middle-school student understanding of structure and function improved substantially after the field-test participants worked through two lessons, entitled “Hand it to the Animals” and “Animals in Motion.”

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Cat flea from SIMPLE Science
While top-performing students sometimes came into the study knowing much of the material, middle- and lower-performing learners showed significant improvement. In the case of one qualitative question (“Describe the function of the hand above, and explain how the structure of the hand facilitates that function”), middle-ranked students out-performed those who indicated they normally get A’s in science.

The results of the evaluation also showed that students using the lessons became slightly more interested in any of the sciences, and significantly more interested in computer science.

To see the two lessons -- and more, visit SIMPLE Science !