The impact of inquiry-based labs on CER (claim - evidence - reasoning) scores and student perceptions, 2025

Item — Call Number: MU Thesis Rod

Identifier: b7932372

Scope and Contents

From the Collection:

The collection consists of dissertations written by students enrolled in the Monmouth University graduate Educational Leadership program. The holdings are primarily bound print documents that were submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the Doctor of Education degree.

From the Collection:

During the fall 2022 semester (in instances where the requisite waivers were received from consenting student authors), the Monmouth University Library, together with the University's Graduate School and School of Education, began providing open access to select full-text digital versions of current theses and dissertations through links to the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global website in the Library's Online Public Access Catalog. Links to these open access digital publications can also be found in the "External Documents" section under any conforming titles that are listed among the holdings itemized in the collection inventory for this finding aid.

Dates

Creation: 2025

Creator

Rodriguez, Kaitlin B. (Kaitlin Brooke) (1995- ) (Author, Person)
Schpakow, Michelle (Thesis advisor, Person)
Seiverd, Kyle (1989- ) (Thesis advisor, Person)
Zambak, Vecihi S. (Vecihi Serbay) (Thesis advisor, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use. Access is by appointment only.

Research appointments are scheduled by the Monmouth University Library Archives Collections Manager (732-923-4526). A minimum of three days advance notice is required to arrange a research appointment for access to the collection.

Access to the collection is confined to the Monmouth University Library and is subject to patron policies approved by the Monmouth University Library.

Patrons must sign a completed Researcher Registration Form and provide appropriate identification to obtain access to the collection. Copies of these documents will be kept on file at the Monmouth University Library.

Full Extent

1 Items (print book) : 148 pages ; 8.5 x 11.0 inches (28 cm).

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This quantitative research aims to evaluate the impact of inquiry-based labs on middle school students’ scientific writing skills and engagement in science education. Based on McNeill and Krajcik’s (2012) framework of Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER), this study focuses on approximately 160 seventh-grade students in a suburban middle school in the Northeast United States. The research questions for the study are as follows: (1) Do inquiry-based labs as an instructional method affect students’ CER scores? (2) Is there a relationship between students’ CER scores and their perceptions of inquiry-based labs as helpful for CER Writing? The study was conducted in two phases: CER writing assessments after each inquiry-based lab and student surveys to gauge students’ perceptions of the inquiry-based lab as helpful for CER writing. Quantitative analysis, including Mann-Whitney U tests, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank tests, and Spearman rho correlations, was employed to interpret the data. Results showed significant differences in CER scores between the two instructional methods. Additionally, findings show that although students generally identified the inquiry-based lab as helpful for their CER writing, there was no correlation between student perceptions of inquiry-based labs and their CER scores. Benefits of this study include educators gaining insights into enhancing scientific writing instruction and improving students’ scientific writing abilities and engagement with science.

Keywords: CER framework, inquiry, inquiry-based instruction, inquiry-based labs, scientific argumentation, scientific literacy.

Partial Contents

Abstract -- Dedication -- Acknowledgements -- Table of contents -- List of tables -- List of figures -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Literature review -- 3. Methodology -- 4. Results -- 5. Discussion and conclusion -- References -- Appendices.