Background
“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish;
and you have fed him for a lifetime.” Rather than giving young students
pre-packaged science content that may sustain them for a day, let’s
get them engaged and curious so that they will develop a passion to last a
life time.
The goal of the project described in this paper is to intervene and engender
positive attitudes about science in students of an impressionable age. In
doing this, we hope to spark in them a sustainable curiosity for science capable
of carrying them through high school, college, and towards science-related
careers.
Overview
The Mobile Science Project sought to improve fourth and fifth grade students’ attitudes towards science through an inquiry-based project using mobile phones. Before the project was assigned, students were asked to complete a survey assessing their science identity, which comprised their conception of science, self-efficacy in science, interest in science, and awareness of science. Students were then each given a mobile phone in order to investigate some scientific phenomenon and capture their investigation with the phone. Two weeks later, students returned to class, briefly presented their findings to their classmates, and retook the survey they took initially. After the projects were graded, the three students with the highest-quality projects were given prizes. We hoped to see positive changes in various elements of students’ attitudes towards science between the beginning and end of the project.
 Completing survey |
 Participating in interactive discussion |
 Playing with newly-received phones |
 Setting up for presentation |
 Student presenting his project |
The Assignments
Students were asked to investigate the scientific phenomenon that they were either given or that they chose using a combination of internet research, help from peers/adults, and active scientific experimentation. The assignment guidelines included three components: (1) "Explain the science behind the topic you have chosen"; (2) "Explain how you investigated this question"; and (3) "Explain why the science you discovered is important".
eBookMaker Software
Each student was given an Android-powered Motorola smart phone pre-loaded
with a program called eBookMaker. This program was created by a developer
at Stanford University and allows for the easy creation of mobile portfolios.
Users can create a new eBook for their investigation and can then add and
edit pages as they wish. The application allows students to take pictures
or download images, which they can insert into the pages of their eBooks.
They can also record audio or insert audio files in the same manner. When
finished, students can reread, edit, or send their stories via Bluetooth to
other students. Students generally do not need instructions in order to make
full use of its functionalities.
 Main page: students can create a new eBook or read old ones |
 Edit page: students enter text to accompany images or audio |
 Add image: students can take a picture, add one from file, or rotate a selected one |
 Add sound: students can record audio or add audio from file |
 Details page: students can read, edit, or share stories (via Bluetooth) |
Student Projects
Example 1: How LED's are Made
This student completed the project thoughtfully and thoroughly. In his project,
he concludes, "The role of the scientific principle is to make less pollution
and energy and keep the earth clean. If this scientific principle wasn't discovered
in the world, the world will have lots of global warming and there will be
lots of air pollution."
 Page1 |
 Page2 |
 Page3 |
Example 2: How Electricity Works
This project about electricity received the highest grade possible and was awarded first place in the class. It met all of the criteria on the rubric and documented extensive experimentation on behalf of the student. In the introduction, she outlines the topics to be discussed, "My questions are: How does electricity flow? How electricity works? What is voltage, resistance, etc? What is AC, DC? What are some of the sources of electricity?" She then displays pictures that she took of herself conducting an experiment with a balloon and of a multi-part experiment with an electricity kit she had at home. This was an example of a project that went above and beyond the requirements.
 Page1 |
 Page3 |
 Page8 |
Research Findings
Participating in this project had an overall positive effect on students'
attitudes towards science, which was manifested in a variety of ways. First,
there were significant increases in students' Self-Efficacy in Science, Interest
in Science, and Awareness of Science as measured by Likert-type questions
answered by students before and after the project. Also, students' drawings
of what they thought a scientist looked like shifted to include more drawings
of female scientists and more drawings of science taking place in less stereotypical
contexts (see images below). This shift away from stereotypical images of
scientists to whom it would be difficult to relate to, towards images more
aligned with students' personal lives, was an anticipated and desired result
of this project.
| Before Project | After Project |  |
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 |
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Relative videos
Future Studies
Amidst the ubiquitous call for 21st century skills and a pressing concern for the United States that its students are falling behind those in India and China in terms of their preparation for scientific careers, the promotion of positive attitudes towards science has never been more urgent. If what is sought is not a Band-Aid solution, but is instead an enabling and empowering sustainable solution to the problem of declining interest in science, then pervasive attitudes must be changed. Superficial content knowledge is not a solution to these problems. This study has attempted to improve grade school students' attitudes towards science using the potentially synergistic combination of inquiry-based learning and mobile technology. More controlled and rigorous research is needed in order to determine if mobile technology does, in fact, have a catalyzing effect on the benefits of inquiry-learning in improving science attitudes.
Publications and Reports
Reports
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Mobile Science Project: Combining Inquiry-Based Learning and Mobile eBooks to Improve
Attitudes towards Science
Aaron Sharp, Paul Kim, Sunmi Seol
Project report, June 2011
People
| Faculty | Student | Staff | Research Assistant |  Dr. Paul, Kim |
 Aaron A. Sharp |
 Arafeh Karimi |
 Sunmi Seol |
|---|
"Mobile Science" is the subproject of POMI in Education.