The impact of differentiated instruction on achievement of kindergarten students in science classes
- Beirut American University of Beirut - Faculty of Arts and Sciences - Department of Education 2007
- 119 pages
النوع : Mémoire
The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a Differentiated Instruction approach on the science achievement of kindergarten students. Diffe rentiated instruction (DI), in which the different needs of students are met thr ough differentiating instruction, curricula and products, is increasingly being seen as an important aspect of good teaching practices (Tomlinson, 1995). The fo cus of differentiation in this study is on the process of instruction. The main hypothesis underlying this research was that differentiating the nature and amount of scaffolding during group discussions based on a prior assessment of oral communication skills would have a positive effect on the acquisition of conceptual knowledge and understanding of KG students in science classes as comp ared to students in non-differentiated ones. The study involved a quasi-experime ntal design.The sample included 36 kindergarten (KG) II students of ages 5 and 6 from one private school in Beirut. Students were distributed over two classes. Both the experimental and control groups were given a pre-test and a post-test o n their basic knowledge of the science concepts of the unit. The pre- and post-t ests took the form of individualized structured interviews. Students' oral commu nication skills were also evaluated against an age-appropriate rubric especially constructed for the study. The effect of DI was determined using an analysis of covariance with the teaching intervention as the independent variable, pre-test scores as the covariate, and the post-test scores as the dependent variable. A qualitative analysis of data was performed to study the nature of the similariti es and differences that occurred in both classes. Results showed a slight increase- however a non-significant one- in the achieve ment of students in the experimental group as compared to those in the control o ne. The qualitative data revealed that teachers in the experimental group were a ble to follow the differentiation plan with more ease with students that were cl oser to the classroom norms. Difficulties were present with students at the extr emes of attainment. Moreover, in the control group, there were sessions that na turally resembled those of the experimental group. Based on these results, impli cations and suggestions for further research were drawn.
Kindergarten Maternelle Méthodes d’enseignement L’accomplissement des étudiants Teaching Methods Students achievement رياض الأطفال طرق التعليم تحصيل الطلبة