Interpretation and Discussion of Results PRISMS Project University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0150

The results of the current claims study confirm the results of the initial study that PRISMS students show greater achievement gains than physics taught by the more traditional lecture, demonstrations and verification laboratory experiments format. When students are confronted with making observations of phenomena, finding patterns, developing ideas and testing hypotheses they are constructing their own understanding to know why something works the way it does. It is really not too surprising that students have a more functional understandingof basic concepts in physics with this approach to learning.

These results also confirm earlier results that students show greater gains in the integrated science process skills which are correlated to the development of reasoning skills. With the PRISMS approach, students have the experience of becoming engaged in the mental processes that are characteristic of science. You can't depend on learning these mental operations by reading about science any more than basketball coaches depend on students learning how to play basketball by reading Sports Illustrated.

Science educators, along with educators in general, are focusing on how to cultivate reasoning, higher order thinking skills, science problem solving skills and integrated process skills. To cultivate these skills, while at the same time developing functional understanding of major concepts in the academic discipline, is a goal for curriculum developers and educators in general.

Traditional physics courses are typified by teachers conveying information about the concepts either by lectures, demonstrations or laboratory activities. The student is seldom confronted with evaluating the evidence that we use in basing our understanding of major concepts in science. The open-ended exploratory activities engage the students to test their own hypotheses for interpretations of observations in the PRISMS program.

This study has shown that reasoning skills and understanding major concepts can be taught in concert, using effective teaching strategies with activities that are intellectually motivating. It is our experience that many teachers look for "interesting" learning activities and present them without regard to how that activity can be used to encounter the student to stimulate reasoning skills and to know why they believe in the truth of concepts. We must teach students "why we know" in order for them to become fully functional in our society.

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