Journal of Geoscience Education

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Authentic Research Experiences for Nevada High

School Teachers and Students

Paul E. Buck

To cite this article: Paul E. Buck (2003) Authentic Research Experiences for Nevada
High School Teachers and Students, Journal of Geoscience Education, 51:1, 48-53, DOI:
10.5408/1089-9995-51.1.48

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AUTHENTIC RESEARCH EXPERIENCES FOR NEVADA HIGH SCHOOL
TEACHERS AND STUDENTS
Paul E. Buck Desert Research Institute, Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences, Las Vegas, NV,
89119, [email protected]

ABSTRACT summer field research, teacher/student teams wrote a

research paper in a discipline-specific format, prepared a
The Nevada Science Teacher Enhancement Project poster, and gave a 20 minute oral presentation. Lead
(N-STEP) was a three-year Teacher Enhancement scientists and education faculty guided the teams along
program funded by the National Science Foundation. the way.
Fifty high school teachers worked closely with research
scientists, education faculty, and 74 high school students Descriptions of Field Research Experiences - Eight
on authentic field-based research projects in geosciences, separate projects were completed over the three year
biological sciences or social sciences. Major program course of the program (Table 1). Projects were chosen
goals were to increase teachers understanding of based on long term research interests of the selected
authentic scientific research, improve teachers content faculty, potential benefit to secondary science teachers,
knowledge, foster closer professional collaboration and practical considerations such as proximity to
between high school teachers and research scientists, and suitable housing. All were residential experiences
help teachers better incorporate research into classroom requiring a three week stay away from home. Food and
teaching. Increased involvement of high school students housing for participants varied: some research teams
in authentic research was another goal of N-STEP. stayed in semi-private dorm rooms at small colleges or
Scientists involved in the project generally found data private high schools and enjoyed three meals a day
collected to be high quality and suitable for inclusion in prepared by professional kitchen staff. Other research
their research. Annual formative evaluation of the experiences required camping and preparing one’s own
program led to improved satisfaction of teachers and food in rustic conditions with primitive toilet and
students with their experiences. Results of two shower facilities. (The number of complaints from
quantitative instruments found no statistically participants tended to be inversely correlated with the
significant changes in participant understanding of the degree of luxury of the facilities). The primary driver for
nature of science as a result of their experiences. project location was affordability and convenience to
research areas, not participant comfort.
Keywords: earth science - teacher education; The project scientists and the selected teachers
education-science; education - pre-college. developed team research projects based on important
theoretical, methodological, and substantive research
issues appropriate for high school science curricula. All
DESCRIPTION OF N-STEP participating scientists had a serious research
commitment to these topics and expect to contribute
N-STEP was an intensive in-service teacher research substantial results to the scientific community. However,
experience requiring full collaboration with high school these projects were designed for teacher enhancement,
students and research scientists (similar to Stockman et not as research opportunities for the scientists. Funding
al., 1997). This kind of approach is one of the experiences for N-STEP came not from one of the research
recommended for teachers as part of a comprehensive directorates at NSF, but rather from the Education and
reform of science education (NRC, 1996; AAAS, 1989, Human Resources Directorate. All experiences
1998). To help teachers and students understand contributed to a number of national, State of Nevada and
scientific research, I designed N-STEP to mimic academic local school district 9-12 grade science content and
research: teams competed for a limited number of process standards (NRC, 1996; NDE, 1999).
openings (analogous to preparing a successful grant
proposal); research products were subject to review by a RESULTS AND ASSESSMENT
group of peers knowledgeable in the content and
pedagogy (peer review panel); and incentives such as Results - Fifty different teachers (two teachers
stipends, paid travel, and cash prizes were provided to participated in different projects for each of the three
promote excellence (analogous to tenure or additional years; two other teachers participated in two of the three
project funding). years in different projects) and 74 students participated
The focal point of the program was a three-week in the program over three years (Table 1). No students
long field based research experience. Up to five teams participated more than one year. Forty-six of the teachers
comprised optimally of two high school science teachers and 69 of the students were from Nevada schools; two
and two high school students were teamed with a lead teachers and two students were from Utah, and two
scientist in each of the two or three different projects each teachers and three students from California. Male and
year. This research experience was embedded in a nine female teachers participated in N-STEP in exactly equal
month program including a formal class sequence proportions. The participating teachers were
providing research context and pre- and post field overwhelmingly white (90%), reflecting the ethnic
research learning. The research class was a four-credit composition of the Nevada teaching population (Soule
class (either graduate or undergraduate) available as an and Young, 1998). Reflecting the intent of the program,
option to teachers through the University of Nevada Las 94% of the participating teachers teach at the high school
Vegas (UNLV) Continuing Education Department. level, and 96% teach in public schools. Most participating
Maintaining their team-based approach after the teachers were science teachers (except for the

48 Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 51, n. 1, January, 2003, p. 48-53

 PI Name and Type of Data Number of Teachers
Project Title Housing and Food
Affiliation Collected and Students
Biogeographic
Aquatic zooplankton
Genetics of Montane P. Starkweather, community structure, Tents, communal
Zooplankton in the 10:10
UNLV PCR gene cooking
Ruby Mountains, 1999
amplification,
Late Quaternary Soil infiltration
Paleohydrology of the D. Anderson,
capacity, descriptions Dormitory with
Amargosa Northern Arizona
of desert pavement
8:9
prepared food
River/Death Valley Univ.
and desert vegetation
Lake System, 1999
Microclimatic Ozone column
amount,
Variability of Dormitories at UNR,
M. Wetzel, DRI meteorological 8:9
Ultraviolet B Flux in prepared food
the Great Basin, 1999 observations, UV flux
measurements
Vegetation Mapping
of the Jarbidge D. Charlet, Plant community Tents with communal
Mountain Complex, Community College composition in alpine 6:10 cooking and dude
Elko County, Nevada, of Southern Nevada seetings ranch
2000
Evapotranspiration
and its Importance to Meteorological, Dormitory & prepared
the Water Budget of G. Dana, DRI evaporation, soil 6:10 food at Sierra Nevada
the Lake Tahoe Basin, moisture College
2000
Quantitative and
Anasazi archaeology qualitative
Tent camping,
at Zion National P. Buck, DRI characteristics of 8:13
prepared food
Park, UT, 2000 artifacts and feature;
spatial location data
Microclimatic Ozone column
Variability of amount, Dormitory at
Ultraviolet B Flux in M. Wetzel, DRI meteorological 7:8 Whiteman School,
the Rocky Mountains, observations, UV flux prepared food
2001 measurements
Quantitative and
Anasazi archaeology qualitative
Tent camping,
at Mt. Trumbull, AZ P. Buck, DRI characteristics of 4:5
prepared food
2001 artifacts and features;
spatial location data

Table 1. Characteristics of N-STEP projects. Each consisted of three weeks of continuous research in the
field, preceded and followed by a research class.

archaeology projects, where most were social studies or lead scientist said “high quality for a majority of the time
history teachers), but sometimes a teacher from another periods;” another stated “data quality depended on the
discipline such as math or computer science was paired group. Some groups collected excellent data, one group
with a science teacher. gathered data that had to be thrown out.”
Seventy-four students participated the program. All Most lead scientists established data collection
were high school students, 81% were white, 7% procedures and guidelines prior to field work, and
African-American, 5% Hispanic, 4% Asian/pacific evaluated dataset continuity and measurement accuracy
Islander, and 3% Native American. Most students were during and after the field study. Said one of the lead
from urban areas (78%); 62% of students were female. scientists:

Evaluating Data Quality - A wide variety of data was “I gave field demonstrations, wrote up protocols,
collected over three years from the eight field projects, and gave short talks on how to set up equipment
including genetic data collected in a mobile laboratory, and collect data properly. During the setup phase
classification and counts of broken Anasazi pottery, I spent time with each team to ensure they
evaporation data from Lake Tahoe, ozone column followed proper protocols, and that the data they
amounts, meteorological observations, ultraviolet flux collected was good. During the data collection
measurements, soil permeability in Death Valley, phase, I had the teams download and look at their
vegetation composition and density in the Jarbidge data to make sure it was within reasonable
Mountains, and others. The lead scientists involved in bounds. I encouraged teams to start evaporation
N-STEP were asked to briefly evaluate the quality and calculations using their data during the field
utility of the data teams collected during their projects. In phase.”
response to a request to assess the quality of the data, one

Buck - Authentic Research Experiences 49

 Some N-STEP lead scientists have already used some first year (reduction or elimination of simplistic data
of the data collected in publications in the professional collection exercises such as measuring and graphing the
literature (e.g., Charlet, 2000) or in professional absorbency of various brands of paper towels). These
presentations (Eskenazi et al. 2001) or in classes. A kinds of exercises were replaced by more time working
graduate student on the archaeology project used the directly with instruments and data to be collected in their
collected data as the basis for her thesis (Eskenazi 2002). specific disciplinary projects.
Most of the scientists felt data collected would be useful The example below illustrates the effectiveness of the
in their professional careers. One specifically mentioned responsive evaluation approach. An integral part of the
that data collected would be used in developing future program was a research class required for all teachers
grant proposals for follow-on research and education and student participants. The three meetings of the class
programs (Wetzel, 2002 personal communication). prior to field work were designed to introduce students
Some data were not usable, and this was recognized and teachers to data collection and general numeracy,
either in the field or during team report preparation. and orient the teams to their research projects. The class
Causes for poor data quality included insufficient was taught by a specialist in science education from the
calibration of instrumentation, inadequate number of College of Education at UNR, and the class was designed
instruments to go around, lack of communication jointly with the project principal investigator (Buck). We
between team members who were from different used several hands-on activities which had been
schools, and in some cases inadequate time spent in successfully used in professional development
training teachers and students due to limited field time. workshops for teachers to introduce measurement and
One scientist said “By far the single thing that would observation skills. The activities included measurement
have improved data quality is access to better of absorbency of various brands of paper towels, making
equipment, that was properly calibrated.” Scientists pancakes to determine the influence of varying the
directing the projects were well aware of the importance amounts of certain ingredients on pancake size, and
of running team members through training and testing other simple exercises designed to introduce data
protocols, often repeating trials on the same practice data collection, data analysis, and display.
set and reviewing results before collecting actual data. Many of these activities turned out to be far too
Most had graduate students who had worked with them simple and generally were not a productive use of
before who were familiar with protocols and assisted in teachers and students time. Below is a typical complaint
the training of team members. about the research class in year 1:
Certainly collection of reliable data was not as
efficient as using well-trained graduate assistants. “The preliminary meetings [research class
However, use of high school teachers and students meetings before field work] were a big thing, too.
provided an economical way to get good quality data if One of them we tossed a beach ball around and
sufficient time was spent on training and protocols were measured water. Another one we fried pancakes.
well defined and tested before implementation. If we’re going to be sampling water and doing lab
techniques, it would make much more sense to ...
Project Effect on Teaching and Learning - Although well, like for southern Nevada kids take them to
an ultimate goal of this project is to improve student Lake Mead, say, “This is how you’re sampling
learning outcomes, my primary focus was to increase water. This is what you’re looking for. On the
teachers science content knowledge and understanding next Saturday take them to the labs and say, ”This
of research methods to help improve their own teaching. is your lab technique." You know, “Practice this,”
I used an external evaluator from the College of whatever you do, and there’s plenty of water
Education at University of Nevada Reno (UNR) to around northern Nevada where they could have
administer a variety of survey instruments done the same thing” (male teacher, biology
(questionnaires) before and after teachers participation project 1999).
in the program to learn whether participation affected
their understanding and feelings about science in the Interviews with teachers and students in years 2 and
classroom. The external evaluator visited all the field 3 failed to reveal any negative comments about the
sites briefly during fieldwork, talked with teachers and re-designed research class. In these years, the simple
students, and recorded their comments on audiotape for hands-on exercises of year 1 were replaced by more
subsequent transcription. The transcriptions were used direct contact time with lead scientists in the project, who
to guide the program by being responsive to the teachers developed focused exercises and activities directly
perceived needs; this is the formative component of the related to the research projects each team would be
evaluation. The summative component of the evaluation participating in. In fact, some teachers felt even more
is based on pre-and-post survey instruments pre-field time would have been useful in allowing the
administered to teachers by the external evaluator. teams more preparation for set up and operation of
Evaluations were conducted each year of the project. scientific equipment, or become familiar with field
protocols prior to field work.
Formative Evaluation - The central concern of the Teachers involved in the program generally voiced
responsive evaluation (Stake and Easley, 1978; Sharp et high regard for scientists, enjoyed positive experiences in
al., 1994) was the issues and concerns of those who have meeting other students and teachers, had good collegial
an interest in the program, not how a program relations with scientists and graduate students, learned a
performed relative to its formal goal statements. This great deal of discipline specific science content, and
evaluation, coupled with impressions by the N-STEP strongly appreciated the opportunity of conducting
staff, was valuable in identifying weaknesses in authentic research.
management structure or defects in logistical support for
the teams. Comments by participants, for example, led “If we had the financial means to actually bring
directly to modifications in the research class after the kids out [to places like the archaeology project], I

50 Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 51, n. 1, January, 2003, p. 48-53

Figure 1. Examples of research teams working in the field. A) Lake Tahoe evapotranspiration project,
2000; B) Geology team measuring soil infiltration near Death Valley, CA in 1999; C) archaeology team
excavating at Zion National Park, UT in 2000; D) atmospheric science team installing instrumentation
near Reno, NV 1999.

think that would really enhance the learning. Its training with such equipment. Because the lead scientists
been beneficial for me. You know, I can excite had (almost universally) not conducted this kind of
them. I actually had the experience. You can just teacher enhancement project before, some were not
tell them about somebody else who had an prepared for the great time requirements for training
experience, but I had the experience” (teacher on large numbers of participants. Time consuming in-field
the archaeology project, 2000). laboratory procedures where only a handful of
participants could conduct lab procedures led to idleness
“Just again, again, and again these real-world and considerable down time for many participants,
scientific problems I think were really enriching. I which could have been more usefully directed by
went straight from college where I did N-STEP staff. Many teachers, perhaps because they
undergraduate research, and they tell you all the operate in the classroom with a rigid predictable
answers, but they never really teach you how to schedule, were uncomfortable with the more flexible
ask the questions. I think as far as I’m concerned, daily schedules necessary when conducting authentic
this is just a great experience for me as far as research.
real-world applications” (teacher on the biology Field scientists are often required to experience
project, 2000). discomfort and hardship to collect needed data. Most
scientists accept these difficulties because of their
Most complaints and criticisms were about commitment to research and teaching. Most teachers and
instrumentation and equipment malfunctions, motor students are unfamiliar with the kinds of sacrifices field
vehicle breakdowns, and (for those housed in tents) scientists routinely make; many students had never
uncomfortable or unfamiliar living conditions. Projects camped before, and were not prepared for the rigors of
using sophisticated electronic or research instruments camp life. Although comfort and convenience of
had occasional or even chronic problems with some participants did not guide research hypotheses or data
equipment, or had too few instruments to replace collection, few teachers or students would have
inoperable equipment, or were not given adequate satisfactory learning experiences if minimal comfort and

Buck - Authentic Research Experiences 51

conveniences are absent, or management structure is beliefs about their potential to influence students in their
inadequate. The tension between these factors was science classrooms positively. There were no statistically
clearly revealed through the responsive evaluation significant differences (p .05) in either of the STEBI
described above. It is clear that it would be far more measures between first administration of the instrument
satisfactory (from a comfort and convenience prior to field work and the third administration at the
perspective of participants) if the same projects were end of the project.
conducted year after year with the same staff in the same
area. Stable infrastructure such as a permanent field Summative Evaluation of Student Learning - The
station supported by a sufficient number of well-trained BASSQ was also administered to students in all three
staff and redundant instrumentation would likely years: in years 1 and 2, it was administered before the
improve participant’s experiences. Long term (three field session and in the final days of fieldwork; in year
years or more) stable funding avoiding the cyclic grant three it was also administered after research papers and
cycle would also help. posters had been completed. In year 2 a Mann-Whitney
test of differences in pre- and post-test scores of students
Summative Evaluation of Teacher Learning - While on the BASSQ show no statistically significant
responsitivity was an important feature in the differences (p=0.46) after completion of the field season.
evaluation, more traditional research methodologies Similarly, an analysis of variance of year 3 BASSSQ
were also employed. The Beliefs About Science and student scores for prefield, postfield, and final meeting
School Science Questionnaire (BASSSQ) (Aldridge et al., showed no statistically significant improvement in
1997) and the Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Inventory science understanding.
(STEBI) (Riggs and Enochs, 1990)were chosen as the
quantitative instruments for this study. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
The BASSSQ investigates participant’s thoughts
about “the process of scientific inquiry and the certainty Transcribed interviews with teachers and students
of scientific knowledge as promoted by scientific suggest strongly they are positively influenced in a
research by practicing scientists and school science number of ways by their involvement in the project.
teachers” (Cannon, 2001, p. 10-11). It contrasts an Teachers generally reported that they would take back to
objectivist view of science with a postmodern view their classroom the spirit of what is involved in doing
(Aldridge et al. 1997), and changes in scores between field research and perhaps modify some of their lesson
administrations are hypothesized to reflect changing plans and laboratory experiences (Cannon, 2001, p. 100).
teacher and student views of science and school science. Teachers and students learned a great deal of
This instrument is conceptually similar to instruments disciplinary content knowledge, and believed this
such as the Realistic Understanding of the Nature of knowledge to be more in depth, integrated, and genuine
Scientific Knowledge instrument (Burnley et al., 2002) that that found in typical classroom settings. The value of
and the Scientific Attitude Inventory II (Moore and Foy, authentic research for teachers is clearly indicated by the
1997). Teachers and students from all three years were following transcribed interview with N-STEP teachers:
asked to describe their beliefs about science and contrast
this understanding with their understanding of “We do too much for our kids in the classroom in
school-based science. A pre-and post-test non-control preparation in order to save time. We’ve got it all
group design was employed (Campbell and Stanley, prescribed. “Here it’s all typed out for you. Here
1963). The manipulated variable, or treatment, was the it is. Here’s your materials list. Here’s your
experience of performing field research. The responding method. Here’s the recipe that you’re going to
variable was the students and teacher’s scores on the follow.” And it even says, “Forty-five minutes.”
BASSSQ. In classsroom science, “…we have a syllabus and
The instrument was administered annually at the there’s certain things you have to learn, and we
initial all participants meeting held in late spring. These only have a certain amount of time, so you’re
data served as a baseline for noting any change in going to give them an experiment where you
students’ and teachers’ beliefs about the nature of science know basically how it’s going to end. And so they
and school science. The BASSSQ was administered again get it, and you know exactly how long it’s going
during the last days of each field research session (in year to take, and that’s classroom science.”
3 it was administered a third time after teams had
completed their research papers and posters). Scores of “But in real science, it’s not like that at all. You’ve
teachers responses were combined for all three years; no got to figure out what you’re going to do. One
statistically significant differences (P .05) were found. day we went to - the first day we went to do our
However, results were significant at the 0.10 level evaporation pan, we forgot the bucket. Well, we
(p=0.092). went searching for the van, and we found a liter
Also administered in years two and three was STEBI bottle of water. So we figured out how to convert
(Science Teaching Efficacy Beliefs Inventory, Riggs and the inches, the volume, the whole thing, and we
Enochs, 1990), hypothesized to measure high school figured out how many liters of water to fill that
teacher’s levels of science self-efficacy. The STEBI was stupid water bottle enough to get it back in. That’s
administered three times during years two and three science. But in a classroom, I don’t know if kids
—once at the first all-hands meeting in the spring, once at are going to get that.”
the end of the field research, and final time at the awards
ceremony in winter following the summer research. One Quantitative data on the effects of the project on
attribute measured is personal science teaching teachers and students were collected at least twice
self-efficacy (PSTE), which measures teachers beliefs during each year. BASSSQ data were taken at the all
about their ability to effectively teach science, and hands meeting prior to field work, again the last few
outcome expectancy (OE) which measures teachers days of the field research, and (for year 3) at the project

52 Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 51, n. 1, January, 2003, p. 48-53

conclusion. No differences were noted pre-and post-test. AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of
This lack of change using the BASSSQ is similar to that Science) Project 2061, 1998, Blueprints for reform:
reported by Burnley et al. (2002) when they used science, mathematics and technology education.
previously reported instruments for evaluation of a New York: Oxford University Press.
multiyear research experiences for undergraduates Burnley, P.C., Evans, W., and Jarrett, O., 2002, A
(REU) program. They developed a more sensitive comparison of approaches and instruments for
instrument that should be helpful in evaluation of other evaluating a geological sciences research
REU projects (Burnley et al., 2002, p. 25) and may be more experiences program, Journal of Geoscience
appropriate than the BASSSQ. Education, v. 50, p. 15-24.
The STEBI data on teacher self-efficacy were Campbell, D. and Stanley, J., 1963, Experimental and
collected three times in years 2 and 3 only, the third time quasi-experimental designs for research, Dallas:
at the awards ceremony after four months collaboration Houghton-Mifflin.
writing the research paper, preparing the poster and oral Cannon, J.T., 2000, Final Report on N-STEP Year 1999,
presentation under the mentorship of their lead scientist. Ms. Prepared for N-STEP Program on file at the
Changes in teachers self-efficacy and outcome Desert Research Institute, Las Vegas.
expectancy were not statistically significant. Cannon, J.T., 2001, Final report of the 2000 Nevada
No two projects were ever repeated in the same Science Teacher Enhancement Project (N-STEP):
fashion—locations changed, staff changed, graduate archaeology, biology, and earth science projects. Ms.
assistants changed, and of course the team composition Prepared for N-STEP Program on file at the Desert
changed. Given all these changes, and the fact that each Research Institute, Las Vegas.
project was unique (and involved considerable Charlet, D.A., 2000, Coupling species-level inventories
discovery and adventure) what is surprising to me is the with vegetation mapping, Madroño, v. 47, p.
generally high quality of the data that came out of the 259-264.
projects. Several N-STEP scientists will use or have Eskenazi, S., 2002. Excavation and Interpretation:
already used data in their own research (Charlet, 2002; 42Ws126, the Watchman Campground Site, Zion
Eskenazi et al. 2001; G. Dana, 2002 personal National Park, Utah. Masters Thesis, Department of
communication) and are pleased with the data quality Anthropology, University of Nevada Las Vegas.
resulting from the project. High quality data resulted in Eskenazi, S., L. Perry, and P. Buck, 2001, Excavations at
part from lead scientists developing clear protocols for the Watchman Campground Site (42Ws126) in Zion
data collection, combined with effective training of National Park, Utah. Abstracts of the 66th Annual
teachers and students. Review of data while the teams Meeting, p. 132. Washington D.C.: Society for
were still in the field is perhaps the most effective way to American Archaeology
evaluate data quality. Moore, R.W., and Foy, L., 1997, The scientific attitude
inventory: a revision (SAI II): Journal of Research In
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Science Teaching, v. 34, p. 327-336.
NDE (Nevada Department of Education), 1999, Revised
This project was made possible by a grant from the Nevada State science education framework, Carson
National Science Foundation (ESI-9731285), with City: Nevada Department of Education.
substantial support from the Desert Research Institute, NRC (National Research Council), 1996, National
the Clark County School District, and the Nevada Science Education Standards, Washington: National
Department of Education. I particularly thank Stefanie Academy Press.
Rowland-Fleischmann for her tireless effort in keeping it Riggs, I.M., and Enochs, L., 1990, Toward the
all together for the three years of the project. I thank development of an elementary teachers science
Susan Moore for helping me refine ideas, draft the NSF teaching efficacy beliefs instrument, Science
proposal, and guide effective collaborations with local Education, v. 74, p. 625-637.
teachers, and Claudia Miner for program support. John Sharp, L., Carey, N., Frechtling, J.A., & Burgdorf, K.,
Cannon of the College of Education, University of 1994, Short-term impact study of the National
Nevada Reno evaluated teacher and student learning Science Foundation’s Young Scholars program,
outcomes of the project. David Crowther of the UNR was (Contract No. SED 92-55369). Washington, DC:
the instructor of the classroom component of the project. National Science Foundation. (ERIC Document
A special thanks to the science faculty who directed Reproduction Service No. ED 381 381).
projects: Diana Anderson, David Charlet, Gayle Dana, Soule, P.P. and Young, R.W., 1998, Statewide survey of
Peter Starkweather, and Melanie Wetzel. professional development needs of school-based
staff, 1997-1998, Nevada Department of Education,
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Buck - Authentic Research Experiences 53