Preparing 8th Grade Students to Excel in Physical Science: HandsOn Physics (HOP)!

Abstract

This study describes a program that the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) carried out in partnership with Birmingham City Schools (BCS) to test an educational intervention, i.e., Hands-On Physics (HOP), among 8th grade students in predominantly minority schools. It also evaluated teachers' demographics and educational backgrounds. The students conducted four physics experiments during a three day period. They performed better on post-tests. The actual and the percent gains in knowledge for each school were essentially equal for the schools that had passing versus failing grades in annual state assessment (20.4±5.6/49.0±5.6%, 20.4±2.7/48.4±8.3%, respectively). Most students (53%) stated that they were comfortable with science, 88% indicated that they were planning to enter higher education, and 86% agreed that higher education was very important for their future. The students' major perceived obstacles to higher education were education cost and low grades. The teachers were primarily between 40-59 years old (60%), female (80%) and African-American (93%), and 87% majored in biology (93%). Forty percent had a bachelor's degree and 60% had a master's degree. They reported that they needed more support teaching physics and reported that a lack of materials and time were the main obstacles to provide the highest quality science educational experiences.