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.