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OpenSciEd Student Outcomes Papers
Every student and every educator deserve high quality instructional materials. While OpenSciEd has received positive reviews from both EdReports and the NextGenScience Peer Review Panel, educators want to see evidence of its efficacy. The Updated Summary and Synthesis of OpenSciEd Research (2024) includes summarizes all of the OpenSciEd-enabled research papers published between October 2022 and September 2024. The work of Sarah Kelly, Nicole Vick and Nina Blanton are elevated in this document because of their rigorous studies on student outcomes resulting from the use of OpenSciEd instructional materials.
In “Non-Traditional Learning in STEM: How Students’ Autonomy and the Impact of Teacher Delivery Develops Deeper Conceptual Understanding at the Middle School Level,” Kelly (2023) compared standardized test scores in science, math, and English language arts (ELA) in classrooms that implement OpenSciEd versus those that do not. This study analyzed achievement data from approximately 1,600 students and conducted interviews with 23 teachers in a single district. Differences in achievement were observed primarily in science, not in math or ELA. Trends in Kelly’s data revealed that:
- There is evidence of student growth in science achievement and proficiency based on grade 8 Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) scores in the intervention groupings, with growth being evident in both more than one year of intervention and one year of intervention, compared to traditional instruction.
- Teacher perception of this curriculum is mixed, but many of the stated issues were with logistical problems that were encountered (supply timing, planning time, etc.) instead of with the curriculum itself.
- To fully implement this high-quality curriculum, teachers will need support in the areas of planning, time for professional learning community work, and opportunities to engage in professional development with OpenSciEd.
In “Comparison Between the Effectiveness of mySci and OpenSciEd Curricula on the Achievement and Attitudes of Eighth Grade Science Students,” Vick and Blanton (2023) compared student learning outcomes and science attitudes for students using the OpenSciEd Earth and Space unit to a comparable mySci unit. Their conclusions included:
- Students who experienced the OpenSciEd curriculum had a higher mean academic score than those that experienced mySci curriculum.
- Students who experienced the mySci unit had higher My Attitudes Toward Science (MATS) survey (Hillman, et al. 2016) scores than students who experienced OpenSciEd.
- Students who experienced the OpenSciEd unit had higher differences in pre- and post-instructional MATS mean survey scores for overall score and attitude, desire, and perception domains than students who experienced the mySci unit.
Hillman, S. J. (2016). My attitudes toward science (MATS): The development of a multidimensional instrument measuring students’ science attitudes. Learning Environments Research, 19(2), 203-219.
Kelly, S. (2023). Non-Traditional Learning in STEM: How Students Autonomy and the Impact of Teacher Delivery Develops Deeper Conceptual Understanding at the Middle School Level (Publication No. 1538) [University of Northern Iowa]. Dissertations and Theses @ UNI.
McElhaney, K. W., Mills, K., Kamdar, D., Baker, A., & Roschelle, J. (2022). A summary and synthesis of initial OpenSciEd research: Draft version [White paper]. Digital Promise.
Vick, N. and Blanton, N. (2023). Comparison between the Effectiveness of mySci and OpenSciEd Curricula on the Achievement and Attitudes of Eighth Grade Science Students (Publication No. 1357) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri-St. Louis]. IRL @ University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Instructional materials identified in the OpenSciEd research synthesis:
- OpenSciEd instructional materials use a storyline approach—a logical sequence of lessons motivated by students’ questions that arise from students’ interactions with phenomena.
- mySci, a program of the Institute for School Partnership at Washington University in St. Louis, is a collaboratively designed NGSS-aligned K-8 instructional program. They partner with schools to bridge research and practice to support robust science learning for all students.