Abstract
An interpretive tour of an ecology exhibit was integrated with classroom lessons to develop scientific observing and inferring skills in lower socio-economic status (SES) Hispanic children. Fourteen fourth-grade teachers were trained to use the program. One hundred twenty-one (121) Hispanic children experienced the program over six weeks and 128 children experienced the same program in a two-week intensive format. Two classes totaling 34 children served as controls. Open-ended pretests and posttests were used to examine student use of descriptors and logical inferences. Neither group excelled in using descriptors, but the six-week treatment group produced more and/or better inferences than the two-week or control groups.
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She is currently completing her doctoral studies in Quantitative Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. 78712
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Martinello, M.L., Kromer, M.E. Developing and assessing lower-ses Hispanic children's inferential thinking through a museum-school program. J Elem Sci Edu 2, 21–36 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172962
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172962