Depth Versus Breadth: How Content Coverage in High School Science Courses Relates to Later Success in College Science Coursework

被引：75

作者：

Schwartz, Marc S. ^{[1
]}

Sadler, Philip M. ^{[2
]}

Sonnert, Gerhard ^{[2
]}

Tai, Robert H. ^{[3
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Texas Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019 USA

[2] Harvard Smithsonian Ctr Astrophys, Sci Educ Dept, Cambridge, MA 02138 USA

[3] Univ Virginia, Curry Sch Educ, Curriculum Instruct & Special Educ Dept, Charlottesville, VA 22904 USA

来源：

SCIENCE EDUCATION | 2009年 / 93卷 / 05期

关键词：

CURRICULUM; KNOWLEDGE; DILEMMAS; REFORM;

D O I：

10.1002/sce.20328

中图分类号：

G40 [教育学];

学科分类号：

040101 ; 120403 ;

摘要：

This study relates the performance of college students in introductory science courses to the amount of content covered in their high school science courses. The sample includes 83 10 students in introductory biology, chemistry, or physics courses in 55 randomly chosen U.S. colleges and universities. Students who reported covering at least I major topic in depth, for a month or longer, in high school were found to earn higher grades in college science than did students who reported no coverage in depth. Students reporting breadth in their high school course, covering all major topics, did not appear to have any advantage in chemistry or physics and a significant disadvantage in biology. Care was taken to account for significant covariates: socioeconomic variables, English and mathematics proficiency, and rigor of their preparatory high science course. Alternative operationalizations of depth and breadth variables result in very similar findings. We conclude that teachers should use their judgment to reduce coverage in high school science courses and aim for mastery by extending at least I topic in depth over an extended period of time. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 93:798-826 2009

引用

页码：798 / 826

页数：29