Learning Landform Vocabulary through Different Methods:
Object Boxes, Sand and Dough Creations, or Puppet Plays
Audrey C. Rule
Department of Curriculum and Instruction, State University of New York at
Oswego, Oswego, NY 13126, [email protected]
Lewis E. Graham
Casey Park Elementary School, 101 Pulaski Street, Auburn, New York 13021,
[email protected]
Stefan Kowalski
Casey Park Elementary School, 101 Pulaski Street, Auburn, New York 13021,
[email protected]
Martha Harris
Casey Park Elementary School, 101 Pulaski Street, Auburn, New York 13021,
[email protected]
ABSTRACT
Learning about landforms is an important part of earth
science instruction in the elementary grades that has
been identified as needing improvement. Three
research-supported experimental approaches were
compared in a counterbalanced-design study conducted
on three sets of landform words with second, third, and
fourth grade students (N = 53). Because many
geomorphology terms have multiple meanings that lead
to misconceptions and learning difficulty, the
vocabulary of the study focused on thirty words that
have both an everyday meaning and a landform
meaning.
All students viewed an electronic slide show of
photographs and definitions of landforms accompanied
by explanations of landform processes. Then they
attended lessons under the different conditions for the
same amount of time. In the object box condition,
students created a layout of objects, papier-mâché
landform models, photographs, definitions, analogy
cards, and mnemonic device cards that related the two
meanings of each term. In the second condition, students
created landforms in sand or dough and labeled them. In
the third condition, students created and performed
puppet plays that explained the landforms. Results show
that the object box condition was favored above the sand
condition and the puppet play condition, although
long-term retention of information was good in all three.
INTRODUCTION
The Need for Good Instruction in Geomorphology
and Landforms - Several studies have indicated that
K-12 students have not learned needed vocabulary
related to the Earth's surface features. A task force of the
National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE)
conducted a study of 529 middle and high school
students (LeVasseur, 1999), administering the NCGE
Competency-Based Geography Test (NCGE, 1980), and
found that students were least knowledgeable about
physical geography, an outcome consistent with two
National Assessment of Educational Progress
assessments and studies (Bein, 1990; Henrie, Aron,
Nelson, and Poole, 1997). Twidale (1999), in "A plea for
the best of the past - suggestions for teaching about
landforms," notes that students need to know the terms
for landforms and their modes of formation, just as
students need basic facts in other subject areas, and
"some means must be found of facilitating the acquiring
of such information" (p.244).
Rule et al. - Learning Landform Vocabulary
Learning vocabulary is a necessary part of science
instruction. Students need words to discuss their ideas
with others and to process them mentally (Vygotsky,
1989). Yager (1983), in analyzing K-12 science textbooks,
which are central to most science instruction, found, "the
number of words introduced at every level is
considerable - often more than would be required if a
new language were being introduced" (p. 577).
Nelson-Herber (1986) suggested the problem is not that
students lack reading skills to assimilate the new
vocabulary, but that they lack the prior conceptual
knowledge to construct meaning for the new terms.
Balaithy (1988) supported this idea by reasoning that
students copy reports from encyclopedias rather than
writing their own words because they lack experience
and vocabulary.
Three national professional groups have produced
standards indicating that landforms be part of the
elementary curriculum. A consortium of professional
geography associations, which included the National
Geographic Society, published the National Geographic
Education Standards (Geography Education Standards
Project, 1994) that included knowledge of landforms.
This document, under "Physical Systems", Standard 7
states, "The geographically informed person knows and
understands the physical processes that shape the
patterns of Earth's surface." Marran (1995) analyzed the
verbs used in the National Geography Standards. He
identified the most commonly used verbs and the
frequency of their use at different grade levels. For the
fourth grade level, students were most frequently asked
to describe and identify, followed by compare, explain,
locate, analyze, and use. He further explained that to
describe is "to be able to give a verbal or written account
of the basic attributes of a place, a situation, a process, or
a concept," and to identify is to "establish verification by
telling what something is" (Marran, 1995, p. 463-464).
These two verbs, along with compare and explain,
address the primary actions occurring as students learn
landform vocabulary: students learn the attributes of the
landform, how to verify that it meets the criteria for being
called by the term, compare it to other similar landforms,
and explain how it formed.
The National Science Education Standards (National
Research Council, 1996) Earth and Space Science Content
Standard D for grades K-4, Changes in Earth and Sky,
addressed landform processes in stating, "The surface of
the earth changes. Some changes are due to slow
processes, such as erosion and weathering, and some
changes are due to rapid processes, such as landslides,
volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes." Similarly, Chapter
4, The Physical Setting, of the Benchmarks for Science
Literacy (American Association for the Advancement of
515
Science, 1993) states that children in grades three
through five should learn about surface features of the
Earth. "...Students should accumulate more information
about the physical environment, becoming familiar with
the details of geological features, observing and
mapping locations of hills, valleys, rivers, etc., but
without elaborate classification.... Students should now
observe elementary processes of the rock cycle-erosion,
transport, and deposit... Later, they can connect the
features to the processes and follow explanations of how
the features came to be and still are changing" (Chapter 4,
Part C. Processes that Shape the Earth).
The foregoing discussion has established that good
instruction in landform vocabulary is a recognized need
for elementary students. But what teaching methods are
most effective for long-term retention of vocabulary? In
this article, we first review the recent literature on
different pedagogical approaches to teaching landforms.
Then we discuss techniques that ameliorate
misconceptions associated with terms that have multiple
meanings. Finally, we explain our choice of three
research-supported treatments examined in our
counterbalanced study of second, third, and fourth
graders learning landform vocabulary.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Constructivist Learning - Constructivist teaching and
learning has its foundation in the work of Jean Piaget,
who believed that learners interact with the world to
actively construct knowledge from their existing
conceptual frameworks (Sigel and Cocking, 1977;
Wubbels, 1992). For a student to learn new ideas, he or
she must recognize that his/her current understandings
of how the world works do not adequately explain the
new ideas with which he/she is confronted. This causes
disequilibrium in the learner and a readiness for new
learning. Science activities should provide experiences
from which the learner can construct new meanings for
what is observed, rather than mere facts to be
memorized. Self-questioning and disequilibrium allow
the learner to change his/her mental framework and
learn. Lessons that make connections between the new
concept, previous learning, everyday experiences, and
other subject areas help the learner build connections in
the mind between concepts. This makes retrieval and
application of information to new problems easier.
Constructivist approaches are accepted as best
practice in science teaching by national science education
organizations such as the National Research Council and
American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Different Pedagogical Approaches - There are
numerous ways to support constructivist teaching. Here
we examine the literature describing different ways to
teach geomorphology to K-12 students. Bednarz (1995)
reviewed different pedagogical approaches to teaching
places and landforms. One effective strategy was the use
of mnemonics in learning vocabulary. Keyword
mnemonics help the learner remember a new term by
associating a keyword with the term. For example, the
student might picture the first letter of the term as
becoming the main shape of the landform, as the letter s
in sinuous twists and turns like a meandering river.
Another keyword mnemonic device involved
associating another meaning of the word with the
landform. For example, a student might picture an ear
superimposed on the body of water between a barrier
516
island and the mainland to remember "sound".
Mnemonics have been shown to be successful in teaching
students other Earth science concepts, such as the
minerals of the Mohs scale of hardness (Mastropieri,
Scruggs, and Levin, 1987; Rule, 2003).
A second technique involved students in focusing
their attention, as students who paid attention learned
more than those who were less focused (Wittrock, 1986).
Attention may be drawn by inserting questions into
instruction or providing novel lesson materials.
A third pedagogical strategy is cooperative learning,
especially when group goals and individual
accountability were incorporated (Slavin, 1991).
Whittecar (2000) explained how he used the jigsaw
approach to teach students a variety of volcanic
landforms. Students from different groups went to
centers where they studied the features, processes, and
sequence of events for a particular geographic area. After
they had learned the information, they returned to their
original groups to teach their teammates.
Lockledge (1991) suggested several other lesson
approaches for teaching landforms. First, students used a
Venn diagram to compare and contrast attributes of two
Earth features. In another idea, students compared
similar landforms, such as a peninsula and cape,
determining criteria for differentiation and ending by
writing structured poems about the features. Lockledge
also described how students located examples of
different landforms on maps or worked as teams to quiz
each other on landform characteristics. Dill (1999)
showed how a library/media specialist involved
students in creating landform dictionaries with print and
Internet resources.
Several approaches involved physical models.
Tucker (2001), explained how his rural elementary
students learned about other topographic features than
their rolling landscape by creating relief models from
topographic maps with layers of cardboard. Petersen
(1986) advocated using miniature natural landforms to
teach geomorphology, as these were easier to obtain and
aided students in understanding their larger-scale
counterparts. Although not all processes will be the
same, there are sufficient similarities to make them
useful and enlightening for students. Brook and Luft
(1988) suggested that solution features be modeled in the
classroom with plaster slabs (gypsum) dissolved with
water. This technique allowed students to observe and
produce a photographic record of the dissolution
processes and resulting landforms. Similarly, fluvial
geomorphology was effectively taught through the use
of stream tables at which students watched features form
in response to stream processes (Lillquist and Kinner,
2002).
Intervention lessons for elementary students
experiencing learning difficulties (Hickey and Bein,
1996) also highlighted hands-on activities. Students used
a salt and flour mixture to model landforms in a
cardboard shoebox lid, or simulated a volcanic eruption
and lava turning to solid rock by cooking a recipe for
peanut brittle. When soda was put into the hot liquid, the
mixture bubbled (erupted) and formed a porous solid
(the peanut brittle) as it cooled.
Misconceptions Associated with Words with Multiple
Meanings - Vocabulary words with multiple meanings
are the source of many student misconceptions in
science. Physical science words like power, work, and
energy have both everyday and scientific meanings that
Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 54, n. 4, September, 2006, p. 515-525
students confuse (Solomon, 1983; Gair and Stancliffe,
1988; Kruger, Palaciao, and Summers, 1992). Similar
misconception problems are noted in geoscience:
Kusnick (2002) found students had difficulty with
different senses of rock; Rule (2005) reported elementary
students mixed everyday and fossil fuel meanings of oil,
gas, and coal. Many landform terms have multiple
meanings. Some are so commonly used in a
non-landform sense that students have a difficult time
recognizing a new meaning. Examples of these include
sound, mouth, bank, cone, and plain.
A useful pedagogical technique for teaching
vocabulary is to involve students in manipulating
concrete representations. Rule and Barrera (1999), in an
exercise related to the twelve meanings of scale,
suggested having students match objects representing
different meanings with definitions to focus attention
and provide concrete experiences. This concept of using
object boxes, collections of small items and word cards
housed in a box, was used successfully in a science study
of third graders who learned almost twice the
vocabulary of a control group by matching cards
containing adjectives of physical observations to the
objects they described (Rule, Barrera, and Stewart, 2004).
Another study (Rule and Barrera, 2003), also involving
third graders, favored students using object boxes that
contained definitions and objects for two meanings of
each of the vocabulary terms over a control group taught
the same concepts with direct instruction and pictorial
worksheets.
Research-Supported Study Treatments: Object Box
Condition - The object box condition required students
to make a chart-like layout of materials with a row of
items for each vocabulary word. The term was printed on
a central card accompanied by objects (miniatures or toys
and papier-mâché landform models) representing the
two meanings of the word, definition cards, photographs
of the landform and everyday object, an analogy card
that described a similarity between the common and
landform meanings, and a mnemonic device card that
showed images of the two meanings interacting. Finally,
a card with the word and an image of the landform
created in layered paper was provided for students to
make a crayon rubbing on plain paper.
Higbee (1996) outlined five basic principles on which
virtually all learning and memory are based:
meaningfulness, organization, association, visualization,
and attention. The object box condition fulfilled these
principles in the following ways. The vocabulary terms
were made meaningful by providing concrete
representations of both meanings of the words,
definition cards, and photographs. Addressing multiple
meanings guarded against misconceptions. The
papier-mâché models provided depictions of the
landforms for students to view in three dimensions.
Laying out the materials in the chart-like manner
allowed student to organize the new information both on
the table and in their minds. In fact, research (Masson
and McDaniel, 1981) showed that students who carefully
organized information learned as much as those who
studied it with the intent to memorize it. Students
associated the objects with the two meanings of the
words and the analogy card allowed them to see a
connection between the everyday and technical meaning
of the term.
Actual objects and photographic images enhanced
visualization; the mnemonic image card helped students
Rule et al. - Learning Landform Vocabulary
visualize the two meanings of the words interacting. The
colorful, three-dimensional objects, the interesting
photographs, and the "crazy" image of the two meanings
of the word interacting captured students' attention.
Handling and arranging the materials kept students
focused on the task at hand. The final crayon rubbing
was tactilely stimulating and provided an additional
image of the term. Young readers and readers with
disabilities tend to have tactile learning preferences
(Carbo, 1983). Students with a high preference for tactile
learning (such as using manipulatives and
three-dimensional models and being able to touch and
arrange items) tend to also prefer learning kinesthetically
(through whole body movements such as motioning,
dancing, acting out), through multiple modalities, and
through work with peers, (Gadt-Johnson and Price, 200).
Sand and Dough Condition - This condition was a
hands-on approach emphasizing building/creating and
labeling the models in two media: damp medium-sized
sand and colorful play dough. Manipulatives and
hands-on activities have been shown to be a superior
method of science teaching (Ruby, 2001; Frederick and
Shaw, 1999). Students were provided with a paper copy
of the electronic slide show they had viewed earlier,
which contained photographs, diagrams, and definitions
stating mode of formation of the landforms. Students
self-checked as they created the models, making sure
they were forming them correctly. If students were
unsure about an aspect of the landform, they could
discuss this with peers or the teacher and clarify their
understanding. Therefore, geographic forms were made
meaningful as students created them in the media.
Higbee's five principles can be applied to this
activity. As students created the landforms and reviewed
information on the printout of the electronic slide show,
they made their work meaningful and associated the
sculptures with real-world landforms and Earth
processes. The sand or dough sculptures provided
visuals to aid memory. The tactile / visual stimulation
and presentation of work to peers held students'
attention. Finally, labeling the sculpted landforms
allowed students to organize their work, and some
students made associations to other items with similar
shapes as they modeled the landforms.
Puppet Play Condition - The puppet play condition
involved students in working as a two teams to create
plays with stick puppets, scenery or props to teach the
ten landforms to the remaining team. This is a form of
peer teaching: an "activity carried out by students or
students that involves taking on a teaching role in a
school
setting"
(Puchner,
2003,
p.3).
Peer
tutoring/teaching has been shown to benefit both the
tutor and tutee; Cohen, Kulik, and Kulik (1982), in a
meta-analysis of sixty-five studies that compared peer
tutoring to conventional classroom teaching, found
improved achievement and enhanced positive attitudes
for both tutors and tutees. Other research shows that
children who provide detailed and complex
explanations to other children learn the most during peer
teaching (Cohen, 1994).
The
five
principles
of
learning/memory
enhancement can also be found in this activity. As
students planned the script to teach the landforms, they
organized the information, made associations to their
previous knowledge, and gave the terms meaning. They
created visuals (puppets, backdrops, props) with their
517
N
Female
Male
Euro-American
African-American
Hispanic American
Qualify for Special
Educational Services
Qualify for Title 1 Services
4th
Grade
Class
16
7
9
11
5
0
3rd
Grade
Class
21
12
9
16
4
1
2nd
Grade
Class
16
7
9
14
2
0
4
4
2
16
21
16
Lesson
Topic
Condition
Sand and
Dough
Object Box
Puppet Play
Landforms
2nd grd grp A
3rd grd grp A
4th grd grp A
2nd grd grp B
3rd grd grp B
4th grd grp B
2nd grd grp C
3rd grd grp C
4th grd grp C
Shore Forms
2nd grd grp B
3rd grd grp B
4th grd grpB
2nd grd grp C
3rd grd grp C
4th grd grpC
2nd grd grp A
3rd grd grp A
4th grd grpA
River Forms
2nd grd grp C
3rd grd grp C
4th grd grp C
2nd grd grp A
3rd grd grp A
4th grd grp A
2nd grd grp B
3rd grd grp B
4th grd grp B
Table 2. Experimental set-up.
Table 1. Demographics of the sample population.
own hands to enhance learning from their
dramatizations. The novelty, creativity, and humor of
making their own puppets and plays held their attention.
Motivation was also enhanced by students' ownership of
the activity (Powell, 2005): students made the characters
and script the way they desired.
Hypothesis - The three learning conditions described
above have strengths in different areas. The object box
condition provides three-dimensional objects, makes
strong connections between prior knowledge of
everyday meanings of terms and new landform
meanings, and involves students in organizing
information. The sand and dough condition involves
students in creating landforms with their hands in two
media. The puppet play condition focuses on creativity,
humor, and ownership during peer teaching. All three
approaches are educationally sound and focused on
concept acquisition through different modalities and
activities: in all three lesson conditions, students focused
on the meaning of the landforms and either 1) organized
information (object boxes; 2) created models (sand and
dough); or 3) created a presentation of the information
for others (puppet plays). We predicted that second,
third and fourth grade students will make gains in
landform vocabulary and concepts under all three
conditions. In the results of the experiment we highlight
the methods under which the most learning occurred.
METHODS AND PROCEDURES
Subjects and Setting - Three classes of students at
different grade levels (fourth, third, and second)
attending a Title 1 elementary school (Title 1 is a federally
funded program to improve the quality of education in
high-poverty schools) with a diverse population in a
medium-sized city in central New York State
participated in the study. Written permission to conduct
the study was obtained from the appropriate university's
committee for research involving human subjects, the
school principal, and parents/ guardians of the students.
The demographics of the sample population are shown
in Table 1.
Experimental Design - The experimental design was a
pretest/posttest-counterbalanced design as shown in
Table 2. Each class was randomly divided, by drawing
names on folded paper from a bowl, into three groups:
Group A, Group B, and Group C, for a total of nine
518
River Form
Words
Bed
Fall
Branch
Channel
Trunk
Bar
Fork
Bank
Mouth
Run-off
Landform Words
Mesa
Foot
Horn
Cone
Basin
Fan
Slide
Saddle
Plain
Range
Shore Form
Words
Spit
Trough
Crest
Bay
Wave
Current
Shelf
Cape
Sound
Swell
Table 3. Word sets for each lesson.
subgroups with three at each grade level. Students were
taught three lessons, each on a different topic related to
geomorphology: river forms, landforms, and shore
forms. Lessons were taught to each class separately by
the second author (L. Graham) with assistance from the
classroom teacher and teaching assistants. After a brief
whole-class introduction to the vocabulary terms and
processes of formation with an electronic slide show, the
groups in that class were taught one of the three lessons
under a different pedagogical condition. Students joined
their groups at different locations in the classroom to
complete the lesson through the assigned condition.
Over the next two days, students again viewed slide
shows and switched conditions to study the remaining
vocabulary sets, shown in Table 3. Vocabulary terms
were chosen because they were fairly common
geomorphology terms with multiple meanings.
Although it is possible that one vocabulary set was more
or less difficult than the others, in the counterbalanced
experimental design used here, vocabulary sets were
compared across conditions, thereby avoiding problems
associated with differences between sets.
Procedures - This study examined the effect of using
three different methods in teaching vocabulary words
with both common and earth science meanings related to
landforms, shore forms, and river forms.
1) A pretest was administered to all students several
weeks before lessons were conducted. The pretest
showed that students were unfamiliar with the
geographic meanings of the vocabulary words. The
mean score was 8.2 % correct.
Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 54, n. 4, September, 2006, p. 515-525
Figure 1. Example rows from the layout for landforms.
2) The same instructor (second author, Lewis Graham)
delivered all the lessons with the help of the regular
classroom teachers (third and fourth authors) and
several teaching assistants. The multiple-meaning
aspect of the vocabulary was formally addressed
only in the object box condition, although students
spontaneously noted that the words had other
meanings in all conditions. Students in each
condition were not allowed to view the materials of
the other condition, nor interact with other groups
while the lessons were being conducted.
4) After the slide show, the students in the class were
divided into three groups, A, B, and C. Table 2 shows
the condition in which each group learned each unit.
The three groups remained in the same classroom,
but moved to different areas of the room. The second
author had discussed the directions for each activity
previously with each of the teachers/ assistants, and
they helped engage the children in the lesson
activities for each condition. All three groups were
given two copies of the slide show photographs and
definitions handout to use as a reference if needed
during the activity.
3) At the start of each of the three lessons (landforms, 5) Object Box Layout Condition - One group worked
with the object boxes and arranged the materials to
river forms, shore forms), students of all groups from
form a large layout. First, the vocabulary terms were
the same grade level (same class) viewed a short
electronic presentation with explanations from the
arranged in a long column. An object representing
the everyday meaning of the word was placed to the
instructor that showed two photographs with
left of the corresponding term and the appropriate
definitions of each of the ten landforms addressed by
the lesson. Images used in this slide show were
landform, shore form or river form papier-mâché
obtained from the Internet. Exton (1999) gives many
model was placed to the right of the word. The
websites for photographs; also, most Internet search
definition card with the everyday meaning of the
engines are able to locate useful images. The
word was placed below the object and the
instructor explained the origin and significance of
geographic form definition was placed below the
the features at this time. This took approximately
model. A photograph of the actual geographic form
fifteen minutes.
was placed next to the definition and a photograph
of an appropriate object was placed next to the
everyday meaning of the term, to extend and
Rule et al. - Learning Landform Vocabulary
519
Figure 2. Example rows from the layout for river forms.
Figure 3. Example rows from the layout for shore forms.
520
Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 54, n. 4, September, 2006, p. 515-525
Grade
Level
Condition
Sand and
Dough
3.6 (1.6)
4.2 (2.0)
5.3 (1.9)
4.4 (1.9)
8) Posttest - Four weeks after the lessons had been
taught, students completed a posttest to determine
long-term retention of vocabulary. The posttest
2
16
4.2 (2.7)
3.2 (2.4)
consisted of six pages of line drawings and
3
21
5.4 (2.8)
4.3 (2.5)
definitions of features accompanied by terms for
matching, with four to six features related to the
4
16
5.6 (3.4)
4.4 (2.6)
same vocabulary set on each page. These line
All
53
5.1 (3.0)
4.0 (2.5)
drawings were different than those seen in the slide
show or under any of the conditions to force students
Table 4. Mean posttest results for all word sets,
to apply their knowledge to a new stimulus. The
arranged by grade level and sorted by condition. Each
definitions were similar to those provided to all
reported score is the number correct out of ten.
students during the slide shows, but briefer.
N
Object Box
Puppet Play
generalize the examples. Students then identified an
analogy between the two meanings of the word and
placed a card explaining this analogy into the correct
row of the layout. Finally, they found a pictorial card
that showed images of the two meanings of the word
interacting together as a mnemonic device and
placed that in the correct row to complete the layout.
Figures 1, 2, and 3, show example rows from the
layouts for landforms, shore forms, and river forms.
The extra photographs of the geographic forms and
objects are not shown in these figures.
Each student or pair of students was given a
different set of items (cards, objects, etc.) to place in
the layout. After the layout was complete, students
checked their work with an answer key. As time
permitted, students gathered the materials, mixed
them, switched roles, and created the layout again.
This way, students became familiar with each part.
As a culminating activity, students made crayon
rubbings of index cards with raised layers that
showed the term and a simple landform image. A
total of 40 minutes was allowed for the entire
activity.
6) Modeling in Sand or Play Dough Condition - At
the same time, another group created the forms
using damp sand (a water mister was provided to
use as needed) and, separately, play dough. At first,
half of the group went to two large sand trays and
made all ten forms, labeling them with paper labels
affixed to toothpicks. The other half of this group
went to the play dough boxes and made the same
forms out of dough, labeling them. The instructor
checked their work and they shared it with the other
half of their group. Students were given 20 minutes
for this first half of the activity. Then, the work was
destroyed and the half-groups switched materials,
again making the forms in sand or clay. Students
were given another 20 minutes for this, for a total of
40 minutes.
7) Creative Landform Stick Puppet Play/Skit - The
group working under this condition was divided
into two teams. Each team used Popsicle sticks,
construction paper, crayons, glue, and tape to make
scenery and stick characters to produce a skit that
used and explained the 10 terms. They had 30
minutes to do this. Then they went to a different
room and had 5 minutes for each team to perform
their skit for the other team. Teams were each given a
paper copy of the electronic slide show containing
photographs and definitions to help in their
preparation of the play.
Rule et al. - Learning Landform Vocabulary
DISCUSSION
Teacher Observations of the Experiment: The Initial
Whole-class Electronic Slideshow - Students were
captivated by the electronic presentation, as this form of
teaching was not frequently used at the school. They
were amused as they noticed the "double meanings" of
words. Some students commented that they knew all
these words but not the way the instructor was using
them; others appeared bewildered, verbally wondering
whether they were being tricked. After the presentation
of terms, many students expressed excitement that they
had just learned the secret that words could have two
meanings and they would now learn many new physical
geography terms.
The students were thrilled to be part of a special
project to test different curriculum approaches and
receptive to the assigned tasks of all three conditions.
Observations in the Object Box Condition - Each
student worked cooperatively and exhibited a
determination to do his/her personal best. Students
commented that this condition was, "Awesome," and
enjoyed handling the objects.
Students tended to arrange the objects and cards in a
group with the word in the middle and the
corresponding items arranged around it, rather than as a
chart-layout. Chart reading and chart making skills are
less developed than other mathematical skills statewide
(Unpublished data for New York State Mathematics Test
for Fourth Grade).
A few students remarked that they now realized
there was more than one meaning to the words.
Sometimes, students from this poverty-level school had
difficulty understanding some of the objects because of
their limited background of experiences. For example,
some students did not know that a bathroom sink could
also be called a basin. Many students had not heard of a
trough for animal food, or a bay horse. Students had
particular difficulty understanding that a body of water
behind a barrier island is called a sound and a cape is a
point of land. The lesson, besides introducing useful
geomorphology terms, allowed students to understand
an important concept about the English language, that
most words have more than one meaning. The new
non-technical vocabulary terms such as basin (a sink),
trough
(animal
food
receptacle)
and
bay
(reddish-colored horse) enriched the students'
vocabularies and will help them later in reading.
This learning condition was the most challenging for
students because they faced a new concept that surprised
them: words can have more than one meaning. After
their initial difficulty and struggle with this idea,
students began to make sense of it and enjoyed
521
Grade Level
2
3
4
All
Total N
Responding
13
20
10
43
Condition reported as enjoyed most
Object Box
0
1
0
1
Sand and
Dough
12
15
7
34
Puppett Play
1
4
3
8
Condition reported in which student
learned the most
Sand and
Object Box
Puppet Play
Dough
0
13
0
13
5
2
9
1
0
22
19
2
Table 5. Student reactions to the three conditions.
N
19
18
16
14
8
7
1
1
N
6
3
3
3
3
2
2
1
N
2
Reasons students gave for enjoying sand and
dough condition most
Fun, enjoyable, beautiful, cool, a good time, really
fun, awesome
Tactile aspects of sand and dough: cold, soft and
squishy, smooth; play/ work with sand, insert word
flags
Hands-on, enjoy working with hands
Creative, building and making things; making the
mountains, waves, and river forms, easy to make
forms
It was messy
Ownership: you get to do it your own way; Got to
use my own play dough without sharing
Working with friends
Like a trip to beach
Reasons students gave for enjoying puppet play
condition most
Creative making puppets
Humor: made me laugh, did funny voices, kept
falling over during play
Drama, acting out plays
Fun
Learning, challenged
Ownership: made puppet my way, made puppet do
what I wanted
Hands-on work; got messy with paper
Working with friends
Reasons students gave for enjoying object box
condition most
Tactile: fun to do rubbings; handle objects
Table 6. Reasons students gave for enjoying the
different conditions.
organizing the materials and making connections
between different aspects of each term. Students worked
well as a team in this condition, helping others
understand the cards, pictures and objects.
Observation of the Sand and Dough Condition Students enjoyed this tactile condition. They were very
much engaged and couldn't wait to make the assigned
feature with the sand or dough. The instructor put the
labels (with toothpicks) in a bowl and had students
blindly draw features to create. Students worked
smoothly and were able to represent all the words. There
was time for students to switch from sand to dough and
experience both.
522
Observations during the Puppet Play Condition Students enjoyed the creation of the puppets. Most
groups made people puppets that talked about the
landforms during the drama, taking turns telling terms
and definitions. One group of fourth graders used all the
terms perfectly in a clever comedy routine between
explorers on a ship. This group had previously
experienced the object box condition and applied the
multiple meanings of words to their new instructional
condition. The puppets' names were Kent and Clark (a
word play on "Lewis and Clark" and Superman's name
"Clark Kent"). One called out "It's swell that we're here."
The puppet pretended not to hear that comments, but
responded, "Watch out for the swell!" which almost
washed the first puppet off the ship. Then one suggested
anchoring the boat on the continental shelf while the
other character asked, "What do you want from the
(kitchen) shelf?" "Cape" and "spit" were also worked into
the play. One puppet said, "Look, you go over there and
check on the cape," giving the definition, "and I'll check
on the spit". The second puppet replied, "Spit! Didn't
your mom teach you manners?" When the second
puppet returned wearing a paper cape and the first
puppet asked why he was "wearing a cape and not
checking on the landform!"
Interpretation of Posttest Scores - The posttest scores,
shown in Table 6, for students studying all geographic
forms under the three different conditions show that
students retained more information during the object
box condition than the other two conditions at all three
grade levels and overall.
Effect size, d, as defined by Cohen (1998), is a
measure of the difference between the means divided by
the standard deviation of either group. The weighted
average standard deviation is commonly used instead of
just one of the standard deviations (Creswell, 2005). The
resulting parameter, effect size, can be interpreted as
"small" when d = 0.2, "medium" when d = 0.5, and "large"
when d is greater than 0.8. The effect sizes for students
learning vocabulary in the object box condition as
compared to the sand and dough condition (d = 0.31) and
the puppet play condition (d = 0.40) are medium effect
sizes. This shows that students enjoyed and learned
vocabulary under all three conditions, but learned
somewhat more under the object box condition.
The posttest was given four weeks after the three
one-hour lessons had been concluded. Students did not
review or study the vocabulary between the lessons and
the posttest. This allowed the posttest to measure
long-term learning under each condition. In the object
box condition, students identified an average of about
half (5 out of 10, or 50%) of the words from each of the
three word sets. Under the other two conditions,
students retained an average of about 4.5 out of 10 (sand
Journal of Geoscience Education, v. 54, n. 4, September, 2006, p. 515-525
N
15
10
8
8
4
3
3
2
1
1
1
N
8
5
4
4
4
3
3
3
2
2
1
N
3
2
1
Reasons students gave for learning the most in
the object box condition
Group work: you got help from others, worked
with others; team work; helped each other
Two meanings of words, taught me how it has two
meanings
Matching/ sorting/ laying out materials
Objects, pictures, models: seeing pictures gives
you ideas, the models helped, we laid out the
objects
Challenging: Tough and hard; I like a good
challenge; had to figure out what goes where
Cards: look at cards to help you, cards explained
but were hard, info on cards
Fun, it was exciting
Used my hands
Colorful: I liked all the colors
Calm activity- not too loud
There were good directions
Reasons students gave for learning the most in
the sand and dough condition
Sand: made a lot of cool things in sand; got to
build things
Remember because I saw them being formed
It was messy
Worked with my hands
Novelty: You don't get to work with sand in the
classroom much
Ownership: got to do it my own way
Teacher helped us and explained forms
I understood what I was doing well
Group work with partners
Challenging to make forms in sand; had to think of
how to make it
Had a lot of fun with it
Reasons students gave for learning the most in
the puppet play condition
Fun, playful, creative
Worked together with friends
Using hands
Table 7. Reasons students learned in different
conditions.
and dough) or 4 out of 10 (puppet play) words. This rate
of vocabulary retention can be compared to the long term
learning rate reported by Bednarz (1995) in a study of
sixth to tenth grade students learning twenty-four place
names of southern Africa under four conditions. In the
most effective condition, students read from a text,
located places on a map, practiced keyword mnemonics,
and reviewed the material with questions from the
teacher. In this condition, long-term (4 weeks after the
lesson) retention of information was approximately nine
of the twenty-four words, or 38%. Additionally, Bednarz
observed that student performance increased with grade
level. Students in our study were second, third, and
fourth graders. The fact that their performance in
long-term retention of vocabulary is better than the sixth
through tenth graders in Bednarz's study speaks well for
the three learning conditions.
Rule et al. - Learning Landform Vocabulary
Student Reactions to the Experiment - Students were
asked to reflect on their experiences in learning
landforms under the three conditions, then identify the
condition they enjoyed the most and the condition under
which they thought they learned the most. Additionally,
they were asked to give three reasons for each of their
choices. Students did not have access to posttest scores or
results of the experiment when they answered this
survey. Student responses are shown in Tables 5, 6, and
7.
Overall, students reported they liked the sand
condition better, but learned the most with the object
boxes. However, second graders reported they favored
the sand and dough condition for both enjoyment and
learning. This idea conflicts with actual student
performance data in Table 4 that shows second graders
performed best under the object box condition.
The reasons students gave for enjoying the different
conditions, shown in Table 6, correlate well with the
strengths of the different conditions that were outlined in
the introduction. Students truly enjoyed the tactile
nature of the sand and dough condition and felt strong
ownership of their sculptures. The novelty and sensory
experience made this the most popular condition. Some
students, though, enjoyed the creativity, humor, drama,
and ownership of making puppet plays. Also, the
hands-on nature of the object boxes was mentioned.
Table 7 shows reasons students gave for choosing
the conditions under which they perceived that they
learned the most. Interestingly, students repeated many
of the same sentiments about the sand and dough
condition as they had when explaining their most
enjoyable condition.
The four most frequently occurring reasons for
perceiving that more learning occurred during the object
box condition were help from peers, focus on multiple
meanings, organization of materials, and multiple visual
representations of concepts. The latter three were
predicted, but the first, group work including help from
others, was not. The next-most frequent comment, that
the object boxes were challenging, explains this. Students
found the work very difficult and cooperative help from
peers was needed to make sense of all the parts of the
complex layout. In contrast, under the sand and dough
condition comments in Table 9, three students stated that
they understood this method (sand and dough) well.
Therefore, it was the challenging nature of the object
box condition that helped students achieve more
learning under this condition. This is an example of
Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (1989), the area
of learning with its lower bound being what a student
can do independently and the upper bound being what
the student can accomplish with the help of adults or
peers. When a student stretches his/her abilities beyond
what he or she can do alone by working together with
others to figure out the problem's solution, the student
learns more. Therefore, in addition to addressing the
multiple meanings of words, providing multiple visuals
and explanations, this condition required students to do
more problem-solving in organizing the information and
to enlist help of peers in forging new understandings; the
object box condition pushed students harder to learn
more.
The challenges of the object box condition can also be
understood through constructivist learning theory. In
this learning condition, students felt the most
disequilibrium because they were confronted with so
523
many new ideas that they did not understand. Besides Exton, B. J., 1999, Exploring geology on the World Wide
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journal writing of elementary science students,
layout of materials was a challenge. This experience
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the
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Mid-South Educational Research Association, Point
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Geography for life: National geography standards
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