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Student Attitude Toward Science as a Function of Use and Non-use of Cell Phone Apps in High School Chemistry Classes

Received: 11 October 2016     Accepted: 26 October 2016     Published: 23 March 2017
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Abstract

Cell phones are often a distraction in the American high school classroom. Their attachment to their cell phones is obvious. The incorporation of cell phones into, rather than exclusion from, the lesson at hand may provide a means for improving attitudes toward science providing the cell phone activity is salient to their Chemistry class. Five hundred twenty-two Chemistry students were divided into two groups: a control group using a physical hand-held calculator, and an experimental group who downloaded and used two different cell phone applications: one for an emulated calculator, and one for a set of periodic tables and elemental characteristics, and then used them in coursework. Attitudes Toward Science Survey measure was administered pre and post to both groups. There appear to be significantly higher positive attitude rankings toward science among learners who were introduced to phone apps for use in Chemistry class.

Published in International Journal of Secondary Education (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20170502.12
Page(s) 22-29
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Emulators, Chemistry Education, Student Attitudes Toward Science, Cell Phone Apps

References
[1] Coughlan, Sean. Students cannot multi-task with mobiles and study. BBC news, 9 June 2015.
[2] Behaviorneeds.com. Classroom Management Strategies - students who don’t bring equipment to class. Blog, 01 October, 2013.
[3] HeadHeartHand.org. Seven Ways to Stop Student Texting in Class, Nov. 11, 2013.
[4] Gerson, Daniela. What to Do About Students Texting in Class According to Eleven Teachers. The Los Angeles Times, October 13, 2016.
[5] Johnson, Ben. How to Manage Cell Phones in the Classroom. Edutopia, June 17, 2015.
[6] Franco, Michael. 10 ipad Apps for Teaching Kids About Science. How Stuff Works.com. 10 June, 2015.
[7] https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quick-periodic-table-elements/id467937518?mt=8 Quick Periodic Table of the Elements. Quick Learning LLC. Mar 18, 2014.
[8] Okken, Thomas. Free42, A HP-42S Calculator Simulator. 2011-04-20.
[9] HP-42s Owner's Manual. Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, OR. 1988.
[10] Free42: An HP-42S Calculator Simulator. http://thomasokken.com/free42/ .2012.
[11] Wright, Les. Byron Foster’s 42s for iPhone v. 2 upgrade. HP Forum Archive 19. The Museum of HP Calculators. June 2009.
[12] Okken, Thomas. An Alternative HP-42S/Free42 Manual Thomasokken@gmail.com.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Bartrom Linda, Rose William. (2017). Student Attitude Toward Science as a Function of Use and Non-use of Cell Phone Apps in High School Chemistry Classes. International Journal of Secondary Education, 5(2), 22-29. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20170502.12

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    ACS Style

    Bartrom Linda; Rose William. Student Attitude Toward Science as a Function of Use and Non-use of Cell Phone Apps in High School Chemistry Classes. Int. J. Second. Educ. 2017, 5(2), 22-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20170502.12

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    AMA Style

    Bartrom Linda, Rose William. Student Attitude Toward Science as a Function of Use and Non-use of Cell Phone Apps in High School Chemistry Classes. Int J Second Educ. 2017;5(2):22-29. doi: 10.11648/j.ijsedu.20170502.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijsedu.20170502.12,
      author = {Bartrom Linda and Rose William},
      title = {Student Attitude Toward Science as a Function of Use and Non-use of Cell Phone Apps in High School Chemistry Classes},
      journal = {International Journal of Secondary Education},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {22-29},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijsedu.20170502.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijsedu.20170502.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijsedu.20170502.12},
      abstract = {Cell phones are often a distraction in the American high school classroom. Their attachment to their cell phones is obvious. The incorporation of cell phones into, rather than exclusion from, the lesson at hand may provide a means for improving attitudes toward science providing the cell phone activity is salient to their Chemistry class. Five hundred twenty-two Chemistry students were divided into two groups: a control group using a physical hand-held calculator, and an experimental group who downloaded and used two different cell phone applications: one for an emulated calculator, and one for a set of periodic tables and elemental characteristics, and then used them in coursework. Attitudes Toward Science Survey measure was administered pre and post to both groups. There appear to be significantly higher positive attitude rankings toward science among learners who were introduced to phone apps for use in Chemistry class.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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Author Information
  • Department of Chemistry, Villa Park High School, Orange Unified School District, Villa Park, CA, USA

  • Superintendent High School Reconstruction, Orleans, USA

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