A Comparison of Viewpoints on Process-Centered Instructional Objectives

614 School Science and Mathematics

natural numbers a, b, c, and n > 1, it is necessary that a > n, b > n,and therefore c > n. it is easy to see that a ^ &; otherwise, we wouldhave2b" = cnOT2 = (c/fc)", which is impossible for natural numbers,b, c, and n> 1. We note also that if n ss b, then (& - 1)" + bn<(b+ 1)". This follows since (b + 1)" - (b - 1)" = 2 [ nb"-1 + B] ,where B is a sum of positive terms. Since n^b, 2[nbn~l + B]

^ 2 [ fc" + B] > &". Thus (b + 1)" - (b - 1)" > b", and the resultfollows.

If we assume that b > a, then when b ^ n, we have a" + b" ^ (b- 1)" + b" < (b + 1)" ^ c": i.e., an+ bn< c\ so if a" + &" = c",then b > n. Also, if a < n, then nb""1 > afc""1 > aa""1 = a". Thusa" < nfc""1 and since (b + 1)" - b" = nb""1 4- C, where C is a sumof positive terms, a" < (b + 1)" -- &" or a" 4- b" < (b + 1)" < c", soagain we cannot have a" + &"= c". This shows that a" + b" = c"implies that a> n, b> n, and c > n.

A Comparison of Viewpoints on Process-CenteredInstructional Objectives

John F. NewportSouthwest Missouri State University

Springfield, Missouri 65802

In the early 1960’s either a new component of science educationhad its beginning or an old component was given a new name�process.Whichever the case, process appears to be firmly entrenched in scienceeducation. The current status of process is probably best illustratedin the NSTA position paper titled "School Science Education forthe 70’s’’ (1). In that document process was accorded status comparableto other components of science education.

Writers and speakers have gotten considerable mileage out of processin the last decade. Some persons have said process is a distinct entityof science education and some have indicated that process does notexist in the absence of the products of science. Some persons haveindicated that process is primarily associated with the ends of educationand some have indicated it is a means to an end. Is process an endor a means to an end, or both? The persons who prepared the NSTAposition paper "School Science Educationfor the 70’s" treated processprimarily as an end of science education.

Viewpoints on Process-Centered Objectives 615

THE NATURE OF PROCESS OBJECTIVESIf process can be considered an end of education, and if it is a

distinct entity of science, then it should be possible for teachers tostate objectives which are process-centered rather than product- orcontent-centered. They should be able to teach for students masteryof such objectives, and should be able to evaluate for process ratherthan product, or content, learnings.The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of agreement

among science educators as to what constitutes a process-centeredinstructional objective.Fourteen persons were asked to participate in the study�nine

members of the NSTA Committee on Curriculum Studies whichprepared the position paper "School Science Education for the 70’s,"three persons who assisted in the development of the Science-A ProcessApproach program, one person who assisted in the development ofthe Science Curriculum Improvement Study program, and one personwho has been somewhat outspoken against certain aspects of therecent process movement. These persons were asked to list the criteriathey believed could be used in differentiating between process- andcontent-centered objectives, and to classify the following statements*using these categories:

P. a process-centered instructional objectiveC. a content-centered instructional objectiveB. an objective involving both process and contentN. not an instructional objective1. Describe a procedure for determining whether or not a plant or a plant part

is growing uniformly.2. Identify the length and compass direction of the shadow of a given object

at regular time intervals during the day by drawing line segments to representthem.

3. Describe in writing all parts of an investigation that he has just observed orconducted, including the purpose, method, materials, procedure, and results.

4. Construct a prediction based on the examination of data presented in a graph.5. Identify possible causes of observed differences in falling times of objects that

do not strike the floor at the same time when dropped simultaneously fromthe same height.

6. Name three metric units of linear measure�the centimeter, the decimeter, andthe meter.

7. Construct and demonstrate the use of a classification of animals, or picturesof animals, on the basis of gross physical or behavioral characteristics.

8. Construct a simple electric circuit from an operational definition.9. Identify from a group those materials that can support the growth of molds

and those that cannot.10. Identify whether or not an observation supports a stated hypothesis, or an

inference based on a hypothesis, about conductors and nonconductors.11. Describe the changes in an animal’s performance of a task which result from

repeated trials or practice.12. Describe and demonstrate that the farther an object is located from the center

*The statements, or objectives, were selected from the Science-A Process Approach program, the ScienceCurriculum Improvement Study program, and the Westinghouse collection (2).


of a revolving disc, the greater is its linear speed, although its rate of revolutionis the same.

13. To interpret dissolving and chemical change as evidence of interaction.14. To identify the plants of a community as producers, the animals as consumers

and the yeasts, molds, and bacteria as decomposers.15. To identify the major stages of a developing frog.16. Use the term object for a piece of matter and the work property for any

characteristic of that piece of matter.17. To use the term metamorphosis in relation to the change in body form.18. To identify the intestine, mouth, anus, and other parts of Daphnia.19. To distinguish between the solids and solutions which are electrical conductors

and those which are not.20. To apply schlieren tests and drop tests as evidence of uniformity or lack of

uniformity in liquids and for the existence of one or more phases.21. To recognize the substances produced in "fizzing" reactions as being air-like

rather than liquid-like.22. Distinguish between objects made of one material and objects made of several

materials.23. Describe rock specimens by property.24. Arrange pictures of the various stages of the life cycle of a given animal in

sequential order.25. To describe conditions that are necessary for the evaporation and condensation

of a liquid.26. To infer properties of spheres in motion from the tracks they leave.27. To state that molds, bacteria and yeasts obtain their food by digesting the

dead bodies of plants and animals.28. To obtain evidence for the fact that survival of plants and animals is based,

in part, on gas relationships that exist between them.29. Explain the different ways that rock is broken down to become soil.30. Prepare a slide for viewing under a microscope.31. Apply a rule that the manipulated variable is plotted along the horizontal or

x-axis, and the responding variable, along the vertical, or y-axis.32. To identify the energy source and energy receiver in an energy transfer.33. To interpret ice melting and/or freezing as evidence of energy transfer.34. Differentiate between living and non-living things in an aquarium.35. Differentiate between experiments showing inertia and those that do not involve

inertia.36. State which of two containers of grossly different shape hold the greater volume.37. To explain that some animals obtain the food they need by eating plants and

that these plant eaters provide food for animal eaters.38. Identify body movements other than those of locomotion�moving the eyelid,

moving the lower jaw, wrinkling the nose, turning the head to the left andright.

39. To associate a given change in environmental conditions with either an increaseor decrease on the size of a given population.

40. To identify open and closed circuits.

THE CRITERIASix persons responded to the request for criteria that might be

used in differentiating between process- and content-centered objec-tives. According to the "criteria" listed by the respondents, content-centered objectives are those that:

1. Require recall only.2. Could be mastered directly by memory from study of a book.3. Require the student to "state" or "restate" verbal information.


4. Indicate verbalization of a fact or concept.

Process-centered objectives are, according to the respondents, thosethat:

1. Are at Bloom’s third level of application or higher.2. Require the selection of procedures to use.3. Require mental processes or the use of skills.4. Involve a method of gaining knowledge.5. Require primarily one of the science processes listed in the Science-A Process

Approach materials.

These "criteria" indicate the respondents considered content-cen-tered objectives to be those that are low cognitive or largely callfor students to memorize basic science information. The writer foundit difficult to synthesize the "criteria" relating to process objectives.

CLASSIFICATION OF THE OBJECTIVES

Five members of the NSTA Committee on Curriculum Studies andthe three persons who were associated with the SAPA programclassified most of the forty statements. Their responses are givenin Table I. Respondents A-E were members of the NSTA Committee,and respondents F-H were associated with the SAPA program.An indication of the lack of agreement among the respondents can

be seen in the number of different responses to each item. For example,two persons indicated statement twenty-one is process-centered, twosaid it is content-centered, one said it involves both content and process,one said it is not an objective, one responded with a question mark,and one did not respond at all.

Statement twenty-four is of interest because half of the respondentsindicated it is content-centered and half said it is a process-centeredobjective. Statements five and ten are of interest because half ofthe respondents indicated they are process-centered and half saidthey involve both content and process.

If all responses that were not in accordance with the four requestedresponses are considered as a single category, there were five catego-ries. Table I shows that only five of the forty statements were placedin as few as two different categories. Sixteen statements were placedin three different categories, seventeen statements were placed infour different categories, and two statements were placed in fivedifferent categories.Table II shows the percent of statements each respondent placed

in each of the five categories.Respondent H indicated that seventy percent of the statements

are process-centered objectives while respondent D indicated thatonly eight percent are process-centered. The variation in the percentof statements classified as content-centered objectives ranged from

618School Science and Mathematics

TABLE I: CLASSIFICATION OF STATEMENTS

Number ofStatement

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940

A

BPPPPCPCPBBBBBCCCBPBBPPPCPCBC*CBPPBCCPPC

B

BPPPBCPPCBPBBCCCCCPB*PCCCPCBCBPCBBB*CPBC

ClassifkC

*BPPBCBPBBBBBCCCCBBBC*CCCBCBCBPCBBBPCCBB

nationD

CCCBBCBBCBCCCCCCCC*CCBBCCPCBCPPCCB*BCCCC

by RespondentE

PNNPPC*BCPPPPCCCCCCBPPPCCPC*CPCCPCCPCNCC

F

*CBPB*PPCP*******i:

B***PP***^*BB**BBB***C

G

*PPPPCCPPPCP*CPCCP*PPPCP*PCNCPPP**PP*ift

PP

H

PPPPP*PPPPPP**PNNPPPNPPPPPP*NNPPPPNPNP*P

P�A process-centered instructional objectiveC�A content-centered instructional objectiveB�An instructional objective involving both process and contentN�Not an instructional objective*�Responded in some manner other than as above or did not respond to this item

zero (H) to sixty-three percent (D). One respondent (H) indicatedthat none of the statements involves both content and process whileanother (C) believed that forty-eight percent involves both contentand process. One respondent (H) indicated eighteen percent of the


TABLE II: PERCENT OF RESPONSES BY CATEGORY

Percent of Responses by Each RespondentCategory ABCDEFGH

P (Process)3828138351555 70C (Content)3038356348823 0B (Both process and content)3030482552000N fNnt an nhiertivet0000803180000803 18N (Not an objective)* (Either did not respond orresponded with(t?" or "x") 3 5 5 5 5 58 20 13

statements are not instructional objectives while five respondents (A,A, B, C, D, F) considered all statements to be objectives. Onerespondent (F) either did not respond, or did not respond as directed,to fifty-eight percent of the statements while five persons (A-E)responded as directed to all but five percent or less of the objectives.Some of the comments made by some respondents and nonrespon-

dents in correspondence concerning the study are believed to be ofinterest. One person who declined to participate stated: "The pro-cess/content issue is not one that I consider productive. As a matterof fact, I think it accents an undesirable dichotomy." If a dichotomydoes exist, it is not evident in the data reported above.One respondent, although indicating he considered seventy percent

of the statements to be process-centered objectives, none to becontent-centered, and none to involve both process and content, statedin a letter, tt. . . I see no distinction between a process-centeredand a content-centered instructional objective. In my opinion, aprocess-centered objective must contain content. . . ."A member of the NSTA committee that prepared the position paper

referred to previously did not participate in the study but wrote:

I am still not going to answer in the exact way you intended for I cannot. Almostall of the objectives are couched in the terms of what could be considered "process"objectives. However, although they are worded as process objectives, for the mostpart, it is not the objective but the teaching for the objective that turns theminto either process or content. You can take any set of objectives and by purposeof teaching and methods of teaching make into process-centered or content-centered.Only when the activities are student centered and grouped for process successcan you expect process results.

Although process was treated primarily as an end of scienceeducation in the NSTA position paper, this statement reflects thebelief that process is assoicated with the means of education.

CONCLUSIONSIf the data reported here reflect the extent of agreement among

science educators as to the meaning of the term process and, therefore,


serve as an indication of our understanding of the process componentof science, some interesting questions can be raised: What value hasaccrued to science education from all of the articles and speechesconcerning process during the last decade? What understanding doteachers have of curriculum materials that are said to be process-cen-tered? How conscientious are teachers in teaching for student masteryof, according to some persons, the newer and better process objectives?

It has been said that science teachers are especially aware of thebenefits derived from a clear, precise terminology, and that failureto define is undoubtedly one of the reasons why their specializedvocabulary is contemptuously dismissed as jargon (3). When thevocabulary associated with an idea is dismissed as jargon by classroomteachers because of a multitude of meanings, or because of a lackof agreement as to meaning, the infusion of the idea into the mainstreamof educational practice is likely to be very difficult. This study indicatesthat if process is not accepted by teachers as a major componentof science education, failure to adequately define the term processmay be one of the reasons.

REFERENCES

1. "NSTA Position Statement on School Science Education for the 7(Ts," The ScienceTeacher, 38 (November, 1971), 46-51.

2. JOHNC. FLANAGAN, et. al.. Behavioral Objectives: Science, (Palo Alto: WestinghouseLearning Press), 1971.

3. PRISCILLA J. ECCLES, "Experiments, Demonstrations, and Other Types of First-handExperiences: A Classification and Definition of Terms," Journal of Research inScience Teaching, 1 (1963), 85-88.

Mathematics Laboratories:Some Quandersome Questions

Robert E. ReysUniversity of Missouri

Columbia, Missouri 65201

and

Thomas R. PostUniversity of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455

What are mathematics laboratories? For not being well definedthey have been the focus of much attention at professional meetings

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A Comparison of Viewpoints on Process-Centered Instructional Objectives