The importance of elementary science education is well-documented, but many challenges persist, including a lack of time, space, and materials needed for students to have hands-on lab experiences. As a result, many students in California are falling behind, with less than one-third of all fifth graders meeting or exceeding standards in standardized test reporting. This study sought to employ single-case design methods and combine the best practices in sensemaking approaches with virtual simulations to determine whether these practices would provide effective intervention and improve students’ blended math and science sensemaking abilities at the qualitative and quantitative levels, as well as a general outcome of how this experience may impact students’ unrelated math and numeracy skills. Eight fifth-grade students received this intervention to improve their quantitative reasoning and sensemaking. Results of this study indicate that the intervention was successful in improving student sensemaking in both the qualitative and quantitative domains, with all students who attended regularly producing moderate and large positive effect sizes. This work can be used to inform future studies and support a growing body of literature that suggests the power of technology-based models in improving interdisciplinary math and science sensemaking.
","abstract_html":"<p>The importance of elementary science education is well-documented, but many challenges persist, including a lack of time, space, and materials needed for students to have hands-on lab experiences. As a result, many students in California are falling behind, with less than one-third of all fifth graders meeting or exceeding standards in standardized test reporting. This study sought to employ single-case design methods and combine the best practices in sensemaking approaches with virtual simulations to determine whether these practices would provide effective intervention and improve students’ blended math and science sensemaking abilities at the qualitative and quantitative levels, as well as a general outcome of how this experience may impact students’ unrelated math and numeracy skills. Eight fifth-grade students received this intervention to improve their quantitative reasoning and sensemaking. Results of this study indicate that the intervention was successful in improving student sensemaking in both the qualitative and quantitative domains, with all students who attended regularly producing moderate and large positive effect sizes. This work can be used to inform future studies and support a growing body of literature that suggests the power of technology-based models in improving interdisciplinary math and science sensemaking.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Prate, Joelle"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Jennifer Kong","Dr. Tara Barnhart","Dr. Timothy Green"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2025-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:43Z","subjects":["Educational Technology","Science Education","Math Education","Sensemaking","Virtual Simulations","Elementary","Science and Mathematics Education"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/education_dissertations/93","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Jennifer Kong","Dr. Tara Barnhart","Dr. Timothy Green"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Prate, Joelle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Educational Technology","Science Education","Math Education","Sensemaking","Virtual Simulations","Elementary","Science and Mathematics Education"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/education_dissertations/93"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The importance of elementary science education is well-documented, but many challenges persist, including a lack of time, space, and materials needed for students to have hands-on lab experiences. As a result, many students in California are falling behind, with less than one-third of all fifth graders meeting or exceeding standards in standardized test reporting. This study sought to employ single-case design methods and combine the best practices in sensemaking approaches with virtual simulations to determine whether these practices would provide effective intervention and improve students’ blended math and science sensemaking abilities at the qualitative and quantitative levels, as well as a general outcome of how this experience may impact students’ unrelated math and numeracy skills. Eight fifth-grade students received this intervention to improve their quantitative reasoning and sensemaking. Results of this study indicate that the intervention was successful in improving student sensemaking in both the qualitative and quantitative domains, with all students who attended regularly producing moderate and large positive effect sizes. This work can be used to inform future studies and support a growing body of literature that suggests the power of technology-based models in improving interdisciplinary math and science sensemaking.
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"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/education_dissertations/93"],"dc:source":["Prate, J. C. (2025). The effectiveness of science instruction with digital simulations in elementary settings for quantitative sensemaking [Doctoral dissertation, Chapman University]. Chapman University Digital Commons. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000626"],"dc:subject":["Educational Technology","Science Education","Math Education","Sensemaking","Virtual Simulations","Elementary","Science and Mathematics Education"],"dc:title":["The Effectiveness of Science Instruction with Digital Simulations in Elementary Settings for Quantitative Sensemaking"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:43Z"}