This study tested the use of physical manipulatives during science instruction – in conjunction with the traditional, textbook-oriented approach – and determines whether manipulatives create more significant learning experiences than text generates alone. The subject sample consisted of 20 third-grade students from a suburban New Jersey elementary school classroom. All subjects functioned at least on a third-grade level in all subjects with the exception of three students, who participated in the Talented and Gifted Program. Subjects from the experimental group and the control group completed a science content pretest of thirteen open-ended cognition questions. Both groups completed assigned activities, and subjects completed a science content posttest identical to the pretest. Tests of significance were used to analyze data, and the conclusions of the study indicate that the research findings were not significant enough to be applied to larger populations of students.
","abstract_html":"<p>This study tested the use of physical manipulatives during science instruction – in conjunction with the traditional, textbook-oriented approach – and determines whether manipulatives create more significant learning experiences than text generates alone. The subject sample consisted of 20 third-grade students from a suburban New Jersey elementary school classroom. All subjects functioned at least on a third-grade level in all subjects with the exception of three students, who participated in the Talented and Gifted Program. Subjects from the experimental group and the control group completed a science content pretest of thirteen open-ended cognition questions. Both groups completed assigned activities, and subjects completed a science content posttest identical to the pretest. Tests of significance were used to analyze data, and the conclusions of the study indicate that the research findings were not significant enough to be applied to larger populations of students.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Domenico, Bianca Lee"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.S. in Teaching","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Robinson, Randall"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003-07-03T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2003-07-03T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:13Z","subjects":["Science--Study and teaching (Primary); Third grade (Education)","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1288","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Robinson, Randall"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Domenico, Bianca Lee"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-05-03T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S. in Teaching"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Science--Study and teaching (Primary); Third grade (Education)","Elementary Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1288"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study tested the use of physical manipulatives during science instruction – in conjunction with the traditional, textbook-oriented approach – and determines whether manipulatives create more significant learning experiences than text generates alone. The subject sample consisted of 20 third-grade students from a suburban New Jersey elementary school classroom. All subjects functioned at least on a third-grade level in all subjects with the exception of three students, who participated in the Talented and Gifted Program. Subjects from the experimental group and the control group completed a science content pretest of thirteen open-ended cognition questions. Both groups completed assigned activities, and subjects completed a science content posttest identical to the pretest. Tests of significance were used to analyze data, and the conclusions of the study indicate that the research findings were not significant enough to be applied to larger populations of students.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Hands-on manipulative use in science instruction"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Robinson, Randall"],"dc:creator":["Domenico, Bianca Lee"],"dc:date.available":["2016-05-03T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study tested the use of physical manipulatives during science instruction – in conjunction with the traditional, textbook-oriented approach – and determines whether manipulatives create more significant learning experiences than text generates alone. The subject sample consisted of 20 third-grade students from a suburban New Jersey elementary school classroom. All subjects functioned at least on a third-grade level in all subjects with the exception of three students, who participated in the Talented and Gifted Program. Subjects from the experimental group and the control group completed a science content pretest of thirteen open-ended cognition questions. Both groups completed assigned activities, and subjects completed a science content posttest identical to the pretest. Tests of significance were used to analyze data, and the conclusions of the study indicate that the research findings were not significant enough to be applied to larger populations of students.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1288"],"dc:subject":["Science--Study and teaching (Primary); Third grade (Education)","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"dc:title":["Hands-on manipulative use in science instruction"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S. in Teaching"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:14:13Z"}