Interactive Science Notebooks: Exploring the Extent Which Integrating a New Learning Tool Supports Self-Efficacy in Expressing Science Content Knowledge and Interest in Pursuing a STEM Related Career

Interactive science notebooks, used as a learning tool during science instruction, was found to have a positive influence on student self-efficacy in expressing science content knowledge and interest in pursuing a STEM-related career. This study, involving 25 participants, discusses the integration of interactive notebooks into two elementary school classrooms in a rural Kentucky community over 55 instructional days. Through an explanatory sequential multiple-method research design, a quantitative survey given at two intervals, pre and post study, and qualitative student interviews, data found that 76% of the sample had an increase in their overall attitude toward science and 10 out of 12 STEM careers had an increase in overall interest at the conclusion of the study. The qualitative data, three oral interviews, revealed that 22 participants referenced an increase in science interest, two participants stayed the same, and one participant noted a decrease in interest. Nine participants felt that their interest in pursuing a STEM career remained about the same or had no significant changes since their initial survey and 16 participants referenced an increase in pursuing a STEM career in their final interview. This study aims to engage educators and administration in conversation about an explanatory sequential multiple-methods research design involving a unique population of transient students and the influence of a new learning tool used in the classroom.