CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY

MONTEREY BAY

Math Scaffolding to Support Mastery of HS-ESS1-4 in Earth and Space Science

Students

CAPSTONE PROPOSAL

Submitted in partial satisfaction of requirements of the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE in

Instructional Science and Technology

Erin Jacobson

February 8, 2022

Capstone Approvals: (At least one advisor and capstone instructor should approve)

___________________________ _____________
Advisor Name Signature Date

___________________________ _____________
Capstone Instructor Name Signature Date
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Table of Contents

Executive Summary/Abstract..........................................................................................................4

Introduction/Background.................................................................................................................5

Background on Project.................................................................................................................5

Problem Description (gap analysis).............................................................................................6

Target Audience and Context......................................................................................................7

Environmental Scan.....................................................................................................................8

Literature Review.........................................................................................................................8

Solution Description......................................................................................................................11

Goals of the Project....................................................................................................................11

Learning Objectives...................................................................................................................11

Proposed Solution to Fill the Gap..............................................................................................12

Learning Theories, Instructional Principles...............................................................................12

Learning Strategies and Justification.........................................................................................12

Media Components....................................................................................................................13

Anticipated Challenges..............................................................................................................13

Methods/Procedures......................................................................................................................14

Preliminary Steps Taken............................................................................................................14

Design/Development Narrative..................................................................................................14

Steps to Complete Project..........................................................................................................14

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Resources.......................................................................................................................................14

Technical Skills Required..........................................................................................................14

Timeline/Progress Report..............................................................................................................15

Milestone Checklist....................................................................................................................15

Evaluation/Testing Plan.................................................................................................................15

Formative Evaluation Plan.........................................................................................................15

Summative Evaluation Plan.......................................................................................................16

References......................................................................................................................................17

Appendix A....................................................................................................................................19

Table 1........................................................................................................................................19
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Executive Summary/Abstract

The proposed project involves providing additional scaffolding in a digital, reactive

template, that will help students achieve mastery of HS-ESS1-4. This state standard requires

using algebra in predicting planetary motion. Students use Newton’s and Kepler’s laws

understand the effects of gravity and planetary orbits.

Currently, many students in the course struggle with basic math skills and are often

concurrently enrolled in remedial algebra courses. This lack of math skills prevents them from

mastery of required content and does not promote feelings of well being or success in future

endeavors.

At the current time, future learning solutions are planned for implementation through the

district LMS, Schoology. All instructional components will need to be hosted on Schoology or

delivered directly in classroom instruction. The designer for the learning solution is also the

primary instructor in the year-long science course. This does allow for some additional freedom

in development of materials.

It is the hope of the designer that allowing students to achieve a goal that many have

given up on—application of algebraic thinking outside of the math classroom—will foster

feelings of pride in students and encourage them to pursue their academic dreams. Also, if

students know that they can learn, they will hopefully be more willing to try assignments that

they see as difficult in the future.

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Introduction/Background

Background on Project

In Torrance Unified School District (TUSD), Earth and Space Science (ESS) is the class

recommended for students who have struggled to meet math requirements for their second-year

science course. The required state standard for this module is HS-ESS1-4, which requires

students to use algebra to describe or predict planetary movement with Kepler’s laws of

planetary motion and Newton’s law of gravitation (Achieve 2013). To establish the need for

supplementary math instruction in ESS to support attaining the required learning objective, data

was collected from informal observation of students, review of previously submitted work, and

review of a representative sample group’s historical and current math grades.

The first source of information used was informal observation of students in the

classroom, specifically as they engage in math tasks. Many students in ESS are unable to

calculate the percentage earned on a quiz or test, even when given a calculator. Students struggle

with defining numerators and denominators in division problems and how to enter the

information into their calculator to get the correct value. Students have also struggled with

understanding notation for squared or cubed numbers, requirements for understanding Kepler’s

third law.

The second source of information was reviewing previously submitted student work,

specifically looking at assignments where students were required to perform calculations. One

example is an assignment in which students calculated the volume of a cube in the process of

finding densities of different materials. With coaching, roughly 75 percent of students were able

to accurately complete the math.

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The third source of information used was a review of student historical and current grades

earned in their math classes. In TUSD, the math sequence is algebra one in freshman year,

geometry in sophomore year, and algebra two in junior year. If students have failed algebra one

twice or have a documented learning disability affecting math achievement, they are placed in

algebra one extended—a two-year course to provide additional time to master content. Data

collected on current enrollment and grades is provided in Table 1.

Problem Description (gap analysis)

To achieve mastery of HS-ESS1-4 students should be able to define variables in algebraic

formulas, appropriately square or cube numbers, and perform division operations. Students

should be able to perform these tasks given a calculator.

Currently, many students struggle to define terms in an algebraic formula. Students

struggle to understand the difference in functions such as three squared versus three times two. A

small group of students struggles to perform division on their calculators, instead mixing the

numerators and denominators.

Students lack appropriate algebra knowledge and skills. The requirements for HS-ESS1-4

are covered in a freshman level algebra course, but many students in ESS are in remedial math.

Looking at the data in Table 1, 31% of students in ESS are failing their current math class.

Algebra is, theoretically, a prerequisite for ESS, however only 65% of students sampled have

passed algebra one and moved forward to the next level course. Of the 36 students in geometry

or algebra two, one third are earning a D or F in math. These students are not comfortable using

math equations in or out of context of real situations.

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Motivation is a big factor in student success. Students are unable to make connections

between the content required by HS-ESS1-4 and their daily lives. Students are often also

reluctant to try new math procedures as they have had negative experiences with the topic and

lack confidence in trying to solve equations.

Target Audience and Context

Students in ESS are mostly sophomores in their second year of high school science. A

small proportion are juniors who either did not take a science in sophomore year or failed their

science class in sophomore year. High school students require at least one year of a physical

science to graduate.

Students in ESS have varied knowledge regarding mathematical operations. Some

students can easily solve equations when given teacher support while others cannot. Although

students in ESS have all taken at least the first half of algebra before taking ESS, a high

proportion failed and are retaking the course. More than half of the students have previously

demonstrated competence in algebra functions, as demonstrated by their current enrollment in

geometry, though they struggle with completing the math in context of science.

Students in the course have basic computer competence by the time of reaching this

material in the school year. Computers are used daily to access instructional materials and turn in

assignments. Training on how to access the learning management system and materials posted

there is provided early in the school year. This module is delivered in December or January of

the school year.

Students have many previous negative experiences with math. Much of the class have

failed one or more math classes and are extremely reluctant to engage with materials which
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require math. Students are at many different levels of math knowledge in the course so care must

be taken not to leave any students out by developing content that is too high level or too low

level. One concern is that material that is perceived as too hard will not be attempted by many of

the students, regardless of actual difficulty of the task.

Students will be motivated to learn the material to earn a passing grade in the class. Some

students may be intrinsically motivated due to an interest in space science. Meeting their

graduation requirement for physical science is the primary motivator.

Environmental Scan

Currently in TUSD, algebra one and biology are prerequisites in that both are required

freshman level courses, but passing those courses is not required for students to enroll in ESS.

The skills learned in those courses are required for success in ESS. As this requirement is not

going to change in the foreseeable future, this necessitates remediation to be provided in ESS to

help students meet the standards for the class.

Literature Review

There is a need to rethink how science classes are taught, especially when working with

low achieving students. Earth and space science (ESS) students have typically negative attitudes

toward science, which impacts their future academic success. Shifting the design of the course to

give students more flexibility and an individualized experience will allow them to take

ownership of their learning and motivate them toward greater achievement.

Student attitudes are an important predictor of academic accomplishment. Students who

enjoy the subject that they are studying, and the activities of the course are more likely to do

well. For example, students taking electives are more likely to put forth more effort in their
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work, earning them a higher grade. Earth and space science (ESS) is often populated by students

who are there to meet a graduation requirement and ESS also has a much higher D and F rate

than chemistry—the other second year science option. In their analysis of the impact of affective

factors on success, Ozel et al. found that the factor most relevant to student success is

“enjoyment” of the subject (2013). Because ESS students must pass ESS to graduate regardless

of their level of interest, it is important for teachers to provide students more targeted learning

opportunities to motivate their success (Kousa et al., 2018).

Engaging ESS students in content through strategically designed learning opportunities

will increase their likelihood of academic success. Students who enjoy their science classes are

more likely to take more science and therefore be accepted into college (Schwartz, 2020).

Educational technology allows teachers to give more individualized opportunities for students in

their classes, increasing feelings of ownership and enjoyment of learning. Teachers may also

increase student engagement and enjoyment in ESS with hands-on-labs and activities.

Traditional classroom practices such as lecture notes and worksheets are the least enjoyable to

students; students instead prefer learning experiences in which they can have choices and see real

world applications (Kousa et al., 2018). Helping students to enjoy ESS will help to change their

attitude toward science education and help them to succeed long term by increasing critical

science knowledge and likelihood of college acceptance.

There needs to be a change in how science is addressed at the high school level.

American students have remained in a middle ranking, when compared to other developed

nations, for over a decade (U.S. National Science Board 2020). Though American students have

been getting instruction framed around different standards, the outcomes have not changed as the

majority of classroom education is teacher led with little student autonomy. The ways that things
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have always been done are not serving students while they are in school or when they leave

school.

As technology has improved, there has been more of a push to include multimedia in

science classroom to increase student understanding of materials. This multimedia is largely

pictures and videos and allows teachers to show natural phenomena that would not otherwise fit

inside of a science classroom, such as spinning galaxies or erupting volcanoes. Technology

presents an amazing chance to show students processes that they may not otherwise see.

However, simply showing a process does not guarantee student success or understanding of

concepts, scaffolding is required to ensure student mastery of content (Chan & Linn, 2013). It is

not enough to simply show the students a phenomenon taking place, lessons must be carefully

structured to ensure students understand what they are seeing and the science behind it.

Only about 44% of Americans are recorded as having a “great deal of confidence” in

science, however in the portion of the population without a high school diploma this value is

only 29% (U.S. National Science Board 2020). This is despite the fact that science information is

freely available from a myriad of sources. If not structured properly, it does not matter how much

information is available. There needs to be careful design to make complex concepts digestible

for an audience that does not have a lot of faith in the processes that they are studying.

Instructional design concepts incorporated into online resources will provide students

with learning experiences that will support their growth, give them a sense of ownership over the

activities that they are completing, and allow for more instant feedback and personalization. The

proposed capstone project involves breaking down remedial math concepts to help students

achieve science standards. On casual observation of ESS students currently working on the same

standards, there is roughly 40% success in completing the math involved in the current unit.
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Students have many reasons for struggling, but there needs to be further development and

personalization to allow them to succeed.

Solution Description

Goals of the Project

Students should be able to appropriately use equations to predict planetary movement.

The emphasis is on algebraic problem solving (Achieve 2013). This module will provide the

scaffolding to help students reach the overall goal as defined by the state standard. In this

activity, students will be focusing on foundational skills necessary to meet the larger objective.

The module will contain some basic math practice on individual components in the more

complex equations to help students feel comfortable when given the higher level material to

work with.

Learning Objectives

The NGSS standard HS-ESS1-4 requires students to be able to “use mathematical or

computational representations to predict the motion of orbiting objects in the solar system”

(Achieve 2013).  This is challenging for students in Earth and space science (ESS) because a

large proportion of these students are in ESS rather than chemistry specifically because they

received low grades in their algebra class(es). Reading the fine print of the standard, the focus is

to be on Newtonian physics. The purpose of the module to be designed will provide additional

scaffolding to support students in their growth toward achieving the NGSS standard in predicting

motion of objects in the solar system.

The learning goals for the project are:

 From memory, ESS students will be able to describe Kepler’s three laws of planetary

motion with at least 70% accuracy.

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 Given the formula, ESS students will be able to define each term in Newton’s equation

for universal gravitation with at least 70% accuracy.

 Given the appropriate data, ESS students will be able to draw a model to represent a word

problem involving the force of gravity between two objects with at least 70% accuracy.

 Given the appropriate data, ESS students will be able to calculate the pull of gravity on

an object with at least 70% accuracy.

Proposed Solution to Fill the Gap

Students require additional scaffolding beyond being simply provided with an equation to

solve. Students need guidance in modeling the problem and working with the different

components to be successful in the course. This will be addressed through a self-paced module to

allow advanced students to move forward onto more complex problem examples while providing

other students with the necessary support to solve the problems. The self-pacing of the module

will allow students flexibility to repeat information multiple times and receive instant feedback

to verify that they are completing steps correctly.

Learning Theories, Instructional Principles

Cognitivist principles will be used in development of the module. Students should be

aware of what they are learning as they progress in small steps toward a goal. At each step, they

should examine what they know and integrate new learning.

Learning Strategies and Justification

The proposed module will be delivered online using Schoology, the district LMS.

Materials will be accessed online while students are physically present in the classroom with the

teacher who is the designer of the module. This module is intended for public high school

students. The activities will be completed during classroom time and under instructor
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supervision. The materials will be digital and accessed online, which allows for differentiation

based on students’ preexisting knowledge and skills. The activities will be completed during

regular class time to allow for instructor supervision and assistance for students who need further

support.

Media Components

This project will utilize PowerPoint slides imported into Adobe Captivate to create a

trackable and self-guided user experience. The module will be hosted on the Schoology LMS.

PowerPoint will be used as a starting place for designing the module as it is familiar to the

designer and has many options for customization. PowerPoint also allows for many visual aids to

be used, which will be helpful in helping students understand the math standards they are trying

to achieve. Adobe Captivate will be used as it is compatible with the LMS used by the school

district and familiar to the students. It is important that the module is delivered in a way that is

trackable so that students can be given a score, and so that students are accountable if they do not

do the work. Adobe Captivate allows for formative assessment questions to be given during the

module and will track user progress to ensure students finish the material.

Anticipated Challenges

Potential challenges are mostly focused the ability of the designer to learn how to

program the type of module envisioned. Ideally, student answers in the module would change the

path of the course for them to allow for more flexibility in the module to accommodate students

with different levels of preexisting knowledge. These are skills to be learned during future MIST

courses as well as supplemental instruction on coding through other sources. This module will

likely be designed through Adobe Captivate or possibly use more freely available technologies to

make the material more accessible, such as Google Forms.

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Methods/Procedures

Preliminary Steps Taken

Preliminary steps include prior experience with coaching students through practice math

problems related to the required standard. This also includes the already developed practice

problems and methods of teaching students the materials in pen and paper format.

Design/Development Narrative

The project will be designed using either Adobe Captivate or a combination of

instructional videos and Google Forms, depending on material availability and useability with

current district resources and students.

Steps to Complete Project

The bulk of program development will take place over the summer of 2022. The initial

draft will be finished in late August of 2022. Testing with adult sample students will take place

in October of 2022. Any necessary redesigns or fixes of the program will take place in

November 2022. Implementation with classroom students will take place in December of 2022.

Resources

The designer has access to Adobe Captivate, Google Forms (free), and the Schoology

LMS already. Captivate was previously purchased and therefore will not cause further expense.

Google Forms is freely available. Schoology is the LMS available to all teachers in Torrance

Unified School District. The designer is the subject matter expert. There are no further

individuals involved in the project.

Technical Skills Required

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Students must be enrolled in ESS and have completed the previous units in the course

before reaching the materials in this module. This will ensure students have necessary computer

skills and experience with accessing materials through the online platform.

Technical skills for the designer would include advanced knowledge of Adobe Captivate.

Timeline/Progress Report

Milestone Checklist

To be developed would be the module for students. This will require creating pre-

recorded lesson segments, a bank of math questions, warm-up questions (pre-assessment) and an

exit ticket (post-assessment). This module will be taught in ESS in December of 2022, so will be

prepared over the summer.

Step Expected Completion Date Complete?

Program development August 2022

Prototype testing on adult October 2022

volunteers

Redesigns or bug fixes November 2022

Classroom Implementation December 2022

Evaluation/Testing Plan

Formative Evaluation Plan

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Data from previous assignments in the ESS course will be used to assess student math

skills before use of the module. There will also be a very short pre-test looking specifically at

knowledge of the formulas being reviewed in the module.

Summative Evaluation Plan

A post-test in the form of a quiz will be used to assess student learning after the module

has been used in the classroom.

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References

Achieve. (2013). HS-ESS1-4 Earth's place in the universe. HS-ESS1-4 Earth's Place in the

Universe. Retrieved November 16, 2021, from https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/hs-

ess1-4-earths-place-universe. 

Chang, H. Y., & Linn, M. C. (2013). Scaffolding learning from molecular visualizations.

Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50(7), 858–886.

https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21089

Jacobson, E. (2020) Impact of Attitude on Earth and Space Science Student Success. MIST,

CSUMB.

Kousa, P., Kavonius, R., & Aksela, M. (2018). Low-achieving students’ attitudes towards

learning chemistry and chemistry teaching methods. Chemistry Education Research and

Practice, 19(2), 431–441. https://doi.org/10.1039/c7rp00226b

Ozel, M., Caglak, S., & Erdogan, M. (2013). Are affective factors a good predictor of science

achievement? examining the role of affective factors based on Pisa 2006. Learning and

Individual Differences, 24, 73–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.09.006

Schwartz, S. (2020, November 20). Low-achieving and high-achieving students receive

different instruction, report finds. Education Week. Retrieved November 15, 2021, from

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/low-achieving-and-high-achieving-students-

receive-different-instruction-report-finds/2019/08.
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U.S. National Science Board. Science & Engineering Indicators. (2020) The State of U.S.

Science & Engineering. National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES).

https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsb20201/

Wang, M. T., Fredricks, J. A., Ye, F., Hofkens, T. L., & Linn, J. S. (2016). The Math and

Science Engagement Scales: Scale development, validation, and psychometric properties.

Learning and Instruction, 43, 16–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2016.01.008

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Appendix A

Table 1

Current Math Course Enrollment and Success for Representative Sample of ESS Students

Course Title Number Enrolled Number Earning a D or F

Algebra One 1 0

Algebra One Extended 17 4

Geometry 34 11

Geometry Extended 1 1

Algebra Two 2 1

Note. A D in a high school course is enough to earn credit toward high school graduation,

however a C is required to progress to the next level course or maintain A-G eligibility for

college admission. In California, three years of math—algebra one, geometry, and algebra two—

are required to graduate from high school.