Scaffolding the Lebanese EFL Cycle 3 in Science Report Writing

Abstract

Some Lebanese university science instructors complain that students face difficulty in writing reports. The same problem was detected at Harvard University; where professors have also traced a similar problem. Little attention was paid to the scientific report writing process since high-school days. Usually, secondary schools focus on the content, rather than on the process writing itself. The aim of this study was to help cycle 3 Lebanese learners become proficient in science report writing. An action research was carried on a group of Lebanese grade 8 science class learners (n=10). The theoretical framework followed the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (Koehler - Mishra, 2009), to investigate the impact of integrating: the web tool, Google+ platform (Cavazza, 2012), known for its instructional, collaborative and motivating features, the procedural scaffolding (Constructivist theory), and authentic content, in science report writing. Data collection instruments used in this study were: (a) samples from the students’ reports written pre, during, and post intervention; (b) the students’ class performance scores; (c) interviews with the students (pre/post intervention) and their science teacher. The results revealed that the focus group outperformed the passive significantly by fifteen points. Suggestions and recommendations for further research were shared.