The Utility of Storytelling Strategies in the Biology Classroom

Abstract

Conveying scientific information with high intrinsic cognitive load to students is a challenge. Often, students do not have the existing schema to incorporate the information in a comprehensive manner. One method that has shown promise is storytelling. Storytelling has been successfully used to convey public health information to non-experts. Therefore, it was of interest to determine whether storytelling could be used in the classroom to present information with high intrinsic load to students in a meaningful manner. This study used a post-test only quasi-experimental study design to explore the utility of storytelling as an instructional strategy in anatomy and physiology classes at a community college. Students in the treatment group received instruction that used storytelling to present examples of application. Both control and experimental groups were assessed through the use of a proximal formative quiz, distal multiple-choice questions, and a novel critical thinking exercise administered after the instruction. Results suggest that storytelling was as effective as the instructional methods delivered to the control group. These findings suggest that storytelling may be used as a means to convey complex scientific information in the classroom. 

Keywords

• Story telling,Instructional strategies,Problem solving

References

1. Abrahamson, C. E. (1998). Storytelling as a pedagogical tool in higher education. Education, 118(3), 440.
2. Anderson, M. (2016). Digital storytelling curriculum: Community-based, participatory action methods for co-curricular digital storytelling projects (Doctoral dissertation). Retried on 5 August 2017 from ProQuest Dissertations (Accession No. 10188561).
3. Avraamidou, L., & Osborne, J. (2009). The role of narrative in communicating science. International Journal of Science Education, 31(12), 1683-1707. http://doi.org/10.1080/09500690802380695
4. Betsch, C., Ulshöfer, C., Renkewitz, F., & Betsch, T. (2011). The influence of narrative v. statistical information on perceiving vaccination risks. Medical Decision Making : An International Journal of the Society for Medical Decision Making, 31(5), 742-53. http://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X11400419
5. Bower, G. H. & Clark, M. C. (2013). Narrative stories as mediators for serial learning. Psychonomic Science, 14(4), 181-182. http://doi.org/10.3758/BF03332778
6. Brownell, S. E., Price, J. V, & Steinman, L. (2013). Science Communication to the General Public: Why We Need to Teach Undergraduate and Graduate Students this Skill as Part of Their Formal Scientific Training. Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education : JUNE : A Publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, 12(1), E6–E10. Retrieved on 5 August 2017 from http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=3852879& tool=pmcentrez&rendertype=abstract
7. Bubela, T., Nisbet, M. C., Borchelt, R., Brunger, F., Critchley, C., Einsiedel, E., … Caulfield, T. (2009). Science communication reconsidered. Nature Biotechnology, 27(6), 514-518. http://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0609-514
8. Campbell, T. A. (2012). Digital storytelling in an elementary classroom: Going beyond entertainment. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 69, 385-393. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.424

9. Campbell, T. A. & Hlusek, M. (2015). Storytelling for fluency and flair: A performance-based approach. The Reading Teacher, 69(2), 157–161.
10. Catala, A., Theune, M., Gijlers, H., & Heylen, D. (2017). Storytelling as a creative activity in the classroom. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Creativity and Cognition (pp. 237-242). ACM.
11. Chien, C. W. (2014). Pre-Service elementary school English teachers’ learning and reflection through simulated teaching practice and oral interviews. Reflective Practice, 15(6), 821-835.
12. Dahlstrom, M. F. (2010). The role of causality in information acceptance in narratives: An example from science communication. Communication Research, 37(6), 857-875. http://doi.org/10.1177/0093650210362683
13. Dahlstrom, M. F. (2014). Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science with nonexpert audiences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(Supplement_4), 13614-13620. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1320645111
14. de Lima, E. S., Feijó, B., Barbosa, S. D. J., Furtado, A. L., Ciarlini, A. E. M., & Pozzer, C. T. (2014). Draw your own story: Paper and pencil interactive storytelling. Entertainment Computing, 5(1), 33-41. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.entcom.2013.06.004
15. Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Pearson Education.
16. González, H. L., Palencia, A. P., Umaña, L. A., Galindo, L., & Villafrade M, L. A. (2008). Mediated learning experience and concept maps: a pedagogical tool for achieving meaningful learning in medical physiology students. Advances in Physiology Education, 32(4), 312-316. http://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00021.2007
17. Halpern, D. F., & Hakel, M. D. (2003). Applying the Science of Learning to the University and Beyond: Teaching for Long-Term Retention and Transfer. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 35(4), 36-41. http://doi.org/10.1080/00091380309604109
18. Hopfer, S. (2012). Effects of a narrative HPV vaccination intervention aimed at reaching college women: a randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science : The Official Journal of the Society for Prevention Research, 13(2), 173-82. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-011-0254-1
19. Hung, C.-M., Hwang, G.-J., & Huang, I. (2011). A project-based digital storytelling approach for improving students’ learning motivation, problem-solving competence and learning achievement. Educational Technology & Society, 15(4), 368–379. Retrieved on 5 August 2017 from http://eric.ed.gov.proxy.lib.odu.edu/?q=storytelling+and+science&ff1= pubJournal+Articles&id=EJ992969
20. Hwang, W.-Y., Shadiev, R., Hsu, J.-L., Huang, Y.-M., Guo-Lin, H., & Yi-Chun, L. (2016). Effects of storytelling to facilitate EFL speaking using web-based multimed...: EBSCOhost. Retrieved on 29 February 2016 from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/ehost/detail/detail? sid=3629e5c4-29de4830-a19f78525c6f7664%2540sessionmgr115&vid=15&hid=113&bdata =JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=EJ1087571&db=eric
21. Inan, C. (2015). A digital storytelling study project on mathematics course with preschool pre-service teachers. Educational Research and Reviews, 10(10), 1476-1469.
22. Kilic, F. (2014). Awareness and cognitive load levels of teacher candidates towards student products made by digital storytelling. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 15(3), 94–107.
23. Kokkotas, P., Rizaki, A., & Malamitsa, K. (2010). Storytelling as a strategy for understanding concepts of electricity and electromagnetism. Interchange: A Quarterly Review of Education, 41(4), 379–405. Retrieved on 5 August 2017 from http://eric.ed.gov.proxy.lib.odu.edu/?q= storytelling+and+science&ff1=pubJournal+Articles&pg=2&id=EJ904516
24. Kotluk, N. & Kocakaya, S. (2015). Researching and evaluating digital storytelling as a distance education tool in physics instruction: An application with pre-service physics teachers. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 17(1), 87–99. Retrieved on 5 August 2017 from http://eric.ed.gov.proxy.lib.odu.edu/?q=storytelling&ff1=pubReports+-+Research&ff2=eduHigher+Education&id=EJ1092820
25. Kreuter, M. W., Green, M. C., Cappella, J. N., Slater, M. D., Wise, M. E., Storey, D., … Woolley, S. (2007). Narrative communication in cancer prevention and control: A framework to guide research and application. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 33(3), 221-235. http://doi.org/10.1007/BF02879904
26. Krupa, J. J. (2014). Scientific method & evolutionary theory elucidated by the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker story. American Biology Teacher, 76(3), 160–170. Retrieved on 5 August 2017 from http://eric.ed.gov.proxy.lib.odu.edu/?q=storytelling+and+science&ff1=pubJournal+ Articles&pg=3&id=EJ1044469
27. Lee, C.-K. & Tseng, S.-J. (2012). Strategies of implementing digital storytelling for improving English oral competence. INTED2012: International Technology, Education and Development Conference, 250–255. Retrieved on 5 August 2017 from http://apps.webofknowledge. com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/full_record.do?product=WOS&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=11&SID=2ByCZdbGLbHkeSxVF56&page=1&doc=12
28. Lencioni, P. (2004). Death by meeting: A leadership fable. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass: A Wiley Imprint. Marsh, E. (2003). Learning facts from fiction. Journal of Memory and Language, 49(4), 519-536. http://doi.org/10.1016/S0749-596X(03)00092-5
29. Mazor, K. M., Baril, J., Dugan, E., Spencer, F., Burgwinkle, P., & Gurwitz, J. H. (2007). Patient education about anticoagulant medication: is narrative evidence or statistical evidence more effective? Patient Education and Counseling, 69(1-3), 145-157. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2007.08.010
30. McDonald, J. K. (2009). Imaginative instruction: What master storytellers can teach instructional d...: EBSCOhost. Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.lib.odu. edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=16&sid=6c09edb6-9883-4922-badb-aec9b0c6217d%2540sessionmgr112&hid=120
31. Mokhtar, N. H., Halim, M. F. A., & Kamarulzaman, S. Z. S. (2011). The effectiveness of storytelling in enhancing communicative skills. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 18, 163-169. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.05.024
32. Morais, C. (2015). Storytelling with chemistry and related hands-on activities: Informal learning experiences to prevent “chemophobia” and promote young children’s scientific literacy. Journal of Chemical Education, 92(1), 58-65. http://doi.org/10.1021/ed5002416
33. Olson, R. (2015). Houston, we have a narrative: Why science needs story. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Parrish, P. (2006). Design as storytelling. TechTrends, 50(4), 72-82.
34. Plomer, M., Jessen, K., Rangelov, G., & Meyer, M. (2010). Teaching physics in a physiologically meaningful manner. Physical Review Special Topics - Physics Education Research, 6(2), 201-216. http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.6.020116
35. Sadik, A. (2008). Digital storytelling: A meaningful technology-integrated approach for engaged student learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, 56(4), 487-506. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-008-9091-8
36. Shelby‐Caffey, C., Úbéda, E., & Jenkins, B. (2014). Digital storytelling revisited. The Reading Teacher, 68(3), 191-199. Siegel, M. (1996). Storytelling: An important component of successful training. Journal of Instruction Delivery Systems, 10(2), 9-11.
37. Steidl, S., Razik, F., & Anderson, A. (2011). Emotion enhanced retention of cognitive skill learning. Emotion, 11(1), 12-19.
38. Tan, M., Lee, S.-S., & Hung, D. W. (2014). Digital storytelling and the nature of knowledge. Education and Information Technologies, 19(3), 623–635. Retrieved on 5 August 2017 from http://eric.ed.gov.proxy.lib.odu.edu/?q=storytelling+and+science&ff1=pubJournal+Articles&id=EJ1053039