Using a qualitative approach, I analyzed data from three sources to
study the impact of STS experiences on my students: reflective journals
throughout the semester, class presentation of their STS investigations,
and in-depth individual interviews of all students at the end of semester
(Figure 1). I formally analyzed all data using an interpretive approach
(Guba & Lincoln, 1994) after the end of each semester. During this
procedure, complete sentences and paragraphs from student journals and
interview transcripts were examined and compared to identify statements
that related to the guiding questions. Several statements made by students
in their journals and/or interviews are presented in the next section as
examples of data that provide insights into the research questions. It is
important to mention, from a methodological perspective, that neither
student journals nor interviews were included in the course grade. This
was explained to students in advance in order to minimize bias in these data
sources, which could have resulted from concerns regarding course grades.