Reading List: Recent DRK-12 Project Publications

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Teachers’ Use and Adaptation of a Model-based Climate Curriculum: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study

Foregrounding climate education in formal science learning environments provides students with opportunities to develop critical climate-related knowledge and skills. However, research has shown many challenges to teaching and learning about Earth’s climate and global climate change (GCC). This longitudinal study aims to establish how secondary science teachers, over time, implement model-based climate curricula in support of students’ climate and GCC education by utilizing EzGCM. The model (EzGCM) is a data-driven, computer-based climate modeling tool use to explore global climate data.

Author(s): Kimberly Carroll Steward , David Gosselin , Devarati Bhattacharya , Mark Chandler , Cory T. Forbes
Year: 2024

Embodied, Dramatizing Performances in Science Class: Multimodal Spaces and Places of Knowledge and Identity Construction

We explored the semiotic choices children in grades 1–6 made that nurtured embodied, dramatizing performances in science classes at urban public schools, serving predominantly students of color in a large US city. We studied how such choices in school and home settings (when instruction was remote during the COVID-19 pandemic) were implicated in the children’s knowledge and identity construction and related to available resources and positionings.

Author(s): Maria Varelas , Amanda R. Diaz , Rebecca Kotler , Rebecca Woodard , Ronan Rock , Zachary Sabitt , Nathan Phillips , Rachelle Tsachor , Marcie Gutierrez , Hannah Natividad , Derek Threewitt , Jaegen Ellison
Year: 2024

Youths’ Solutions to Local Invasive Species

Educating students about real-world, issues such as local invasive species aims to encourage wider engagement with STEM.

Author(s): Julia E Calabrese , Nancy Butler Songer
Year: 2024

Why Do Teachers Vary in Their Instructional Change During Science PD? The Role of Noticing Students in an Iterative Change Process

This qualitative study uses a nonlinear, iterative model of teacher learning (Interconnected Model of Professional Growth; Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002) alongside professional noticing to help understand why elementary teachers in science PD differentially make sense of and internalize new pedagogies.

Author(s): Linda Preminger , Kathryn N. Hayes , Christine L. Bae , Dawn O'Connor
Year: 2024

Design Talks: Fostering Whole-Class Conversations During Engineering Design Units

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Author(s): Kristen Wendell , Jessica Watkins , Chelsea Andrews , Tyrine Pangan , Natalie De Lucca , Vera Gor , Molly Malinowski , Naina Sood Fox , Rae Woodcock
Year: 2024

Multidimensional Science Assessment: Design Challenges and Technology Affordances

In this paper, we describe three challenges (conflict between multiple dimensions of science proficiency, authentic data, and grade-appropriate graphing tools) that we faced when designing for a specific Next Generation Science Standard, and the theoretical and design principles that guided us as we ideated design solutions. Through these designs we maintained alignment to our multidimensional assessment targets, a critical component of our larger assessment validity argument.

Author(s): Brian D. Gane , Diksha Gaur , Samuel Arnold , Daniel Damelin
Year: 2024

Reasoning About Data in Elementary School: Student Strategies and Strengths when Reasoning with Multiple Variables

The need for data literacy is an increasingly pressing priority in society, but most of the work in data-centred education has focused on developing skills at the middle school, secondary, and post-secondary levels, with little attention on the potential for engaging elementary-aged students in reasoning with and about data. This paper reports findings from a foundational study to explore the natural strengths, skills, and strategies that upper elementary students bring to reasoning about data-centred problems.

Author(s): Jessica Sickler , Michelle Lentzner , Lynn T. Goldsmith , Lauren Brase , Randall Kochevar
Year: 2024

Moving Beyond Equity-as-Access: Expanding What Counts as Science in the Elementary Classroom

Making science accessible is an important and worthy goal, but for many students, science is inaccessible because what counts as science in the classroom is narrowly defined as what is known as western science, rooted in Europe in the 1600s and often privileging white, male-centric perspectives. In this article, we describe five examples of expanding what counts as science to help remove barriers to learning and to make school science more equitable and inclusive.

Author(s): Kristin Gunckel , Elizabeth Davis , Jessica Bautista
Year: 2024

A Magical Moment Counting Tires: A Counterstory About Missed Opportunities

This counterstory (Delgado, 1989; Martinez, 2020) is based on field notes (Oct. 19 & Nov. 1, 2022) from our collective’s ethnographic project working with upper elementary Latiné learners and their transition to middle school mathematics.

Author(s): Carlos Nicolas Gómez Marchant , Alexandra R. Aguilar , Amy Rae Johnson , Gerardo Sánchez Gutiérrez , Mona Baniahmadi
Year: 2024

Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Anticipations of Student Responses to Cognitively Demanding Tasks

This study examines secondary mathematics teachers’ anticipations of student responses related to a series of cognitively demanding mathematics tasks from multiple mathematical domains presented in the context of voluntary and asynchronous online professional development modules.

Author(s): P. Holt Wilson , Allison McCulloch , F. Paul Wonsavage , Emily Hare , Lauren N. Baucom
Year: 2024

Learning to Listen: Cultivating Pre-Service Teachers’ Attunement to Student Thinking

Reform efforts in science and mathematics education highlight students’ experiences and sensemaking repertoires as valuable resources for instruction. Yet, there is much to learn about how to cultivate teachers’ capacity for eliciting, understanding, and responding to students’ contributions. We argue that the first step of this cultivation is teachers’ learning to listen: to attune and attend to the novel ways that students make sense of scientific phenomena and the natural world.

Author(s): Shannon G. Davidson , Lama Z. Jaber , Allison Metcalf
Year: 2024

An Exploratory Study of the Relation Between Teachers’ Implicit Theories and Teacher Noticing

Despite interest in how students’ implicit theories—their growth and fixed mindsets about their own learning—affect students as learners, relatively little research on mindset has looked at teachers as learners. This study explores elementary teachers’ implicit theories about the malleability of mathematics intelligence and teaching ability. It also examines how implicit theories of learning relate to teacher noticing, a construct that has been linked to teachers’ classroom practice and their students’ learning outcomes.

Author(s): Meg S. Bates , Joseph R. Cimpian , Shereen Oca Beilstein , Cheryl Moran , Kate Curry , Victoria Jay , Genevieve M. Henricks , Michelle Perry
Year: 2024

Technology-Mediated Lesson Study: A Step-by-Step Guide

The authors are developing a model for rural science teacher professional development, building teacher expertise and collaboration and creating high-quality science lessons: technology-mediated lesson study (TMLS).

Author(s): Michelle Hudson , Heather Leary , Max Longhurst , Joshua Stowers , Tracy Poulsen , Clara Smith , Rebecca L. Sansom
Year: 2024

Resisting Marginalization with Culturally Responsive Mathematical Modeling in Elementary Classrooms

Mathematical modeling (MM) - a cyclical process that involves using mathematics to make-sense of and analyze relevant, real-world situations - has the potential to advance equity and challenge spaces of marginalization in the elementary mathematics classroom. When informed by culturally responsive teaching practices, MM creates opportunities to center the knowledge and experiences that students from diverse racial, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds bring to the classroom as valuable resources to support learning and inform action. It can disrupt power and status hierarchies in the classroom that contribute to structural and ideological marginalization. This paper describes ways teachers connected their teaching of MM with key components of a culturally responsive mathematics teaching framework.

Author(s): Erin Turner , Julia Aguirre , Mary Alice Carlson , Jennifer Suh , Elizabeth Fulton
Year: 2024

Can Generative AI and ChatGPT Outperform Humans on Cognitive-Demanding Problem-Solving Tasks in Science?

This study aimed to examine an assumption regarding whether generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools can overcome the cognitive intensity that humans suffer when solving problems. We examine the performance of ChatGPT and GPT-4 on NAEP science assessments and compare their performance to students by cognitive demands of the items.

Author(s): Xiaoming Zhai , Matthew Nyaaba , Wenchao Ma
Year: 2024

Design Talks: Whole-Class Conversations During Engineering Design Units

Teacher-facilitated whole-class conversations can help elementary students apply the full power of the NGSS science and engineering practices to an engineering design process. In this article we describe and provide examples for five kinds of Design Talks. Each type of Design Talk centers on a different framing question and is facilitated by specific prompts that help students voice their ideas and make connections to others' ideas.

Author(s): Kristen Wendell , Jessica Watkins , Chelsea Andrews , Natalie De Lucca , Molly Malinowski , Vera Gor , Rae Woodcock , Tyrine Pangan , Naina Sood
Year: 2024

Designing Educative Curriculum Materials for Teacher Educators: Supporting Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Content Knowledge for Teaching About Matter and Its Interactions

Research on teacher educators’ professional learning has gained increasing interest within science education. Curriculum materials have been suggested as a means of supporting teacher learning for several decades but have not yet been examined as a potential tool for supporting the learning of teacher educators. In this paper, we conceptualize a set of design heuristics to guide the development of educative curriculum materials for teacher educators.

Author(s): Deborah Hanuscin , Emily Borda , Josie Melton , Jamie N. Mikeska 
Year: 2024

Elementary Teachers’ Knowledge of Using Language as an Epistemic Tool in Science Classrooms: A Case Study

Language is a fundamental tool for learning science. This study highlights the importance of teacher knowledge in utilising language as a tool for knowledge generation in the classrooms. This case study examines elementary teachers’ development of declarative, procedural, and epistemic knowledge related to using language, particularly focusing on how a three-year professional development programme centred around the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach influences the development of these knowledge bases.

Author(s): Qi Si , Jee K. Suh , Jale Ercan-Dursun , Brian Hand , Gavin W. Fulmer
Year: 2024

Why Does Teacher Learning Vary in Professional Development? Accounting for Organisational Conditions

Professional development providers often struggle with how some teachers take up and internalise new instructional practices while others have difficulty implementing new ideas and strategies. Teacher personal characteristics account for only part of this differentiation in learning, and there are unanswered questions regarding how organisational conditions shape teacher learning in professional development (PD). To address these questions, we examined U.S. elementary teachers’ learning and change in a science professional development project.

Author(s): Kathryn N. Hayes , Linda Preminger , Christine L. Bae
Year: 2023

Chat-based Role-Play for Preservice Teachers to Practice Eliciting Students’ Arguments

In this article, we describe our implementation of an innovative approximation of practice in teacher education: chat-based role-play. In so doing, we share our collective experiences as teacher educators about how the preservice teachers (PSTs) across our four methods courses—two elementary science courses, one elementary mathematics course, and one middle school mathematics course—practiced eliciting students’ initial arguments about a matter investigation (for science) or a fractions or ratio problem (for mathematics).

Author(s): Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue , Peter Rillero , Cathy Liebars , Adam Goldberg , Justin Reich
Year: 2023

Characterizing Mathematics Teacher Learning Patterns Through Collegial Conversation in a Community of Practice

We examined secondary (6-12) mathematics teachers’ participation in a professional development (PD) model where they collectively investigated video cases of students engaging with ambitious instructional materials. We leveraged frame analysis, frame processes, and the Teaching for Robust Understanding framework to characterize the learning of professional learning communities.

Author(s): Joseph DiNapoli , Amy Daniel , Helene S. Leonard , Youngjun Kim , Victoria D. Bonaccorso , Eileen Murray
Year: 2023

How it All Happened: Cause and Effect as a Lens and Thinking Tool to Observe and Make Sense of Two Puzzling Phenomena

This article uses cause and effect as a lens and thinking tool to observe and make sense of phenomena in elementary science.

Author(s): Lindsey Mohan , Emily Harris , Candice Guy-Gaytán
Year: 2023

Engagement in the InSTEP Professional Learning Platform: Developing Expertise to Teach Data and Statistics

In this study, 82 middle and high school teachers engaged with the InSTEP online professional
learning platform to develop their expertise in teaching data science and statistics. We
investigated teachers’ engagement within the platform, aspects of the platform that were most
and least effective in building teachers’ expertise, and the extent to which teachers’ self-efficacy
changed.

Author(s): Gemma F. Mojica , Emily Thrasher , Adrian Kuhlman , Bruce Graham , Hollylynne S. Lee , Michelle Pace
Year: 2023

Youth as Essential Problem-Solvers of Our Futures

Nancy Butler Songer, Associate Provost of STEM Education at the University of Utah, discusses the importance of supporting and including young people as part of environmental decision-making teams and key problem-solvers of our futures.

Author(s): Nancy Butler Songer
Year: 2023

Scientific Communities of Practice: K–12 Outreach Model Around Organism Responses to Repeated Hurricane Disturbances

Collaboration between ecologists and learning scientists can give rise to powerful models for scientific outreach within ecology. This paper presents a process by which learning scientists and ecologists codesigned a science curriculum that invites students to join an ecological community of practice.

Author(s): Kathleen M. Easley , Jess K. Zimmerman , Steven McGee , Randi McGee-Tekula
Year: 2023

Understanding the Effect of Differences in Prior Knowledge on Middle School Students’ Collaborative Interactions and Learning

We investigated how the level of variance in students’ prior knowledge may have influenced their collaborative interactions and science learning in small groups. We examined learning outcomes from 102 groups from seven science teachers’ classes and discourse from two contrasting groups: Homogeneous versus heterogeneous. We examined individual and group outcomes using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to explore the effect of membership in a homogeneous or heterogeneous group on students’ learning. We then used social network analyses (SNA) to identify any differences in interaction patterns between the two contrasting groups as they conducted multiple compost simulations. Finally, we examined students’ discussions in these groups to better understand their interactions.

Author(s): Sadhana Puntambekar , Dana Gnesdilow , Sinan Yavuz
Year: 2023
Keywords: Middle, Biology, Science

Thinking Outside the Box of Rocks

In this article we introduce a National Science Foundation-funded research project called TecRocks that has developed new interactive simulations and an innovative online curriculum module that weaves rock formation and plate tectonics together such that secondary teachers and students can approach these two topics as integrated systems.

Author(s): Trudi Lord , Amy Pallant
Year: 2023

Characteristics of Mathematics Coaches’ Suggestions to Teachers

We developed an analytic framework related to the suggestions coaches provided to mathematics teachers as they engaged in content-focused coaching cycles. We analyzed 712 suggestions from nine coaches and 58 coaching conversations. Analysis focused on what the suggestion entailed and how suggestions were made.

Author(s): Julie M. Amador , Ryan Gillespie , Jeffrey Choppin , Cynthia D. Carson
Year: 2023

How Do We Design Curricula to Foster Innovation, Motivation and Interest in STEM Learning?

The authors designed a science and engineering curricular program that includes design features that promote student interest and motivation and examined teachers' and students' views on meaningfulness, motivation and interest.

Author(s): Julia E. Calabrese , Nancy Butler Songer , Holly Cordner , Daniel Kalani Aina Jr
Year: 2023

Designing Educative Tools for Scientific Argumentation: A Case Study of DBR Before and During the Pandemic

Design-based research is uniquely positioned to adapt instructional resources quickly to meet the needs of teachers and students. This chapter explores how researchers adapted and improved two educative tools over the course of two academic years. The educative tools were designed to support scientific argumentation through supporting students to develop task models of NGSS storyline routines.

Author(s): Kathleen M. Easley , Steven McGee , Randi McGee-Tekula , Anne Britt , Kathryn E. Rupp , Karyn Higgs 
Year: 2023

Justice-Centered STEM Education with Multilingual Learners: Conceptual Framework and Initial Inquiry into Pre-service Teachers’ Sense-Making

Our conceptual framework for justice-centered STEM education engages all students in multiple STEM subjects, including data science and computer science, to explain and design solutions to pressing societal challenges and their disproportionate impact on minoritized groups. In the first part of this article, we extend our conceptual framework by articulating the affordances of justice-centered STEM education for one minoritized student group that has been traditionally denied meaningful STEM learning experiences: multilingual learners (MLs). In the second part of the article, we report on an initial inquiry into how 14 undergraduate pre-service teachers made sense of our conceptual framework after participating in lessons from our COVID-19 instructional unit.

Author(s): Scott E. Grapin , Alison Haas , N’Dyah McCoy , Okhee Lee
Year: 2023

Promoting Students’ Informal Inferential Reasoning Through Arts-Integrated Data Literacy Education

Arts-integration is a promising approach to building students’ abilities to create and critique arguments with data, also known as informal inferential reasoning (IIR). However, differences in disciplinary practices and routines, as well as school organization and culture, can pose barriers to subject integration. The purpose of this study is to describe synergies and tensions between data science and the arts, and how these can create or constrain opportunities for learners to engage in IIR.

Author(s): Camillia Matuk , Ralph Vacca , Anna Amato , Megan Silander , Kayla DesPortes , Peter J. Woods , Marian Tes
Year: 2023

Open Innovation Challenge to Mitigate Global Warming

Open innovation challenge to mitigate global warming.

Author(s): Gillian M. Puttick , Brian Drayton , Santiago Gasca
Year: 2023

‘But, Is It Supposed to be a Straight Line?’ Scaffolding Students’ Experiences with Pressure Sensors and Material Resistance in a High School Biology Classroom

This case study examines how material resistance (limitations posed by the physical world) and graph interpretation intersected during a high school biology investigation using digital sensors.

Author(s): Natalya St. Clair , A. Lynn Stephens , Hee-Sun Lee
Year: 2023
Keywords: Biology, High

Fostering Expansive and Connective Sensemaking with Preservice Secondary Science Teachers

Our research explores possibilities for cultivating new spaces for preservice secondary science teachers to engage in science. In a content-focused education course, we designed for and studied preservice teachers' engagement in expansive and connective sensemaking, incorporating heterogeneity, power, and historicity in pursuits of explanatory accounts of the natural world. In this article, we examined how this course design can support preservice teachers to attune to heterogeneity in ways of knowing in science and to connect to identity and historicity in scientific sensemaking.

Author(s): Jessica Watkins , Natalie A. De Lucca , Serena R. Pao
Year: 2023

Inspiring STEM Education Focused on Solutions

Nancy Butler Songer, from the University of Utah, makes a call for collective action to create a new curriculum focused on the design of solutions.

Author(s): Nancy Butler Songer
Year: 2023

Connecting Classroom Assessment with Learning Goals and Instruction Through Theories of Learning

In this report section, we discuss the importance of aligning classroom assessments with learning goals and instructional practices to both shape and evaluate students’ learning opportunities.

Author(s): Leanne R. Ketterlin-Geller , Christopher J. Harris
Year: 2023

Technology-based Innovative Assessment

This section presents an overview of critical developments in technology-driven, classroom-based innovative assessment practices. It uses a framework organized around cognitive constructs, assessment functionality, and automaticity to review the technological developments of innovative assessments and identify how they have been advanced to meet researcher and practitioner needs.

Author(s): Xiaoming Zhai , Eric Wiebe
Year: 2023

Navigating Socio-emotional Risk Through Comfort-Building in a Physics Teaching Community of Practice: A Case Study

This descriptive case study examines the process of productively navigating socio-emotional risks and interpersonal tensions encountered by a veteran and pre-service physics teacher during one episode of discussing physics content.

Author(s): Maggie Mahmood , Hamideh Talafian , Devyn Shafer , Morten Lundsgaard , Eric Kuo , Tim Stelzer
Year: 2023

Hearing All Voices to Promote Learning Orientation and Effective Collaboration

Practical research article from Science Scope.

Author(s): Pei Pei Liu , Sharon Taylor , Ann Colwell-Johnson , Alexandra Lee , David Mckinney , Christopher J. Harris , Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia , Gwen C. Marchand , Jennifer A. Schmidt
Year: 2023

Comparing Optimization Practices Across Engineering Learning Contexts Using Process Data

Despite an increasing focus on integrating engineering design in K-12 settings, relatively few studies have investigated how to support students to engage in systematic processes to optimize the designs of their solutions. This study explored how middle school, high school, and pre-service students optimized the design of a home for energy efficiency, size, and cost using facets of fluency, flexibility, closeness, and quality.

Author(s): Jennifer L. Chiu , James P. Bywater , Tugba Karabiyik , Alejandra Magana , Corey Schimpf , Ying Ying Seah 
Year: 2023

Why Is Engineering Design Important for All Learners?

Engineering design systematically identifies needs, wants, and problems and then devises solutions to address them. A central component of our work is guiding students in the engineered design of solutions to local environmental problems.

Author(s): Nancy Butler Songer
Year: 2023

The Crisis You Can’t Plan For: K-12 Leader Responses and Organisational Preparedness During COVID-19

Unlike many types of educational crises, the COVID-19 pandemic was a crisis leaders could not have prepared for. But research is only starting to examine how leaders’ responses and organisational context have played a role. This mixed-methods study accordingly examines how leaders have mitigated challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, and what local factors are most salient.

Author(s): Craig De Voto , Benjamin M. Superfine
Year: 2023
Keywords: Other, Other, Other

Responsive Professional Development: A Facilitation Approach for Teachers' Development in a Physics Teaching Community of Practice

Providing high-quality professional development for teachers with diverse backgrounds and classroom experience is a challenging task. In this work, we investigate the Illinois Physics and Secondary Schools (IPaSS) partnership program, which provides instructional resources and a network of support for high school physics teachers through a partnership with the University of Illinois.

Author(s): Hamideh Talafian , Morten Lundsgaard , Maggie Mahmood , Devyn Shafer , Tim Stelzer , Eric Kuo
Year: 2023

Exploring System Dynamics of Complex Societal Issues Through Socio-scientific Models

Research on socio-scientific issues (SSI) has revealed that it is critical for learners to develop a systematic understanding of the underlying issue. In this paper, we explore how modeling can facilitate students’ systems thinking in the context of SSI. Building on evidence from prior research in promoting systems thinking skills through modeling in scientific contexts, we hypothesize that a similar modeling approach could effectively foster students’ systematic understanding of complex societal issues.

Author(s): Li Ke , Eric Kirk , Rebecca Lesnefsky , Troy D. Sadler
Year: 2023
Keywords: Biology, High, Science

Evaluating the Effectiveness of an Online Professional Development for Rural Middle-School Science Teachers

In rural, geographically dispersed school districts, access to high-quality face-to-face professional development (PD) is challenging. Our study developed and compared the effectiveness of an online PD for middle-school science teachers working in remote, rural areas of Kansas with an evidence-based traditional face-to-face PD with the goal of supporting change in teachers’ conceptual understanding and self-efficacy in utilizing Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), change in instructional practices, and overall student content learning.

Author(s): Brooke A. Moore , Earl F. Legleiter , Kylia Owens , Brynne Packard , Jessica Wright
Year: 2023

Elementary Preservice Teachers' Responsiveness While Eliciting Students' Initial Arguments and Encouraging Critique in Online Simulated Argumentation Discussions

Limited research has explored elementary preservice teachers' responsiveness while navigating an argumentation-focused discussion, particularly in an online simulated teaching experience. The purpose of this study was to examine preservice teachers' responsiveness to students' ideas while eliciting students' initial constructed arguments and encouraging argument critique in two online simulated teaching experiences.

Author(s): Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue , Heidi L. Masters , Jamie N. Mikeska , Meredith Thompson , Meredith Park Rogers , Dionne Cross Francis
Year: 2023

Iterative Cognitive Interview Design to Uncover Children’s Spatial Reasoning

Cognitive interviews play an important role in articulating the intended construct of educational assessments. This paper describes the iterative development of protocols for cognitive interviews with kindergarten through second-grade children to understand how their spatial reasoning skill development aligns with intended constructs.

Author(s): Elizabeth R. Thomas , Robyn K. Pinilla , Leanne R. Ketterlin-Geller , Cassandra Hatfield
Year: 2023

Navigating Policy and Local Context in Times of Crisis: District and School Leader Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article examines how federal/state-level policy guidance and local context have influenced district and school leader responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how these external/internal factors might provide a window into K-12 crisis leadership and policy sensemaking more broadly.

Author(s): Craig De Voto , Benjamin M. Superfine , Marc DeWit
Year: 2023
Keywords: Other, Policy

Applying Rasch Measurement to Assess Knowledge-in-Use in Science Education

This study applied the many-facet Rasch measurement (MFRM) to assess students’ knowledge-in-use in middle school physical science.

Author(s): Peng He , Xiaoming Zhai , Namsoo Shin , Joseph Krajcik
Year: 2023

Engaging Hearts and Minds in Assessment and Validation Research

A School Science and Mathematics Journal editorial.

Author(s): Jonathan D. Bostic
Year: 2023

Socioscientific Modeling as an Approach Towards Justice-Centred Science Pedagogy

Justice-centred science pedagogy has been suggested as an effective framework for supporting teachers in bringing in culturally relevant pedagogy to their science classrooms; however, limited instructional tools exist that introduce social dimensions of science in ways teachers feel confident navigating. In this article, we add to the justice-centred science pedagogy framework by offering tools to make sense of science and social factors and introduce socioscientific modelling as an instructional strategy for attending to social dimensions of science in ways that align with justice-centred science pedagogy.

Author(s): Rebecca R. Lesnefsky , Eric A. Kirk , Jasmyne Yeldell , Troy D. Sadler , Li Ke
Year: 2023

Exploring the Noticing of Science Teachers: What Teachers' Notice and Using Video to Capture Teacher Knowledge

Knowing how science teachers develop their professional knowledge has been a challenge. One potential way to determine the professional knowledge of teachers is through videos. In the study described here, the authors recruited 60 elementary and secondary science teachers, showed them one of two 10-min videos, and recorded and analyzed their comments when watching the videos.

Author(s): Julie A. Luft , Yuxi Huang , Harleen Singh , Hatice Ozen-Tasdemir , Joe DeLuca , Shelby Watson , Elizabeth Ayano , Brooke A. Whitworth
Year: 2023

Preservice Teachers Noticing and Positioning Students as “Knowers” in Equitable Scientific Argumentation-based Discussions

This study investigated how preservice elementary teachers' (PSTs) noticed the discourse practices they used to position students and their scientific thinking as they engaged a group of student avatars in argumentation-based simulated discussions.

Author(s): Amanda Benedict-Chambers , Lauren Madden , Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue , Jamie N. Mikeska , Meredith Park Rogers
Year: 2023

The Development and Validation of a Survey Measuring Opportunity to Learn Spatial Reasoning Skills at Home

The early development of spatial reasoning skills has been linked to future success in mathematics, but research to date has mainly focused on the development of these skills within classroom settings rather than at home. The purpose of the current study is to develop a survey instrument to better understand Kindergarten through Grade 2 students’ opportunities to learn spatial reasoning skills at home.

Author(s): Sarah Wellberg , Anthony Sparks , Leanne Ketterlin Geller
Year: 2023

Investigating Teacher–Teacher Feedback: Uncovering Useful Socio-pedagogical Norms for Reform-based Chemistry Instruction

Teacher–teacher feedback is an important feature of professional learning. However, deeply ingrained socio-pedagogical norms may affect both the nature and content of feedback, constraining its effectiveness. Prior studies have reported that avoiding critique and providing excessively generic information can hinder pedagogical inquiry and adoption of reform-based instruction. To better understand the nuances of socio-pedagogical norms for chemistry-specific settings, we investigate the conversational functions and the ways in which teacher–teacher feedback addresses macroscopic, symbolic, and particulate levels of representation within lessons they experienced as students.

Author(s): Meng-Yang Matthew Wu , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2023

Examining the Effect of Counternarratives About Physics on Women’s Physics Career Intentions

Women and many people of color continue to be minoritized in STEM and notably in physics. We conducted two studies demonstrating that exposure to counternarratives about who does physics and why one does physics significantly increases high school students—especially women’s—physics-related career intentions.

Author(s): Geoff Potvin , Zahra Hazari , Raina Khatri , Hemeng Cheng , T. Blake Head , Robynne M. Lock , Anne F. Kornahrens , Kathryne Sparks Woodle , Rebecca E. Vieyra , Beth A. Cunningham , Laird Kramer , Theodore Hodapp
Year: 2023

Understanding the Cognitive Processes of Mathematical Problem Posing: Evidence from Eye Movements

This study concerns the cognitive process of mathematical problem posing, conceptualized in three stages: understanding the task, constructing the problem, and expressing the problem. We used the eye tracker and think-aloud methods to deeply explore students’ behavior in these three stages of problem posing, especially focusing on investigating the influence of task situation format and mathematical maturity on students’ thinking.

Author(s): Ling Zhang , Naiqing Song , Guowei Wu , Jinfa Cai
Year: 2023

Energy and Your Environment (EYE): Place-based Curriculum Unit to Foster Students’ Energy Literacy

This chapter describes our middle school energy literacy project to develop, implement, and test curriculum materials for a unit titled Energy and Your Environment (EYE). EYE fosters place-based education by using the school building to enhance systems thinking about energy consumption and flow between the building and surrounding environment.

Author(s): Laura Zangori , Suzy Otto , Laura B. Cole , Rebekah Snyder , R. Tanner Oertli , Sepideh Fallahhosseini 
Year: 2023

Elementary Science Teacher Educators Learning Together: Catalyzing Change With Educative Curriculum Materials and Vignette Writing

In this article, we describe a professional learning community (PLC) for science teacher educators that supported changes in pedagogy through educative curriculum materials and vignette writing.

Author(s): Sumreen Asim , Jeni Davis , Melanie Kinskey , Heather Lavender , Jaclyn Murray , Amanda Obery , Carrie-Anne Sherwood , Sarah Voss
Year: 2023

STEP UP: Supporting Teachers in Having Difficult Conversations

The project research team developed two active learning lessons examining the diverse profiles of individuals who earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, and issues of marginalization of women in physics. After participating in the lessons, research showed that both the students’ sense of physics identity and their intentions to pursue a physics major increased, especially among female-identifying students.

Author(s): Bree Barnett Dreyfuss
Year: 2023

Developing and Using a Scalable Assessment to Measure Preservice Elementary Teachers' Ccontent Knowledge for Teaching About Matter

There is strong agreement in science teacher education of the importance of teachers' content knowledge for teaching (CKT), which includes their subject matter knowledge and their pedagogical content knowledge. However, there are limited instruments that can be easily administered and scored on a large scale to assess and study elementary science teachers' CKT. Such measures would support strategic monitoring of large groups of science teachers' CKT and the investigation of comparative questions about science teachers' CKT longitudinally across the professional continuum or across teacher education or professional development sites. To address this gap, this study focused on designing an automatically scorable summative assessment that can be used to measure preservice elementary teachers' (PSETs') CKT in one high-leverage science content area: matter and its interactions.

Author(s): Katherine E. Castellano , Jamie N. Mikeska
Year: 2023

Leading for Justice, Leading for Learning: Conceptualizing Urban School Leadership for Antiracist Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Urban school leaders can support mathematics instruction that acknowledges and sustains students’ racialized and cultured ways of knowing and being. Yet, leadership for racial justice is often discussed separately from instructional improvement. In this conceptual inquiry, we investigate how leadership can integrate antiracist practices into teaching and learning.

Author(s): Jessica G. Rigby , Stephanie Forman
Year: 2023

Myths, Mis- and Preconceptions of Artificial Intelligence: A Review of the Literature

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is prevalent in nearly every aspect of our lives. However, recent studies have found a significant amount of confusion and misunderstanding surrounding AI. To develop effective educational programs in the field of AI, it is vital to examine and understand learners' pre- and misconceptions as well as myths about AI. This study examined a corpus of 591 studies.

Author(s): Arne Bewersdorff , Xiaoming Zhai , Jessica Roberts , Claudia Nerdel
Year: 2023

Vygotskian Hybridizing of Motion and Mapping: Learning About Geometric Transformations in Block-based Programming Environments

Research on geometric transformations suggests that early learners possess intuitive understandings grounded in motion metaphors, transitioning to mappings. The processes through which students transition between these two conceptions are not fully understood. We propose that Vygotskian hybridizing (related to Vygotsky’s articulation of everyday and scientific concepts) may provide a lens for thinking about the relationship between these conceptions.

Author(s): Jesús E. Hernández-Zavaleta , Corey Brady , Sandra Becker , Douglas B. Clark
Year: 2023

Supporting Secondary Students’ Understanding of Earth’s Climate System and Global Climate Change Using EzGCM: A Cross-Sectional Study

Global climate change (GCC) is one of the greatest challenges of our age and a highly significant socio-scientific issue (SSI). Developing secondary students’ understanding about the Earth’s climate and GCC is critical for empowering future citizens and a key focus of the Next Generation Science Standards. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated secondary students’ evidence-based reasoning about GCC grounded in a curricular intervention involving the use of a data-driven, computer-based global climate model—EzGCM—over 3 years with four teachers who adapted the module in their own courses.

Author(s): Silvia-Jessica Mostacedo-Marasovic , Amanda A. Olsen , Cory T. Forbes
Year: 2023

Investigating the Presence of Mathematics and the Levels of Cognitively Demanding Mathematical Tasks in Integrated STEM Units

Effective K-12 integrated STEM education should reflect an intentional effort to adequately represent and facilitate each of its component disciplines in a meaningful way. However, most research in this space has been conducted within the context of science classrooms, ignoring mathematics. Also missing from the literature is research that examines the level of cognitive demand required from mathematical tasks present within integrated STEM lessons. In order to seek insight pertaining to this gap in the literature, we sought to better understand how science teachers use mathematics within K-12 integrated STEM instruction.

Author(s): Elizabeth N. Forde , Latanya Robinson , Joshua A. Ellis , Emily A. Dare
Year: 2023

Examining How Using Dichotomous and Partial Credit Scoring Models Influence Sixth-Grade Mathematical Problem-Solving Assessment Outcomes

Determining the most appropriate method of scoring an assessment is based on multiple factors, including the intended use of results, the assessment's purpose, and time constraints. Both the dichotomous and partial credit models have their advantages, yet direct comparisons of assessment outcomes from each method are not typical with constructed response items. The present study compared the impact of both scoring methods on the internal structure and consequential validity of a middle-grades problem-solving assessment called the problem solving measure for grade six (PSM6).

Author(s): Toni A. May , Kristin L. K. Koskey , Jonathan D. Bostic , Gregory E. Stone , Lance M. Kruse , Gabriel Matney
Year: 2023

“Tia Was the Right One:” Mathematical Authority and Trust Among First Graders

Questions regarding the construction of mathematical authority have implications for learning, specifically for students’ views of themselves as mathematics learners and doers with valuable contributions. We consider the ideas proposed by eight first-grade students who had the most airtime during 12 lessons of a classroom teaching experiment.

Author(s): Bárbara Brizuela , Susanne Strachota , Sophia Raymond , Sofía Savid , Maria Blanton
Year: 2023

Young Philosophers: Fifth-Grade Students Animating the Concept of Space

In many schools across the world, students experience mathematical concepts as ideas empty of wisdom and possibility. In this paper the authors analyze a philosophical conversation in which fifth-grade students were caught up in the animacy of the concept of space. Challenging the common view of mathematics as dealing with absolute truths and certainty, these students, the materials, and the concept itself formed dynamic assemblages that, through movement and the senses reanimated philosophical considerations regarding the concept of space.

Author(s): Higinio Dominguez , Sofía Abreu , Melvin Peralta
Year: 2023

Policy Translation in Assemblage: Networked Actors Mediating Science Teachers’ Policy Play

Educational policies exist as part of complex systems of many policies, all of which science teachers must make sense before using in practice. Using Actor-Network Theory to view policy translation in assemblages, we examine how networked actors mediate teachers’ policy play.

Author(s): Kathryn M. Bateman , Scott McDonald
Year: 2023

STEM Curriculum Development and Implementation

Review of the recent literature on integrated STEM curriculum development and implementation. Included are frameworks for integrated STEM curriculum development and research assessments to evaluate curriculum quality. Details and examples from a large integrated STEM research project in the United States are included. The paper concludes with a call for future research related to STEM curriculum implementation, including the need for new observation protocols.

Author(s): Gillian H. Roehrig , Emily A. Dare , Jenna R. Wieselmann , Elizabeth A. Ring-Whalen
Year: 2023

AI for Tackling STEM Education Challenges

To best support students in developing competence, assessments that allow students to use knowledge to solve challenging problems and make sense of phenomena are needed. These assessments need to be designed and tested to validly locate students on the learning progression and hence provide feedback to students and teachers about meaningful next steps in their learning. Yet, such tasks are time-consuming to score and challenging to provide students with appropriate feedback to develop their knowledge to the next level.

Author(s): Xiaoming Zhai , Knut Neumann , Joseph Krajcik
Year: 2023

Effects of Game-based Learning Supports on Students’ Math Performance and Perceived Game Flow

Adopting a pretest–posttest experimental design with repeated measures, this study examined the effects of three types of game-based learning supports in the form of modeling on knowledge development that contributed to successful math problem solving and students’ perceived game flow.

Author(s): Yanjun Pan , Fengfeng Ke
Year: 2023

Mathematics and Science Teacher Educators' Use of Representations of Practice: A Mixed Methods Study

This study sought to explore math and science teacher educators' use of various media to represent practice within methods courses. There is little understanding of why certain media is used over other representations and the rationale for these choices. Specifically, the study focused on the prevalence and familiarity of teacher educators with comics and animations, standard videos, and 360 videos. This mixed methods study utilized a survey and interviews to ascertain math and science teacher educators' level of familiarity and perceived usefulness of representations of practice.

Author(s): Christine K. Austin , Karl W. Kosko , Jennifer L. Heisler
Year: 2023

Classroom-Based STEM Assessment: Contemporary Issues and Perspectives

This report takes stock of what we currently know as well as what we need to know to make classroom assessment maximally beneficial for the teaching and learning of STEM subject matter in K–12 classrooms.

Author(s): Christopher J. Harris, Eric Wiebe, Shuchi Grover, James W. Pellegrino, Eric Banilower, Arthur Baroody, Erin Furtak, Ryan “Seth” Jones, Leanne R. Ketterlin-Geller, Okhee Lee, Xiaoming Zhai
Year: 2023

Intersections of Teacher Noticing and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy: A Conceptual Framework to Inform the Design of Teacher Learning

Teacher noticing scholars are just beginning to explore how to support noticing that is responsive to students' cultural resources. The theoretical basis of the teacher noticing literature affords scholars a range of paths for understanding student resources, only some of which are described in the literature. In this article, we offer a conceptual model showing how the theoretical roots related to teacher noticing and responsive teaching (N/RT) are closely aligned with theories foundational to culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP).

Author(s): Melissa J. Luna , Malayna Bernstein , Janet D. K. Walkoe
Year: 2023

Exploring Students’ Learning Support Use in Digital Game-based Math Learning: A Mixed-Methods Approach Using Machine Learning and Multi-cases Study

Digital game-based math learning environments (math DGBLE) are promising platforms that provide students with opportunities to master conceptual understanding and cultivate mathematical thinking, on which the contemporary mathematics education places an emphasis. Literature on learning support in digital game-based learning (DGBL) rarely investigate learners' support-use behaviors and interaction patterns in relation to math learning. We addressed this research gap in this exploratory mixed-methods study. We designed and developed a packet of learning supports (i.e., Task Planner and Math Story) in a math DGBLE.

Author(s): Chih-Pu Dai , Fengfeng Ke , Yanjun Pan , Yaning Liu
Year: 2023

Integrative Analysis Using Big Ideas: Energy Transfer and Cellular Respiration

Big ideas in science education are meant to be interpretive frameworks that empower student learning. Unfortunately, outside of the broad conception of scientific evaluation, there are few theoretical explanations of how this might happen. Therefore, we contribute one such explanation, an instructional concept called integrative analysis wherein students use a big idea to interconnect isolated scenarios and enrich their meanings.

Author(s): Jonathan T. Shemwell , Daniel K. Capps , Ayca K. Fackler , Carlson H. Coogler
Year: 2023
Keywords: Biology, High, Science

Finding the Right Grain-Size for Measurement in the Classroom

This article introduces a new framework for articulating how educational assessments can be related to teacher uses in the classroom. It articulates three levels of assessment: macro (use of standardized tests), meso (externally developed items), and micro (on-the-fly in the classroom).

Author(s): Mark Wilson
Year: 2023

Comparing How College Mathematics Instructors and High-School Teachers Recognize Professional Obligations of Mathematics Teaching when Making Instructional Decisions

This paper investigates how mathematics instructors' recognition of the professional obligations of mathematics teaching varies based on their institutional environment, specifically whether they teach high school or college mathematics.

Author(s): Inah Ko , Patricio Herbst , Mollee Shultz 
Year: 2023

Flip It: An Exploratory (Versus Explanatory) Sequential Mixed Methods Design Using Delphi and Differential Item Functioning to Evaluate Item Bias

The Delphi method has been adapted to inform item refinements in educational and psychological assessment development. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design using Delphi is a common approach to gain experts' insight into why items might have exhibited differential item functioning (DIF) for a sub-group, indicating potential item bias. Use of Delphi before quantitative field testing to screen for potential sources leading to item bias is lacking in the literature. An exploratory sequential design is illustrated as an additional approach using a Delphi technique in Phase I and Rasch DIF analyses in Phase II. We introduce the 2 × 2 Concordance Integration Typology as a systematic way to examine agreement and disagreement across the qualitative and quantitative findings using a concordance joint display table.

Author(s): Kristin L.K. Koskey , Toni A. May , Yiyun “Kate” Fan , Dara Bright , Gregory Stone , Gabriel Matney , Jonathan D. Bostic
Year: 2023

Legitimation Code Theory as an Analytical Framework for Integrated STEM Curriculum and Its Enactment

In this paper, we describe Legitimation Code Theory as an analytical framework and provide an analysis of semantic patterns of an integrated STEM unit (written discourse) and a middle school teacher’s enactment of that unit (oral discourse). Specifically, this analysis focused on the semantic gravity (SG), or level of context dependency, of the activities and dialogue present throughout the unit.

Author(s): Chelsey A. Dankenbring , S. Selcen Guzey , Lynn A. Bryan
Year: 2023

Socio-Scientific Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparing In-person and Virtual Science Learning Using Model-Evidence Link Diagrams

Science learning is an important part of the K-12 educational experience, as well as in the lives of students. This study considered students’ science learning as they engaged in the instruction of scientific issues with social relevance. With classroom environments radically changing during the COVID-19 pandemic, our study adapted to teachers and students as they were forced to change from more traditional, in-person instructional settings to virtual, online instruction settings.

Author(s): Nancy Gans , Vivian Zohery , Joshua B. Jaffe , Anissa Ahmed , Luke Kim , Doug Lombardi
Year: 2023

Identifying the Roles of Science Teacher Leaders in Practice

Science teacher leaders have been identified as an important lever for the implementation of science education reform. However, science reform implementation is locally controlled and not uniform across districts; therefore, the work of STLs within a reform context can vary. In this descriptive case study, we explore the work of 11 science teacher leaders who support science education reform in a variety of organizational contexts. Through the analysis of multiple data sources, we describe the roles that these science teacher leaders take up in their work and identified how variation in these roles related to localized contexts and priorities for science education.

Author(s): Sara C. Heredia , Michelle Phillips , Sarah Stallings , Ti’Era Worsley , Julie H. Yu , Carrie D. Allen
Year: 2023

Refinement of an Instrument Measuring Science Teachers’ Knowledge of Language Through Mixed Method

Teachers must know how to use language to support students in knowledge generation environments that align to the Next Generation Science Standards. To measure this knowledge, this study refines a survey on teachers’ knowledge of language as an epistemic tool.

Author(s): Chenchen Ding , Catherine Lammert , Gavin W. Fulmer , Brian Hand , Jee K. Suh
Year: 2023

A Remote View into the Classroom: Analyzing Teacher Use of Digitally Enhanced Educative Curriculum Materials in Support of Student Learning

When integrated into online curriculum modules for students, educative curriculum materials (ECMs) can enhance teachers’ enactment of these modules. This study investigated (1) the use of digitally enhanced ECMs built into an online plate tectonics curriculum module by teachers with different backgrounds and teaching experience, (2) the relationship between teachers’ use of ECMs and student learning gains, and (3) teacher reflections on the value of the ECMs they used.

Author(s): Trudi Lord , Hee-Sun Lee , Paul Horwitz , Sarah Pryputniewicz , Amy Pallant
Year: 2023

Increasing Student Confidence in Writing: Integrating Authentic Manuscript Writing into an Online 8-Week Research Program

In various formats, students at the secondary and postsecondary levels participate in multiweek authentic science research projects. There have been many papers explaining the operations of such programs, but few have provided explicit instruction on how to incorporate authentic communication practices into the student research process. In this paper, we describe how we integrated primary literature into an 8-week online research program for 8th to 11th graders.

Author(s): Choah Kim , Kiam Preston Jr. , Alice Braga , Sarah C. Fankhauser
Year: 2023
Keywords: High, Science

‘If You Wanted to Take this Model and Throw Nitrogen at It, It Would Fit’: Synthesis Approach to Modelling to Learn About Biogeochemical Cycles

This qualitative study examines how a group of undergraduate and graduate students in an upper-level ecosystem ecology course at a research university in the southeastern part of the United States engage in a task that requires constructing an abstract representation of how biogeochemical cycles work by using a specific approach to modelling, namely synthesis modelling.

Author(s): Ayça K. Fackler , Daniel K. Capps
Year: 2023

Secondary Chemistry Teacher Learning: Precursors for and Mechanisms of Pedagogical Conceptual Change

Despite years of research and practice inspired by chemistry education research, a recent report shows that US secondary instruction is not aligned with current national reform-based efforts. One means to mitigate this discrepancy is focusing on pedagogical conceptual change, its precursors (higher self-efficacy and pedagogical discontentment), and the subtleties of its mechanisms (assimilation and accommodation). In this study, we investigate the final reflections of participants (N = 35) who completed our professional development program known as the VisChem Institute (VCI).

Author(s): Meng-Yang M. Wu , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2023

Usable STEM Knowledge for Tomorrow’s STEM Problems

We need STEM knowledge programs in formal and informal settings that guide learners in applying STEM learning to the creation of solutions.

Author(s): Nancy Songer
Year: 2023

Advancing Social Justice Learning Through Data Literacy

Students need “critical data literacy” skills to help make sense of the multitude of information available to them, especially as it relates to high-stakes issues of social justice. The authors describe two curriculum modules they developed—one on income equality, one on immigration—that help students learn to analyze data in order to shed light on complex social issues and evaluate claims about those issues.

Author(s): Josephine Louie , Emily Fagan , Jennifer Stiles , Soma Roy , Beth Chance
Year: 2023

ChatGPT for Next Generation Science Learning

This article pilots ChatGPT in tackling the most challenging part of science learning and found it successful in automation of assessment development, grading, learning guidance, and recommendation of learning materials.

Author(s): Xiaoming Zhai
Year: 2023

Instructional Pathways to Considering Social Dimensions Within Socioscientific Issues

The Socioscientific Issues Teaching and Learning (SSI-TL) framework is a guide for developing an instructional approach to learning experiences focused on socioscientific issues (SSI). Despite the potential benefits of SSI learning, teachers often struggle to implement this approach in their classrooms, and one of the most prominent reasons for this struggle is science teacher concerns and hesitation associated with incorporating social dimensions of the issues into their instruction. The purpose of this article is to provide science teacher educators with tools to help teachers better manage the integration of the social dimensions of SSI in issues-based teaching.

Author(s): Rebecca Rawson Lesnefsky , Troy Sadler , Li Ke , Pat Friedrichsen
Year: 2023

‘Me Hizo Sentir Como Científica’: The Expressed Science Identities of Multilingual Learners in High School Biology Classrooms

Science identity development begins in school-aged years, when multilingual students (MLs) are often marginalised in the classroom due to language challenges and low expectations placed on them. This descriptive multiple case study explores the science identities expressed by six US high school MLs in their biology classrooms.

Author(s): Molly M. Staggs , Julie C. Brown
Year: 2023

Investigating the Mangle of Teaching Oxidation–Reduction with the VisChem Approach: Problematising Symbolic Traditions that Undermine Chemistry Concept Development

Specific to the topic of oxidation–reduction (redox), teachers are obligated by the discipline to prioritise symbolic traditions such as writing equations, documenting oxidation states, and describing changes (e.g., what undergoes oxidation/reduction). Although the chemistry education research community endorses connecting the vertices of Johnstone's triangle, how symbolic traditions undermine chemistry concept development, especially during lesson planning and teaching, is underexplored. To clarify this gap, we use the Mangle of Practice framework to unpack the clash between symbolic vs. particulate-focused instruction.

Author(s): Meng-Yang M. Wu , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2023

Preparing for a Data-Rich World: Civic Statistics Across the Curriculum

Civic Statistics by its nature is highly interdisciplinary. From a cross-curricular perspective, teaching and learning Civic Statistics faces specific challenges related to the preparation of teachers and the design of instruction. This chapter presents examples of how Civic Statistics resources and concepts can be used in different courses and subject areas.

Author(s): Joachim Engel , James Nicholson , Josephine Louie
Year: 2023

Developing Geo-Sequential Reasoning about Tectonic Processes Using Computational Simulations

Explaining phenomena associated with a system involves describing a system’s structure and articulating the process through which the system’s structure changes over time. This paper defines geo-sequential reasoning in the context of plate tectonics and uses it to analyse how students explain the geological processes that occur along convergent boundaries as part of the plate tectonics system.

Author(s): Amy Pallant , Sarah Pryputniewicz , Hee-Sun Lee
Year: 2023

Unpacking Response Process Issues Encountered When Developing a Mathematics Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Assessment

It is essential for items in assessments of mathematics’ teacher knowledge to evoke the desired response processes – to be interpreted and responded to by teachers as intended by item developers. In this study, we sought to unpack evidence that middle school mathematics teachers were not consistently interacting as intended with constructed response (i.e. open-ended) items designed to assess their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK).

Author(s): Martha L. Epstein , Hamza Malik , Kun Wang , Chandra H. Orrill
Year: 2023

Student Outcomes of Teaching About Socio-scientific Issues in Secondary Science Classrooms: Applications of EzGCM

Science education literature has highlighted socio-scientific issues (SSI) as an effective pedagogy for teaching science in a social and political context. SSI links science education and real-world problems to engage students in real-world issues, making it ideal for teaching global climate change (GCC). Additionally, technological advances have created a unique opportunity for teaching climate by making previously inaccessible computer-based computational models and data visualizations accessible to the typical K-12 learning environment. Here, we present the findings from the 2020–2021 school year pre-/post-implementation of a 3-week, model-based climate education curriculum module (EzGCM).

Author(s): Kimberly Carroll Steward , David Gosselin , Mark Chandler , Cory T. Forbes
Year: 2023

Online Teacher Professional Learning: An Approach to Foster Personalized Pathways

The InSTEP professional learning platform aims to support grades 6-12 teachers’ professional learning in teaching statistics and data science through a personalized online learning platform. While statistics and data analysis are included in standards for both mathematics and science, there are also many states across the country envisioning high school course pathways that include a heavier emphasis on statistics and even stand alone courses on data science. In this brief research report, we aim to share how we have designed supports for teachers to personalize their professional learning and results from a collective case study of 37 participants engaged in a field test of the platform in Fall 2022.

Author(s): Hollylynne S. Lee , Emily P. Thrasher , Matt Grossman , Gemma F. Mojica , Bruce Graham , Adrian Kuhlman
Year: 2022

Promoting Spatial Orientation: A Math Activity for Teachers and Families

This article offers spatial reasoning math activities for school and home learning.

Author(s): Lindsey Perry , Eloise Aniag Kuehnert , Leanne Ketterlin Geller
Year: 2022

National Science Foundation-Funded Research Facilitates STEM Teaching

TU professor studies avatar-based classroom simulations in three-year, $3 million NSF grant.

Author(s): Rebecca Kirkman
Year: 2022

A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Mastery Goal Support in 7th-Grade Science Classrooms

Mastery goal structures, which communicate value for developing deeper understanding, are an important classroom support for student motivation and engagement, especially in the context of science learning aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Prior research has identified key dimensions of goal structures, but a more nuanced examination of the variability of teacher-enacted and student-perceived goal structures within and across classrooms is needed. Using a concurrent mixed-methods approach, we developed case studies of how three 7th-grade science teachers enacted different goal structures while teaching the same chemistry unit and how their students perceived these goal structures.

Author(s): Pei Pei Liu , David McKinney , Alexandra A. Lee , Jennifer A. Schmidt , Gwen C. Marchand , Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia
Year: 2022

MoDa: Designing a Tool to Interweave Computational Modeling with Real-world Data Analysis for Science Learning in Middle School

Coordinating modeling and real-world data is central to building scientific theories. This paper examines how a complementary focus on modeling and data contributed to 8th grade students’ learning of mechanisms underlying wildfire smoke spread in MoDa, a web-based environment that integrates computational modeling side-by-side with real-world data for comparison and validation.

Author(s): Aditi Wagh , Tamar Fuhrmann , Adelmo Antonio da Silva Eloy , Jacob Wolf , Engin Bumbacher , Paulo Blikstein , Michelle Wilkerson
Year: 2022

The Impact of Sample Size and Various Other Factors on Estimation of Dichotomous Mixture IRT Models

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of different data conditions on item parameter recovery and classification accuracy of three dichotomous mixture item response theory (IRT) models: the Mix1PL, Mix2PL, and Mix3PL.

Author(s): Sedat Sen , Allan S. Cohen
Year: 2022
Keywords: Other, Research

Strengthening Teaching in “Rural,” Indigenous-Serving Schools: Lessons from the Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators

This article reports on the first three years of a teacher-led professional development program on the Navajo Nation. We draw on both quantitative and qualitative data from our end-of-year surveys to highlight some of the early lessons we have gathered from the Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators (DINÉ). We highlight two guiding principles that have developed through this work, cultural responsiveness and teacher leadership, and we suggest that these guiding principles could be useful for other professional development efforts in Indigenous-serving contexts, many of which would be characterized as “rural.”

Author(s): Angelina E. Castagno , Marnita Chischilly , Darold H. Joseph
Year: 2022

A Map that Shows Earth Rocks!

Concord Consortium’s new Earth Rocks Map displays a generalized representation of Earth’s geology, focused primarily on the distribution of the three major rock types (igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary). What makes this map different is that it strips out information about geologic eras, highlighting the distribution of rocks found on Earth’s surface.

Author(s): Trudi Lord , Amy Pallant
Year: 2022

Applying Machine Learning to Automatically Assess Scientific Models

Involving students in scientific modeling practice is one of the most effective approaches to achieving the next generation science education learning goals. Given the complexity and multirepresentational features of scientific models, scoring student-developed models is time- and cost-intensive, remaining one of the most challenging assessment practices for science education. More importantly, teachers who rely on timely feedback to plan and adjust instruction are reluctant to use modeling tasks because they could not provide timely feedback to learners. This study utilized machine learning (ML), the most advanced artificial intelligence (AI), to develop an approach to automatically score student-drawn models and their written descriptions of those models.

Author(s): Xiaoming Zhai , Peng He , Joseph Krajcik
Year: 2022

Science Teaching and Learning in Linguistically Super-Diverse Multicultural Classrooms

In super-diverse classroom contexts, students come from varied migration channels, immigration statuses, languages, countries of origin, and religions, which contribute to new and complex social configurations of the classroom. Super-diversity thus encourages educators and researchers to draw on nuanced understandings of the complexity that it brings to bear in educational settings and reconsider instructional approaches that we have believed to be effective. This chapter provides an insight into the complexity of teaching science in linguistically super-diverse classrooms with the case of Riverview High School.

Author(s): Amy Ricketts , Minjung Ryu , Jocelyn Elizabeth Nardo , Mavreen Rose S. Tuvilla , Camille Gabrielle Love 
Year: 2022

Infect, Attach or Bounce off?: Linking Real Data and Computational Models to Make Sense of the Mechanisms of Diffusion

This study explores how the interplay between data and model design shifts 6th graders’ students' ideas about diffusion as they build a range of models (“paper and pencil” and computational models). We present a new web-based environment and approach that integrates model-based and data-based features in the same display which facilitates the comparison of models and real-world data.

Author(s): Tamar Fuhrmann , Aditi Wagh , Adelmo Eloy , Jacob Wolf , Engin Bumbacher , Michelle Wilkerson , Paulo Blikstein
Year: 2022

Teaching Risk and Uncertainty in a Changing World

While tragedy has struck an inordinate number of students in the past several years, not all areas of the country are at risk for every natural hazard all the time. To avoid having students feel like Chicken Little under a falling sky, the GeoHazard project uses simulations, data, experimentation, and scientific argumentation to teach about risk and uncertainty. We have created three scaffolded online modules focused on hurricanes, wildfires, and inland flooding to help teach these concepts. Through investigations using both simulations and real-world data, these curriculum units introduce students to the scientific factors responsible for these hazards and provide practice in interpreting forecasts.

Author(s): Trudi Lord
Year: 2022

COVID-19 as a Magnifying Glass: Exploring the Importance of Relationships as Education Students Learn and Teach Robotics via Zoom

Ed+gineering, an NSF-funded program, adapted hands-on robotics instruction for online delivery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative multiple case study shares the experiences of participating education students in spring 2021 as they collaborated virtually with engineering students and fifth graders to engineer bioinspired robots in an afterschool technology club adapted to be virtual.

Author(s): Jennifer Kidd , Krishnanand Kaipa , Kristie Gutierrez , Min Jung Lee , Pilar Pazos , Stacie I. Ringleb
Year: 2022

A Model Comparison Approach to Posterior Predictive Model Checks in Bayesian Confirmatory Factor Analysis

Posterior Predictive Model Checking (PPMC) is frequently used for model fit evaluation in Bayesian Confirmatory Factor Analysis (BCFA). In standard PPMC procedures, model misfit is quantified by comparing the location of an ML-based point estimate to the predictive distribution of a statistic. When the point estimate is far from the center posterior predictive distribution, model fit is poor. Not included in this approach, however, is the variability of the Maximum Likelihood (ML)-based point estimates. We propose a new method of PPMC based on comparing posterior predictive distributions of a hypothesized and saturated BCFA model.

Author(s): Jihong Zhang , Jonathan Templin , Catherine E. Mintz
Year: 2022
Keywords: Other, Research

Using the COVID-19 Pandemic to Create a Vision for XR-based Teacher Education Field Experiences

This article presents a vision for 2025 to implement low cost and effective extended reality (XR) technologies to supplement teacher education field experiences, regardless of if and when another global or local crisis occurs (e.g., pandemic, war, weather). In doing so, empirical and theoretical research is presented that argues for teacher educators to seek out and employ more immersive representations of practice that take advantage of the perceptual capacity of XR.

Author(s): Richard E. Ferdig , Karl W. Kosko , Enrico Gandolfi
Year: 2022

Engaging Young Scholars in Science Through Publication: A Survey Analysis of Published Middle and High School Authors

Young researchers are often excluded from the scholarly processes of peer-review and publication, which are cornerstones of scholarly work. The Journal of Emerging Investigators is an open access journal dedicated to publishing the research of middle and high school students. We surveyed student authors before and after they participated in the peer-review and publication process of their scientific articles. Following peer-review and publication, students report gains in their confidence and self-efficacy in science, and increased feelings of identity and belonging in science.

Author(s): Kari A. Mattison , Andrea R. Merchak , Scott T. Wieman , Stephanie Zimmer , Sarah C. Fankhauser
Year: 2022

Professional Development for STEM Integration Analyzing Bioinformatics Teaching by Examining Teachers' Qualities of Adaptive Expertise

Bioinformatics—a rapidly developing discipline that integrates mathematical and computational techniques with biological knowledge for applications in medicine, the environment, and other important aspects of life—is an example of an emerging field that illustrates the need for a greater focus on STEM integration in K12 education. Studies on teaching bioinformatics in high school reveal difficulties that arise from a lack of curricular resources and teacher knowledge to effectively integrate disciplinary content. In this study, we investigated challenges teachers experienced in teaching a problem-based bioinformatics unit after participating in professional development (PD) activities that were carefully constructed using research-based effective PD characteristics.

Author(s): Susan A. Yoon , Jooeun Shim , Katherine Miller , Amanda M. Cottone , Noora Fatima Noushad , Jae-Un Yoo , Michael V. Gonzalez , Ryan Urbanowicz , Blanca E. Himes
Year: 2022

The Potential of Digital Collaborative Environments for Problem-based Mathematics Curriculum

In this paper, we present an overview of the design research used to develop a digital collaborative environment with an embedded problem-based curriculum. We then discuss the student and teacher features of the environment that promote inquiry-based learning and teaching.

Author(s): Alden J. Edson , Elizabeth Difanis Phillips
Year: 2022

Examining the Influence of COVID-19 on Elementary Mathematics Standardized Test Scores in a Rural Ohio School District

In the United States, national and state standardized assessments have become a metric for measuring student learning and high-quality learning environments. As the COVID-19 pandemic offered a multitude of learning modalities (e.g., hybrid, socially distanced face-to-face instruction, virtual environment), it becomes critical to examine how this learning disruption influenced elementary mathematic performance. This study tested for

differences in mathematics performance on fourth grade standardized tests before and during COVID-19 in a case study of a rural Ohio school district using the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) mathematics test.

Author(s): Dara Bright , Yiyun “Kate” Fan , Chris Fornaro , Kristin L. K. Koskey , Toni A. May , Jonathan D. Bostic , Dolores Swineford
Year: 2022

Undergraduate Engineering and Education Students Reflect on Their Interdisciplinary Teamwork Experiences Following Transition to Virtual Instruction Caused by COVID-19

This study explores undergraduate engineering and education students’ perspectives on their interdisciplinary teams throughout the rapid transition to online learning and instruction from a face-to-face to a virtual format.

Author(s): Kristie S. Gutierrez , Jennifer J. Kidd , Min Jung Lee , Pilar Pazos , Krishnanand Kaipa , Stacie I. Ringleb , Orlando Ayala
Year: 2022

Preservice Teachers’ Focus in 360 Videos: Understanding the Role of Presence, Ambisonic Audio, and Camera Placement

Immersive 360 videos are increasingly being used in pre-service teachers (PST) education. There is preliminary evidence that this technology may benefit future educators’ focus and attention to classroom settings and events. However, more analytical efforts are needed to better understand its potential impact on reported focus of attention (RFA) among future educators. This article addresses this gap by presenting the findings of a study on 360 videos that involved 92 PSTs.

Author(s): Enrico Gandolfi , Richard E. Ferdig , Karl W. Kosko
Year: 2022

The Untapped Potential of Early Career Researchers in Academic Publishing: Lessons Learned from the Journal of Emerging Investigators Model

The lack of formal training in peer review can be detrimental to the publishing activities of early career researchers, including graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Lack of recognition of the work of early career researchers (ECRs) in review means that journals cannot easily identify them as potential reviewers in the future. Participation as peer-reviewers increases understanding in early career researchers of their own writing and review process. ECRs can be highly motivated to volunteer for journal editorial work—Journal of Emerging Investigators encourages this by offering many different roles. Publishers that utilize and train early career researchers as peer-reviewers can prevent poor reviewer practices.

Author(s): Claire E. Otero , Victoria Osinski , Kari A. Mattison
Year: 2022

Beyond the Design of Assessment Tasks: Expanding the Assessment Toolkit to Support Teachers’ Formative Assessment Practices in Elementary Science Classrooms

Teachers experience challenges in effectively using formative assessment practices in their classrooms. In the US, only 28% of elementary teachers report using formative assessment. This study highlights the need to design resources to meet teacher needs and support teachers in making sense of assessment information to inform three-dimensional learning and teaching.

Author(s): Sania Zahra Zaidi , Samuel Arnold , Elizabeth M. Lehman , Carla Strickland
Year: 2022

Examining Elementary Science Teachers' Responses to Assessments Tasks Designed to Measure Their Content Knowledge for Teaching About Matter and its Interactions

Despite the importance of developing elementary science teachers' content knowledge for teaching (CKT), there are limited assessments that have been designed to measure the full breadth of their CKT at scale. Our overall research project addressed this gap by developing an online assessment to measure elementary preservice teachers' CKT about matter and its interactions. This study, which was part of our larger project, reports on findings from one component of the item development process examining the construct validity of 118 different CKT about matter assessment items.

Author(s): Jamie N. Mikeska , Dante Cisterna , Heena Lakhani , Allison K. Bookbinder , David L. Myers , Luronne Vaval
Year: 2022

Patterns of Using Multimodal External Representations in Digital Game-based Learning

Although prior research has highlighted the significance of representations for mathematical learning, there is still a lack of research on how students use multimodal external representations (MERs) to solve mathematical tasks in digital game-based learning (DGBL) environments. This exploratory study was to examine the salient patterns problem solvers demonstrated using MERs when they engaged in a single-player, three-dimensional architecture game that requires the acquisition and application of math knowledge and thinking in game-based context problem solving.

Author(s): Yanjun Pan , Fengfeng Ke , Chih-Pu Dai
Year: 2022

Professional Noticing as Student-Centered: Pre-service Teachers’ Attending to Students’ Mathematics in 360 Video

Teachers’ professional noticing has been described as transitioning from descriptions of general pedagogy to analysis of students’ mathematical procedures and conceptual reasoning. Such a shift is described as a transition towards more student-centered noticing. In the present study, we used screen recordings of pre-service teachers’ (PSTs) 360 video viewing to examine the relationship between where and what PSTs’ looked at and what they attended to in writing.

Author(s): Karl W. Kosko , Maryam Zolfaghari , Jennifer L. Heisler
Year: 2022

Documenting Professional Learning Focused on Implementing High-Quality Instructional Materials in Mathematics: The AIM–TRU Learning Cycle

The research contained in this article used qualitative methods to articulate and test the design underlying our professional learning cycle by advancing conjecture mapping, a device by which the embodiments of the design are made transparent to be analyzed in practice.

Author(s): John Lawson Russell , Joseph DiNapoli , Eileen Murray
Year: 2022

Tackling Tangential Student Contributions

Do your students ever share ideas that are only peripherally related to the discussion you are having? We discuss ways to minimize and deal with such contributions.

Author(s): Blake E. Peterson , Shari L. Stockero , Keith R. Leatham , Laura R. Van Zoest
Year: 2022

MindHive: An Online Citizen Science Tool and Curriculum for Human Brain and Behavior Research

MindHive is an online, open science, citizen science platform co-designed by a team of educational researchers, teachers, cognitive and social scientists, UX researchers, community organizers, and software developers to support real-world brain and behavior research for (a) high school students and teachers who seek authentic STEM research experiences, (b) neuroscientists and cognitive/social psychologists who seek to address their research questions outside of the lab, and (c) community-based organizations who seek to conduct grassroots, science-based research for policy change.

Author(s): Suzanne Dikker , Yury Shevchenko , Kim Burgas , Kim Chaloner , Marc Sole , Lucy Yetman-Michaelson , Ido Davidesco , Rebecca Martin , Camillia Matuk
Year: 2022

“Unnatural How Natural It Was”: Using a Performance Task and Simulated Classroom for Preservice Secondary Teachers to Practice Engaging Student Avatars in Scientific Argumentation

Facilitating discussions is a key approach that science teachers use to engage students in scientific argumentation. However, learning how to facilitate argumentation-focused discussions is an ambitious teaching practice that can be difficult to learn how to do well, especially for preservice teachers (PSTs) who typically have limited opportunities to tryout and refine this teaching practice. This study examines secondary PSTs’ perceptions and engagement with a science performance task—used within an online, simulated classroom consisting of five middle school student avatars—to practice this ambitious teaching practice.

Author(s): Jamie N. Mikeska , Calli Shekell , Jennifer Dix , Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue
Year: 2022

Modification Indices for Diagnostic Classification Models

Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) are psychometric models for evaluating a student’s mastery of the essential skills in a content domain based upon their responses to a set of test items. Currently, diagnostic model and/or Q-matrix misspecification is a known problem with limited avenues for remediation. To address this problem, this paper defines a one-sided score statistic that is a computationally efficient method for detecting under-specification at the item level of both the Q-matrix and the model parameters of the particular DCM chosen in an analysis.

Author(s): Christy Brown , Jonathan Templin
Year: 2022
Keywords: Other, Research

Direct and Transfer Effects of an Interdisciplinary Model Integrating Science and Reading in Grades 1–3: Results and Policy Implications

Implemented was a 45-minute per day Primary Science IDEAS intervention in grades 1–2 integrating reading and writing within science instruction in a multi-year study conducted in 8 experimental and 9 control schools. Results found a significant direct achievement effect in grades 1–2 on both the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) Science and Reading. In addition, the direct effect of the intervention in grades 1–2 also resulted in significant achievement transfer from grades 1–2 to grade 3 on both the ITBS Science and Reading.

Author(s): Michael R. Vitale , Nancy Romance
Year: 2022

Innovate to Mitigate: Microgenesis of Student Design and Rationale in a Crowdsourcing Competition to Mitigate Global Warming

The Innovate to Mitigate project adapts crowdsourcing to support project-based STEM education, posing design challenges for secondary-school students. Students are charged with designing feasible innovative strategies to mitigate CO2 emissions and thus global warming. The paper draws on data from 3 project teams. The paper presents evidence that a web-mediated community of practice supports STEM learning of concepts and STEM practices and examines conditions under which the environment can enable an account of microgenesis of that learning.

Author(s): Brian Drayton , Gillian Puttick , Santiago Gasca
Year: 2022

Eliciting Learner Knowledge: Enabling Focused Practice Through an Open-Source Online Tool

Eliciting and interpreting students’ ideas are essential skills in teaching, yet pre-service teachers (PSTs) rarely have adequate opportunities to develop these skills. In this study, we examine PSTs’ patterns of discourse and perceived learning through engaging in an interactive digital simulation called Eliciting Learner Knowledge (ELK). ELK is a seven-minute, chat-based virtual role play between a PST playing a “teacher” and a PST playing a “student” where the goal is for the teacher to find out what the student knows about a topic.

Author(s): Meredith Thompson , Griffin Leonard , Jamie N. Mikeska , Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue , Adam V. Maltese , Giancarlo Pereira , Garron Hillaire , Rick Waldron , Rachel Slama , Justin Reich
Year: 2022

Documenting Two Emerging Sociomathematical Norms for Examining Functions in Mathematics Teachers’ Online Asynchronous Discussions

This study investigated novice mathematics teachers participating in an online teacher education course focused on covariational reasoning and understanding the behavior of functions. The analysis centered on documenting the emergence of participants’ sociomathematical norms for engaging in online asynchronous discussions.

Author(s): Anthony Matranga , Jason Silverman
Year: 2022

Standards-Aligned Instructional Supports to Promote Computer Science Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

This position paper advocates supporting CS teacher professional learning by supplementing existing curriculum-specific teacher PD with standards-aligned PD that focuses on teachers' conceptual understanding of CS standards and ability to adapt instruction based on student understanding of concepts underlying the CS standards.

Author(s): Satabdi Basu , Daisy Rutstein , Carol Tate , Arif Rachmatullah , Hui Yang
Year: 2022

How Do Interdisciplinary Teams Co-construct Instructional Materials Emphasising Both Science and Engineering Practices?

To build a sustainable future, science and engineering education programmes should emphasise scientific investigation, collaboration across traditional science topics and disciplines, and engineering design, including design and evaluation of solutions. We adopted a qualitative case study design to address the research question, What is the process of team co-construction of instructional materials that emphasize learning through both science investigation and engineering design? The paper outlines the first year of our team co-construction activities involving the design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional materials for secondary science.

Author(s): Tamara Galoyan , Nancy Butler Songer
Year: 2022

Exploring the Potential of an Online Suite of Practice-Based Activities for Supporting Preservice Elementary Teachers in Learning How to Facilitate Argumentation-Focused Discussions in Mathematics and Science

This study explored the use of a three-part suite of practice-based activities -- one- and two-player online simulations, an avatar-based simulation, and a virtual teaching simulator—for supporting preservice teachers in learning how to facilitate argumentation-focused discussions in elementary mathematics and science.

Author(s): Jamie N. Mikeska , Calli Shekell , Adam V. Maltese , Justin Reich , Meredith Thompson , Heather Howell , Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue , Meredith Park Rogers
Year: 2022

Investigating Teachers’ Understanding Through Topic Modeling: A Promising Approach to Studying Teachers’ Knowledge

Examining teachers’ knowledge on a large scale involves addressing substantial measurement and logistical issues; thus, existing teacher knowledge assessments have mainly consisted of selected-response items because of their ease of scoring. Although open-ended responses could capture a more complex understanding of and provide further insights into teachers’ thinking, scoring these responses is expensive and time consuming, which limits their use in large-scale studies. In this study, we investigated whether a novel statistical approach, topic modeling, could be used to score teachers’ open-ended responses and if so, whether these scores would capture nuances of teachers’ understanding.

Author(s): Yasemin Copur-Gencturk , Hye-Jeong Choi , Alan Cohen
Year: 2022

Engagement and Science Achievement in the Context of Integrated STEM Education: A Longitudinal Study

A growing number of studies have shown the benefits of K-12 integrated science and engineering education. With this study, we add to the literature by documenting the relationship between STEM learning and engagement, and the demographic characteristics that impact achievement in STEM.

Author(s): S. Selcen Guzey , Weiling Li
Year: 2022

Uncovering Core Dimensions of K-12 Integrated STEM

To address the lack of a classroom observation protocol aligned with integrated STEM, the author team developed one to measure the degree of integrated STEM instruction implemented in K-12 science and engineering classrooms. This study demonstrates how our instrument can be used to uncover the dimensions of integrated STEM instruction practiced in K-12 classrooms and to determine which protocol items are associated with each of these dimensions.

Author(s): Gillian H. Roehrig , Mark D. Rouleau , Emily A. Dare , Elizabeth Ring-Whalen
Year: 2022

Supporting a Museum-based Network of Science Teacher Leaders

In this article we describe an Informal Science Institution (ISI)-based professional learning program for science teacher leaders (STLs) developed within the context of a research-practice partnership (RPP).

Author(s): Sara C. Heredia , Michelle Phillips , Julie H. Yu
Year: 2022

Digging into Data: Illustrating a Data Investigation Process

In this article, authors described the six-phase data investigation process for analyzing large-scale quantitative and categorical data.

Author(s): Hollylynne S. Lee , Gemma F. Mojica , Emily Thrasher
Year: 2022

Examining Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Answer Changing Behavior on a Content Knowledge for Teaching Science Assessment

We use an online Content Knowledge for Teaching (CKT) assessment that measures PSTs’ CKT in one science area: matter and its interactions. In this study, we analyzed process data from administering the online CKT matter assessment to 822 PSTs from across the US to better understand PSTs’ behaviors and interactions on this computer-based science assessment.

Author(s): Katherine E. Castellano , Jamie N. Mikeska , Jung Aa Moon , Steven Holtzman , Jie Gao , Yang Jiang
Year: 2022

Revised Hurricane Module Now Available

Climate change, and the rise of the natural hazards that climate change brings, has been at the top of news feeds every week over the past year. Extreme events such as floods, droughts, and wildfires are expected to increase in the future. What does that mean for those of us living in the path of one of these hazards? Our GeoHazard project is exploring this question with middle and high school teachers and students across the country.

Author(s): Trudi Lord
Year: 2022

Doing Research: A New Researcher’s Guide

This book is about scientific inquiry. Designed for early and mid-career researchers, it is a practical manual for conducting and communicating high-quality research in (mathematics) education. Based on the authors’ extensive experience as researchers, as mentors, and as members of the editorial team for the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (JRME), this book directly speaks to researchers and their communities about each phase of the process for conceptualizing, conducting, and communicating high-quality research in (mathematics) education.

Author(s): James Hiebert   , Jinfa Cai , Stephen Hwang , Anne K Morris , Charles Hohensee
Year: 2022

The Development and Assessment of Counting-based Cardinal Number Concepts

The give-n task is widely used in developmental psychology to indicate young children’s knowledge or use of the cardinality principle (CP): the last number word used in the counting process indicates the total number of items in a collection. Fuson (1988) distinguished between the CP, which she called the count-cardinal concept, and the cardinal-count concept, which she argued is a more advanced cardinality concept that underlies the counting-out process required by the give-n task with larger numbers. One aim of the present research was to evaluate Fuson’s disputed hypothesis that these two cardinality concepts are distinct and that the count-cardinal concept serves as a developmental prerequisite for constructing the cardinal-count concept. Consistent with Fuson’s hypothesis, the present study with twenty-four 3- and 4-year-olds revealed that success on a battery of tests assessing understanding of the count-cardinal concept was significantly and substantially better than that on the give-n task, which she presumed assessed the cardinal-count concept.

Author(s): Arthur J. Baroody , Menglung Lai
Year: 2022

Pedagogical Chemistry Sensemaking: A Novel Conceptual Framework to Facilitate Pedagogical Sensemaking in Model-based Lesson Planning

Researchers have typically identified and characterized teachers’ knowledge bases (e.g., pedagogical content knowledge and subject matter knowledge) in an effort to improve enacted instructional strategies. As shown by the Refined Consensus Model (RCM), understanding teacher learning, beliefs, and practices is predicated on the interconnections of such knowledge bases. However, lesson planning (defined as the transformation of subject matter knowledge to enacted pedagogical content knowledge) remains underexplored despite its central position in the RCM. We aim to address this gap by developing a conceptual framework known as Pedagogical Chemistry Sensemaking (PedChemSense).

Author(s): Meng-Yang M. Wu , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2022

Fourth-Grade Students' Sensemaking during Multi-step Problem Solving

The purpose of this study was to investigate fourth-grade students’ sensemaking of a word problem. Sensemaking occurs when students connect their understanding of situations with existing knowledge. We investigated students’ sensemaking through inductive task analysis of their strategies and solutions to a problem that involved determining the difference between two quantities and number of groups within the task.

Author(s): Gabriel Matney , Jonathan D.Bostic , Miranda Fox , Tiara Hicks , Toni May , Greg Stone
Year: 2022

We Strive: Initial Explorations of STEM Teachers' Successes and Challenges in Implementing Socioscientific Issues

This study explores two teachers participating in professional development workshops implementing SocioScientific Issues (SSI) into STEM classrooms. Two research questions were investigated: (a) To what extent did teachers implement SSI into their lesson plans and (b) In what ways did lessons change from the beginning of the workshop?

Author(s): Joseph Johnson , Augusto Macalalag , Becky Mathers-Lowery , Gabrielle Ialacci
Year: 2022

Using 360-degree Video to Explore Teachers' Professional Noticing

Professional noticing is an essential skill for teachers that is enacted by teachers via their embodied senses (sight, sound, etc.). To better understand the nature of teacher noticing, 44 preservice teachers (PSTs) viewed a 360 video of an elementary mathematics lesson while wearing virtual reality headsets. PSTs writings of what they noticed and recordings of where they turned their head while wearing the headsets during the recorded scenario were examined. Findings suggest that how PSTs positioned students and the teacher in their field of view interacted with whether and how such events were described in writing.

Author(s): Karl W. Kosko , Jennifer Heisler , Enrico Gandolfi
Year: 2022

Adapting Existing Curriculum for Equitable Learning Experiences

In this article, we—a team of science teachers and a university researcher—present the processes of adapting existing curricular resources to promote equitable learning experiences for diverse learners. Using a middle school ecology unit as an example, we illustrate what the modification process looks like in two key elements of designing NGSS-aligned science instruction: (a) making phenomena matter with the consideration of student identities and (b) leveraging students’ diverse ideas and questions to drive instruction.

Author(s): Nelly Tsai , Hosun Kang , Jasmine Chang , Karly Cassese
Year: 2022

A Web-based Tool for Participatory Science Learning in the Context of Human Psychology Research

We describe an online citizen science platform for human brain and behavior research that uses a participatory science learning approach to engage learners in the full spectrum of scientific inquiry.

Author(s): Camillia Matuk , Lucy Yetman-Michaelson , Suzanne Dikker
Year: 2022
Keywords: High, Curriculum, Science

Examining Technology-Supported Teacher Responding and Students’ Written Mathematical Explanations

This study examines technology-enhanced teacher responses and students’ written mathematical explanations to understand how to support effective teacher responding and the centering of students’ mathematical ideas. Although prior research has focused on teacher noticing and responding to students’ mathematical ideas, few studies have explored the revisions that students make to their written explanations after teacher responding and very few explore this in authentic classroom contexts.

Author(s): James P. Bywater , Sarah Lilly , Jennifer L.Chiu
Year: 2022

Narrative Characteristics of Captivating Secondary Mathematics Lessons

Why do some mathematics lessons captivate high school students and others not? This study explores this question by comparing how the content unfolds in the lessons that students rated highest with respect to their aesthetic affordances (e.g., using terms like “intriguing,” “surprising”) with those the same students rated lowest with respect to their aesthetic affordances (e.g., “just ok,” “dull”). Using a framework that interprets the unfolding content across a lesson as a mathematical story, we examine how some lessons can provoke curiosity or enable surprise.

Author(s): Leslie Dietiker , Rashmi Singh , Meghan Riling , Hector I. Nieves , Erin Barno
Year: 2022

Training a New Generation of Problem Solvers: How Can Education Programs Develop the Problem-Solving Skills of Today's Schoolchildren and Tomorrow's STEM Workforce?

This article addresses the need and potential for students to develop problem-solving skills as part of STEM learning.

Author(s): Nancy Butler Songer
Year: 2022

Rethinking Online Science Learning: Creating Virtual Research Experiences using Digitized Museum Specimens

This article focused on creating virtual research experiences using digitized museum specimens.

Author(s): Kirsten R. Butcher , Madlyn Larson , McKenna Lane , Mitchell J. Power
Year: 2022
Keywords: Middle, Science

Beginning School-University Partnerships for Transformative Social Change in Science Education: Narratives From The Field

These narratives explore what it might entail to begin school–university partnerships towards the goal of transformative social changes through the voices of two women scholars of color. Using two school–university partnerships as focal cases, we unpack the complexity, tensions, and possibilities that arise through collaborations driven by the objective to promote new and more just forms of science learning within public schools. In this article, we use three key dimensions of participatory design research (namely, critical historicity, power, and relationality) as analytical lenses through which to reflect upon school–university partnerships that we are in the beginning stages of forming.

Author(s): Hosun Kang , María González-Howard
Year: 2022

Learning Trajectory Based Fraction Intervention: Building A Mathematics Education Evidence Base

One challenge facing the fields of mathematics education and special education is how to design instruction on fraction concepts that can meet the needs of diverse learners. An innovation that shows promise is to base instructional design upon well-established trajectories of students’ fraction learning. However, little research has been done to establish the effectiveness of this approach. We report the results of the second of two small studies of an intervention developed using a validated trajectory of students’ fraction concepts.

Author(s): Kristi Martin , Jessica H. Hunt
Year: 2022

Profiles of Teachers’ Expertise in Professional Noticing of Children’s Mathematical Thinking

This study contributes to the growing body of research that highlights the usefulness of professional noticing of children’s mathematical thinking for understanding the complexity and variability in teaching expertise. We explored the noticing expertise of 72 upper elementary school teachers engaged in multi-year professional development focused on children’s fraction thinking. Our assessment addressed the three component skills of professional noticing of children’s mathematical thinking: (a) attending to children’s strategy details, (b) interpreting children’s understandings, and (c) deciding how to respond on the basis of children’s understandings.

Author(s): Victoria R. Jacobs , Susan B. Empson , Naomi A. Jessup , Amy Dunning , D’Anna Pynes , Gladys Krause , Todd M. Franke
Year: 2022

Exploring the Viral Spread of Disease and Disinformation

The tasks described in this chapter are intended to build connections between these real-world dangers of viral spread and some relevant topics from the secondary mathematics curriculum. We also explore a link between mathematical reasoning and media literacy—the ability to discern the commercial, ideological, or political motivations of media and the recognition that receivers negotiate the meaning of messages (Aufderheide, 1993)—so that, just as we know to take safety precautions with regard to an airborne coronavirus, we can also help our students learn to take precautions against the spread of misinformation on social media.

Author(s): Samuel Otten , Julia Bemke , Jerred Webb
Year: 2022

Representations of Practice Used in Mathematics Methods Courses

This preliminary study explored how many representations of standard videos, animations/comics, and 360 videos are being used in mathematics methods courses to teach future teachers. Drawing on knowledge from prior studies on standard videos, this study aimed to address the gaps in literature to encompass other representations that are being utilized and obtained.

Author(s): Christine K. Austin , Karl W. Kosko
Year: 2022

Students Do Not Always Mean What We Think They Mean: A Questioning Strategy to Elicit the Reasoning Behind Unexpected Causal Patterns in Student System Models

An ability to engage in system thinking is necessary to understand complex problems. While many pre-college students use system modeling tools, there is limited evidence of student reasoning about causal relationships that interact in diverging and converging chains, and how these affect system behavior. A chemistry unit on gas phenomena was implemented in two successive years with 73 high school students. Although the phenomena could be explained with simple linear causal reasoning, many student models included surprising and problematic causal chains and non-linear patterns.

Author(s): A. Lynn Stephens , Steven Roderick , Namsoo Shin , Daniel Damelin
Year: 2022

Validating the Use of Student-Level Instruments to Examine Preservice Teachers' Mathematical Problem Solving

Problem solving is a central focus of mathematics teaching and learning. If teachers are expected to support students' problem-solving development, then it reasons that teachers should also be able to solve problems aligned to grade level content standards. The purpose of this validation study is twofold: (1) to present evidence supporting the use of the Problem Solving Measures Grades 3–5 with preservice teachers (PSTs), and (2) to examine PSTs' abilities to solve problems aligned to grades 3–5 academic content standards.

Author(s): Timothy D. Folger , Maria Stewart , Jonathan Bostic , Toni A. May
Year: 2022

Standards-Aligned Instructional Supports to Promote Computer Science Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

This position paper advocates supporting computer science (CS) teacher professional learning by supplementing existing curriculum-specific teacher professional development (PD) with standards-aligned PD that focuses on teachers' conceptual understanding of CS standards and ability to adapt instruction based on student understanding of concepts underlying the CS standards. We share concrete examples of how to design standards-aligned educative resources and instructionally supportive tools that promote teachers' understanding of CS standards and common student challenges and develop teachers' formative assessment literacy, all essential components of CS pedagogical content knowledge.

Author(s): Satabdi Basu , Daisy Rutstein , Carol Tate , Arif Rachmatullah , Hui Yang
Year: 2022

It's Challenging but Doable: Lessons Learned from a Remote Collaborative Coding Camp for Elementary Students

This experience report describes lessons learned from a remote after-school camp with 24 elementary school students who participated in a series of individual and paired learning activities over three weeks. The report contributes to the understanding of remote CS learning practices, particularly for elementary school students, and we hope it will provoke methodological advancement in this important area.

Author(s): Yingbo Ma , Julianna Martinez Ruiz , Timothy D. Brow , Kiana-Alize Diaz , Adam M. Gaweda , Mehmet Celepkolu , Kristy Elizabeth Boyer , Collin F. Lynch , Eric Wiebe
Year: 2022

Improving Prekindergarten and Elementary Science Teaching: A Synthesis of Recent DRK-12 Program Investment in This Field

This review synthesized insights from 25 NSF DRK-12 projects that studied prekindergarten (PreK) and elementary science teaching. This review covered 25 of the 27 projects funded between 2011 and 2015. We synthesized the empirical findings from interventions in four common areas: preservice PreK and elementary preparation programs, in-service teacher professional development, instructional materials for PreK and elementary teachers, and strategies for diverse learners. Many of these projects studied interventions in more than one of the common areas. Researchers found that DRK-12 projects showed promise in increasing preservice and in-service teachers’ self-efficacy and pedagogical content knowledge and students’ science content knowledge.

Author(s): Danielle Ferguson , Isabella Pinerua , Dean Gerdeman
Year: 2022

Newcomer Emergent Bilingual Students’ Meaning-Making in Urban Biology Classrooms: A Communities of Practice Perspective

This study investigated how newcomer emergent bilinguals made meaning in two 9th-grade biology classrooms. Methods relevant to naturalistic inquiry were used to collect and analyze data. Findings indicate that newcomers bridged aspects of personal experiences with social competencies valued in classrooms through using heritage languages, engaging as brokers and collaborators, and attempting to realize goals of learning English and content simultaneously. Findings also show that misalignments between social competence and personal experience constrained meaning-making. This study illustrates a need for activities that reflect and expand newcomer resources and experiences, and for activities that can take shape through student participation.

Author(s): Mark B. Pacheco , Julie C. Brown
Year: 2022

Models for Developing Explanations of Earth's Dynamic Plate System

This article describes a free online plate tectonics curriculum module (PT module), which offers a unique approach with two innovative tools that allow students to make connections between real-world data and plate tectonics models.

Author(s): Amy Pallant , Trudi Lord , Sarah Pryputniewicz , Scott McDonald
Year: 2022

Building Toward Critical Data Literacy with Investigations of Income Inequality

To promote understanding of and interest in working with data among diverse student populations, we developed and studied a high school mathematics curriculum module that examines income inequality in the United States.

Author(s): Josephine Louie , Jennifer Stiles , Emily Fagan , Beth Chance , Soma Roy
Year: 2022

Mathematical and Scientific Argumentation in PreK-12: A Cross-Disciplinary Synthesis of Recent DRK-12 Projects

This review synthesizes insights from 23 NSF-funded projects, totaling $40 million, that studied mathematical and scientific argumentation in STEM education from prekindergarten (PreK) to Grade 12. The projects reported on both studies of argumentation interventions and naturalistic observations in “business-as-usual” settings. The projects advanced substantive knowledge about how to support student argumentation. In particular, the projects highlighted the importance of making an argument’s structure explicit and facilitating student-to-student discourse, especially with technological tools.

Author(s): Eben Witherspoon , David Miller , Isabella Pinerua , Dean Gerdeman
Year: 2022

"I Happen to Be One of 47.8%": Social-Emotional and Data Reasoning in Middle School Students' Comics about Friendship

Effective data literacy instruction requires that learners move beyond understanding statistics to being able to humanize data through a contextual understanding of argumentation and reasoning in the real-world. In this paper, we explore the implementation of a co-designed data comic unit about adolescent friendships.

Author(s): Ralph Vacca , Kayla Desportes , Marian Tes , Megan Silander , Camillia Matuk , Anna Amato , Peter J. Woods
Year: 2022

Curriculum Materials Designed for the Next Generation Science Standards Show Promise

This report describes initial findings from a study of middle school science curriculum materials that were designed to promote learning as called for by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Author(s): Christopher J. Harris , Mingyu Feng , Robert Murphy , Daisy W. Rutstein
Year: 2022

Science Education and the Learning Sciences: A Coevolutionary Connection

In this chapter, we argue that the learning sciences and science education have coevolved, a co-evolution that began with the emergence of the learning sciences in the 1990s and that continues today.

Author(s): Nancy Butler Songer , Yael Kali
Year: 2022

“I Remember How to Do It”: Exploring Upper Elementary Students’ Collaborative Regulation While Pair Programming Using Epistemic Network Analysis

Students’ self-efficacy toward computing affect their participation in related tasks and courses. Self-efficacy is likely influenced by students’ initial experiences and exposure to computer science (CS) activities. Moreover, student interest in a subject likely informs their ability to effectively regulate their learning in that domain. One way to enhance interest in CS is through using collaborative pair programming. We wanted to explore upper elementary students’ self-efficacy for and conceptual understanding of CS as manifest in collaborative and regulated discourse during pair programming.

Author(s): Jessica Vandenberg , Collin Lynch , Kristy Elizabeth Boyer , Eric Wiebe
Year: 2022

The Role of Inclusion, Discrimination, and Belonging for Adolescent Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Engagement In and Out of School

Women and ethnic minoritized individuals are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains in postsecondary education and in the workforce. The aim of the current study was to examine whether adolescents' perceptions of inclusivity, belonging, and discrimination in high school STEM classes are related to their STEM class engagement in and outside of school.

Author(s): Kelly Lynn Mulvey , Channing J. Mathews , Jerica Knox , Angelina Joy , Jacqueline Cerda-Smith
Year: 2022

Invisible Multilingual Black and Brown Girls: Raciolinguistic Narratives of Identity in Science Education

Black and Brown girls are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields. Although studies have examined the reasons for this by exploring Black and Brown girls' experiences based on culture, gender, and race, there is a need for specifically understanding how language contributes to racialized experiences in science education. This study fills this critical gap by presenting narratives of three academically talented multilingual girls from Black and Brown communities.

Author(s): Akira Harper , Shakhnoza Kayumova
Year: 2022

Modeling in Science Education: A Synthesis of Recent Discovery Research PreK-12 Projects

This review synthesizes findings from 18 NSF-funded projects, totaling nearly $22 million, that studied scientific modeling in science education from prekindergarten to Grade 12. The projects typically used descriptive designs to understand digital and nondigital modeling resources that help students explore scientific phenomena. Further, the projects provide initial evidence that resources supporting student modeling, such as modeling platforms and computer simulations, can promote science learning.

Author(s): Jonathan Margolin , Isabella Pinerua , Dean Gerdeman
Year: 2022

Using Machine Learning to Predict Engineering Technology Students’ Success with Computer-Aided Design

Computer-aided design (CAD) programs are essential to engineering as they allow for better designs through low-cost iterations. While CAD programs are typically taught to undergraduate students as a job skill, such software can also help students learn engineering concepts. A current limitation of CAD programs (even those that are specifically designed for educational purposes) is that they are not capable of providing automated real-time help to students. To encourage CAD programs to build in assistance to students, we used data generated from students using a free, open-source CAD software called Aladdin to demonstrate how student data combined with machine learning techniques can predict how well a particular student will perform in a design task.

Author(s): Jasmine Singh , Viranga Perera , Alejandra J. Magana , Brittany Newell , Jin Wei-Kocsis , Ying Ying Seah , Greg J. Strimel , Charles Xie
Year: 2022

Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of Assessment Tasks that Measure Content Knowledge for Teaching about Matter

This study explores how 79 elementary preservice teachers perceive the relevance and importance of assessment task scenarios designed to elicit information about content knowledge for teaching (CKT) about matter and its interactions—a foundational topic for teaching physical science.

Author(s): Dante Cisterna , Allison K. Bookbinder , Jamie N. Mikeska , Heena R. Lakhani
Year: 2022

Dancing with Data: Embodying the Numerical and Humanistic Sides of Data

We explore the implementation of a co-designed data-dance unit in which middle school students created their own embodied metaphors to represent and communicate about graphs through dance. In analyzing dance artifacts and post-study interviews with the learners and teachers, we demonstrate how the creation of embodied metaphors in dance led to new ways of exploring the data as learners reflected on different perspectives on topics across numerical values, contexts, and implications.

Author(s): Kayla Desportes , Ralph Vacca , Marian Tes , Peter J. Woods , Camillia Matuk , Anna Amato , Megan Silander
Year: 2022

No Science Fair? No Problem. Engaging Students in Science Communication through Peer Review and Publication in a Remote World

This article describes resources that are freely available to help teachers navigate the peer review and publication processes and guide their students through the successful completion of submission and publication of their research papers.

Author(s): Eddie Rodriguez , Michael Mazzola , Sarah C. Fankhauser
Year: 2022

Twin Skin of Raza Learners: Race, Language, and Mathematics

Through a composite counter-story from the perspective of fifth-grade Raza learners, the authors show how race and language play a role in the mathematics classroom.

Author(s): Stacy R. Jones , Carlos Nicolas Gomez Marchant
Year: 2022

Narrative-Supported Math Problem Solving in Digital Game-based Learning

Narrative as a game design feature constantly yields mixed results for learning in the literature. The purpose of this exploratory mixed-methods case study was to examine design heuristics and implications governing the role of narratives in a digital game-based learning (DGBL) environment for math problem solving.

Author(s): Chih-Pu Dai , Fengfeng Ke , Yanjun Pan
Year: 2022

Sustaining at Scale: District Mathematics Specialists’ Adaptations to a Teacher Leadership Preparation Program

A common approach to scaling up a professional development program is for the researchers who designed the program to prepare teacher leaders to facilitate it at their schools. When researchers eventually leave, however, teacher leaders may receive less support. To ensure that teacher leaders continue receiving support, researchers can prepare district mathematics specialists to assume responsibility for preparing the teacher leaders. Little is known, however, about district mathematics specialists’ role in sustaining, and potentially adapting, professional development programs. We examined district mathematics specialists’ facilitation of an adaptive teacher leadership preparation program.

Author(s): Michael Jarry-Shore , Victoria Delaney , Hilda Borko
Year: 2022

Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Mathematics and Science A Cross-Disciplinary Synthesis of Recent DRK-12 Projects

This review synthesized insights from 27 NSF-funded projects, totaling $62 million, that studied pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in STEM education from prekindergarten (PreK) to Grade 12, split roughly equally across mathematics and science education. The projects primarily applied correlational/observational and longitudinal methods, often targeted teaching in the middle school grades, and used a wide variety of approaches to measure teachers’ PCK. The projects advanced substantive knowledge about PCK across four major lines of research, especially regarding the measurement and development of PCK.

Author(s): David Miller , Isabella Pinerua , Jonathan Margolin , Dean Gerdeman
Year: 2022

Person Early College Sees Success with the Project-Based Inquiry (PBI) Global Program

Globally relevant, action-oriented learning, like Project-Based Inquiry (PBI) Global, is a powerful tool to increase classroom engagement and help students understand the world in which they live. Today, Person Early College for Innovation and Leadership (PECIL) is engaged in their fourth year of collaboration with the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation’s PBI Global team.

Author(s): Stephanie Policastro
Year: 2022

ReLaTe-SA: An Effort to Understand Teachers’ Reasoning Language in Algebra

The ReLaTe-SA project investigates the research question: what language do teachers use to describe and explain routines in algebra classes? The goal of this article is to inform readers about some ways we have learned to describe the discourse that teachers use when solving linear equations.

Author(s): Mehmet Kirmizi
Year: 2022

Investigating Data Like a Data Scientist: Key Practices and Processes

As the discipline of statistics education broadens to data science education, there is a need to examine how practices in data science can inform work in K-12. We synthesize literature about statistics investigation processes, data science as a field and practices of data scientists. Further, we provide results from an ethnographic and interview study of the work of data scientists.

Author(s): Hollylynne Lee , Gemma Mojica , Emily Thrasher , Peter Baumgartner
Year: 2022

The Centrality of Student-Generated Representation in Investigating Generalizations about the Operations

This article addresses the nature of student-generated representations that support students’ early algebraic reasoning in the realm of generalized arithmetic.

Author(s): Deborah Schifter , Susan Jo Russell
Year: 2022

Transforming Science Learning Framework: Translating an Equity Commitment into Action through Co-Design

In this study, we present a conceptual tool for guiding teachers’ principled pedagogical actions toward equitable instruction, referred to as the Transforming Science Learning (TSL) framework. The TSL framework was developed to address the challenges of enacting an ideological commitment in local contexts–promoting equity and justice through culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) in K-12 science classrooms.

Author(s): Hosun Kang , Jasmine McBeath Nation
Year: 2022

Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Use of Students’ Incorrect Answers in Supporting Collective Argumentation

This study illustrates how two secondary mathematics teachers used students’ incorrect answers as they supported students’ engagement in collective argumentation.

Author(s): Yuling Zhuang , AnnaMarie Conner
Year: 2022

Exploring Adaptations of the VisChem Approach: Advancements and Anchors toward Particle-Level Explanations

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have been imperative for informing many facets of the chemistry education research field, one of which includes the professional development (PD) of high school teachers. While many researchers and practitioners have responded to the NGSS’ calls for reform by attending to internal factors that influence the PD’s design, resources, and facilitation, there is less attention on extant factors that may negatively affect PD uptake and fidelity. Such factors encompass traditions of teaching chemistry or chemistry-related imprecisions within the NGSS themselves. If left unaddressed, these factors can act as anchors preventing advancements toward students’ particle-level explanations and their chemistry conceptual understanding. In this article, we investigate the uptake and fidelity of our own PD program known as the VisChem Institute.

Author(s): Meng-Yang Matthew Wu , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2022

Beyond Assessing Knowledge about Models and Modeling: Moving toward Expansive, Meaningful, and Equitable Modeling Practice

This article focused on expansive, meaningful, and equitable modeling practice.

Author(s): Christina V. Schwarz , Li Ke , Michelle Salgado , Eve Manz
Year: 2022
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Theoretical Diversity and Inclusivity in Science and Environmental Education Research: A Way Forward

As distinct communities of practice (COP), science education research (SER) and environmental education research (EER) have both matured a great deal in recent decades, coming to include a greater diversity of theoretical perspectives, worldviews, and researcher and participant voices. In this paper, we present a view of theoretical inclusivity that promises a rich, robust research landscape for both EER and SER through the deliberate inclusion of non-Western theories.

Author(s): Roberta Howard Hunter , Gail Richmond
Year: 2022

A Gibbs Sampling Algorithm with Monotonicity Constraints for Diagnostic Classification Models

Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) are restricted latent class models with a set of cross-class equality constraints and additional monotonicity constraints on their item parameters, both of which are needed to ensure the meaning of classes and model parameters. In this paper, we develop an efficient, Gibbs sampling-based Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo estimation method for general DCMs with monotonicity constraints.

Author(s): Kazuhiro Yamaguchi , Jonathan Templin 
Year: 2021
Keywords: Other, Research

Estimation of Multidimensional Item Response Theory Models with Correlated Latent Variables Using Variational Autoencoders

In this work, we extend variational auto encoders (VAE) to estimate item parameters and correlated latent abilities, and directly compare the ML2P-VAE method to more traditional parameter estimation methods, such as Monte Carlo expectation-maximization. The incorporation of a non-identity covariance matrix in a VAE requires a novel VAE architecture, which can be utilized in applications outside of education.

Author(s): Geoffrey Converse , Mariana Curi , Suely Oliveira , Jonathan Templin 
Year: 2021
Keywords: Other, Research

Conceptualizing a Shared Definition and Future Directions for Extended Reality (XR) in Teacher Education

Scholarship on extended reality (XR) in teacher education is emerging at an increasing rate. As additional forms of XR become more common in the profession, there is a need for teacher educators to consider how the various forms of XR-based representations of practice are conceptualized. This editorial focuses on how the field may begin to consider defining XR within the boundaries of perceptual capacity—a concept that align with definitions in various other professional fields and with theory and practice in teacher education.

Author(s): Karl W. Kosko , Richard E. Ferdig , Lionel Roche
Year: 2021

Uvvatuq Naluallangniaqtugut (I Humbly Hope We Run Into Game): An Iñupiaq Research Process

The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Development Team is working with the Northwest Arctic Borough School District to develop STEM lessons utilizing Iñupiaq knowledge systems and university research for middle school-age students in three villages. The UAF participating programs humbly reached out to local community members to establish a TRACKS Team. However, the UAF participating programs wanted the TRACKS Team to identify what is important to teach their children. The community were the ones to identify the research topic, utilizing an analogy Uvvatuq naluallangniaqtugut (I humbly hope we run into game) for an Iñupiaq research process.

Author(s): Sean Asiqłuq Topkok , Hannah Paniyavluk Loon
Year: 2021

Qualifying Domains of Student Struggle in Undergraduate General Chemistry Laboratory

The work presented here focuses on student struggles in undergraduate general chemistry laboratory activities, the source of these struggles, and the actions students take to overcome them. Using an activity theoretical lens and multiple domains (cognitive, epistemological, socioemotional, and psychomotor), we developed a domains-of-struggle framework which encompasses how struggles emerge through contradictions within the laboratory activity system.

Author(s): Clarissa Keen , Hannah Sevian
Year: 2021

Developing and Piloting a Tool to Assess Culturally Responsive Principles in Schools Serving Indigenous Students

This article presents a tool and discusses the rationale for the authors’ development of a tool designed to assess the alignment of culturally responsive schooling principles within schools serving predominantly U.S. Indigenous students. Schools that serve a majority of Indigenous students are generally located on or bordering Native Nations that are federally recognized as being sovereign Nations with a government-to-government relationship to the federal government, so the more generic diversity, equity, and inclusion tools that currently exist are insufficient for the unique contexts of schools in Indian Country. Thus, we offer a tool that can be used to identify and strengthen the integration of culturally responsive principles specifically for, with, and in Indigenous-serving schools.

Author(s): Angelina Castagno , Darold H. Joseph , Hosava Kretzmann , Pradeep M. Dass
Year: 2021

Students Doing Citizen Science on an Unfolding Pandemic

School-based science inquiry tends to focus on already answered questions. We describe how we used the COVID-19 pandemic in a high school citizen science unit for students to witness and engage in real-time science. High school students developed proposals to study questions about their experiences related to the pandemic.

Author(s): Veena Vasudevan , Camillia Matuk , Engin Bumbacher , Ido Davidesco , Suzanne Dikker , Sushmita Sadhukha , Kim Chaloner , Kim Burgas , Rebecca Martin , Yury Shevchenko
Year: 2021
Keywords: High, Curriculum, Science

Quantification in Empirical Activity

Science involves changing the scale of objects—particularly scales of size, time, and intensity—from what is experienced in the world. Similar to investigations conducted in science laboratories, classroom investigations involve re-representing and re-scaling entities, manipulating them, and observing effects in new locations and timescales. However, this aspect of investigation is under-studied and under-utilized as a resource for learning. We argue that, from elementary school, children can experience quantification, or identifying, developing, and working with variables, as consequential and can take up differences in representation and scale in empirical investigations as opportunities for sense-making and conceptual progress.

Author(s): Eve Manz , Betsy Beckert
Year: 2021
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Informal Learning with Extended Reality Environments: Current Trends in Museums, Heritage, and Tourism

This chapter discusses the capabilities of extended reality technology in informal learning environments, such as museums and cultural heritage sites. The chapter critically appraises several affordances of extended reality technologies while expanding on these notions by outlining the cognitive theory of multimedia learning to inform practical instructional design principles.

Author(s): Matthew Orr , Eric Poitras , Kirsten R. Butcher 
Year: 2021
Keywords: Middle, Science

When Should I Use a Measure to Support InstructionalImprovement at Scale? The Importance of Considering BothIntended and Actual Use in Validity Arguments

Despite the ease of accessing a wide range of measures, little attention is given to validity arguments when considering whether to use the measure for a new purpose or in a different context. Making a validity argument has historically focused on the intended interpretation and use. There has been a press to consider both the intended and actual interpretations and how users make sense of the data when constructing validity arguments, but the practice is not widespread.This paper contributes to existing research on validity by highlighting the value of attending to the actual interpretation and use of a measure aimed at supporting instructional improvement in mathematics.

Author(s): Marsha Ing , Starlie Chinen , Kara Jackson , Thomas M. Smith
Year: 2021

Analyzing Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice Centered on Video Cases of Mathematics Teaching

Incorporating video case study of mathematics teaching into professional development (PD) can provide opportunities for teachers to develop new ways of seeing teaching and learning and inform efforts to enact new instructional practices. However, more research is needed to understand how such PD can foster sustained teacher learning about high-quality instruction and materials. In this paper, we share the evolution of our analytic method that aims to reveal how secondary mathematics teachers learn while collectively analyzing video of mathematics teaching.

Author(s): Youngjun Kim , Victoria D. Bonaccorso , Mustafa M. Mohamed , Helene S. Leonard , Joseph DiNapoli , Eileen Murray
Year: 2021

From Professional Development to Native Nation Building: Opening Up Space for Leadership, Relationality, and Self-Determination through the Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators

Many of us have multiple stories that would be appropriate to tell given the theme of this Special Issue. I am compelled to tell a story about my work with teachers, teacher leaders, and other allies on the Navajo Nation. The Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators (DINÉ) was started by teacher leaders who envisioned a collaborative professional development institute specifically for K12 teachers on the Navajo Nation. In their rural, Indigenous-serving schools, teachers are often asked to deliver scripted curriculum that is decontextualized, dehistoricized, and therefore, dehumanizing for their students, themselves, and their communities. Their vision for the DINÉ was developed and honed over many years in response to this context. In this essay, I will briefly describe the DINÉ, how and why it began, and its current status. I will focus on three critical spaces that have opened up in and through the DINÉ: teacher leadership, connection/relationality, and activism/self-determination. In reflecting on these three spaces, I suggest that our work in the DINÉ is fundamentally about Native Nation building.

Author(s): Angelina E. Castagno
Year: 2021

“Science Theatre Makes You Good at Science”: Affordances of Embodied Performances in Urban Elementary Science Classrooms

School science continues to alienate students identifying with nondominant, non-western cultures, and learners of color, and considers science as an enterprise where success necessitates divorcing the self and corporeal body from ideas and the mind. Resisting the colonizing pedagogy of the mind–body divide, we aimed at creating pedagogical spaces and places in science classes that sustain equitable opportunities for engagement and meaning making where body and mind are enmeshed. In the context of a partnership between school- and university-based educators and researchers, we explored how multimodal literacies cultivated through the performing arts, provide students from minoritized communities opportunities to both create knowledge and to position themselves as science experts and brilliant and creative meaning makers.

Author(s): Maria Varelas , Rebecca T. Kotler , Hannah D. Natividad , Nathan C. Phillips , Rachelle P. Tsachor , Rebecca Woodard , Marcie Gutierrez , Miguel A. Melchor , Maria Rosario
Year: 2021

Wildfire Module Now Freely Available

Today’s students are exposed to news about wildfires on an all-too-regular basis. An increasingly larger portion of those students live in areas where wildfire risks are high or where smoke has reduced the air quality. The GeoHazard project has designed, developed, and tested an online wildfire curriculum module for middle and high school students that addresses the factors that influence wildfires, as well as the risks and impacts that wildfires bring to people and their communities.

Author(s): Trudi Lord
Year: 2021

Designing for Framing in Online Teacher Education: Supporting Teachers’ Attending to Student Thinking in Video Discussions of Classroom Engineering

We present findings from an online course designed to support teachers to frame video discussions as making sense of student thinking. In an engineering pedagogy course designed to emphasize responsiveness to students’ thinking, we documented shifts in teachers’ framing, with teachers more frequently making sense of, rather than evaluating, student thinking later in the course. These findings show that it is possible to design an asynchronous online course to productively engage teachers in video discussions and inform theory development in online teacher education.

Author(s): Jessica Watkins , Merredith Portsmore
Year: 2021

Co-Designing for Privacy, Transparency, and Trust in K-12 Learning Analytics

The process of using Learning Analytics (LA) to improve teaching works from the assumption that data should be readily shared between stakeholders in an educational organization. However, the design of LA tools often does not account for considerations such as data privacy, transparency and trust among stakeholders. Research in human-centered design of LA does attend to these questions, specifically with a focus on including direct input from K-12 educators. In this paper, we present a series of design studies to articulate and refine conjectures about how privacy and transparency might influence better trust-building and data sharing within four school districts in the United States.

Author(s): June Ahn , Fabio Campos , Ha Nguyen , Maria Hays , Jan Morrison
Year: 2021

Remote Chemistry Teacher Professional Development Delivery: Enduring Lessons for Programmatic Redesign

COVID-19 has thrust educators into a period of uncertainty, complicating conventional ways of teaching and learning. We suspect that the pandemic has magnified the challenges that some high school teachers already experience, particularly when they are the sole chemistry teacher at their school. The pandemic has likely inhibited collegial interactions and access to professional development (PD). Our reflections from redesigning a face-to-face PD program to one that is remotely delivered provide recommendations that advance PD accessibility and interactivity to mitigate isolation and other longstanding challenges teachers may face. In this article, we discuss how the cognitive learning model informed emergent teaching practices that guided the transformation of the PD’s implementation for 20 high school chemistry teachers.

Author(s): Meng-Yang M. Wu , KatieMarie Magnone , Roy Tasker , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2021

The Curious Construct of Active Learning

The construct of active learning permeates undergraduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), but despite its prevalence, the construct means different things to different people, groups, and STEM domains. To better understand active learning, we constructed this review through an innovative interdisciplinary collaboration involving research teams from psychology and discipline-based education research (DBER). Our collaboration examined active learning from two different perspectives (i.e., psychology and DBER) and surveyed the current landscape of undergraduate STEM instructional practices related to the modes of active learning and traditional lecture.

Author(s): Doug Lombardi , Thomas F. Shipley , Astronomy Team , Biology Team , Chemistry Team , Engineering Team , Geography Team , Geoscience Team , Physics Team
Year: 2021

Extractive and Inferential Discourses for Equation Solving

We investigate the algebraic discourse of secondary mathematics teachers with respect to the topic of equation solving by analyzing five teachers’ responses to open-ended items on a questionnaire that asks respondents to analyze hypothetical student work related to equation solving and explain related concepts.

Author(s): Cody L. Patterson , Elizabeth Wrightsman , Mehmet Kirmizi , Rebecca McGraw
Year: 2021

Situating Presence within Extended Reality for Teacher Training: Validation of the Extended Reality Presence Scale (XRPS) in Preservice Teacher Use of Immersive 360 Video

The purpose of this study was to adapt and validate an instrument for assessing immersive 360 video use in an undergraduate preservice teacher university training program.

Author(s): Enrico Gandolfi , Karl W. Kosko , Richard E. Ferdig
Year: 2021

The Development of Critical Teaching Skills for Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers Through Video Case Study Analysis

Using social learning theory with the central concept of a community of practice, we situate this work within a secondary mathematics methods course to unpack preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) development through the use of video case studies. We analyzed six sessions of the course in which PSMTs engaged in discussions about video segments of mathematics teaching rooted in the Teaching for Robust Understanding (TRU) framework for high-quality instruction.

Author(s): Helene S. Leonard , Youngjun Kim , Su San Lim , Victoria D. Bonaccorso , Joseph DiNapoli , Eileen Murray
Year: 2021

“He Got a Glimpse of the Joys of Understanding” – The Role of Epistemic Empathy in Teacher Learning

Efforts to promote reform-based instruction have overlooked the import of affect in teacher learning. Drawing on prior work, I argue that teachers’ affective experiences in the discipline are integral to their learning how to teach the discipline. Moreover, I suggest that both affective and epistemological aspects of teachers’ experiences can serve to cultivate their epistemic empathy—the capacity for tuning into and valuing someone’s intellectual and emotional experience within an epistemic activity—in ways that support student-centered instruction.

Author(s): Lama Jaber
Year: 2021

Using Online Simulations to Promote Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Facilitation of Argumentation-Focused Discussions in Mathematics and Science

In this study, our team developed and is studying the use of an Online Practice Suite (OPS) composed of a coordinated and scaffolded collection of three practice-based online simulations designed to support the development of preservice teachers' (PSTs’) abilities, skills, beliefs, and understanding around one ambitious teaching practice within mathematics and science: facilitating discussions that engage students in argumentation.

Author(s): Jamie N. Mikeska , Dionne Cross Francis , Pamela Lottero-Perdue , Meredith Park Rogers , Calli Shekell , Pavneet Bharaj , Heather Howell , Adam Maltese , Meredith Thompson , Justin Reich
Year: 2021

The Honeycomb of Engineering Framework: Philosophy of Engineering Guiding Precollege Engineering Education

This conceptual paper introduces the honeycomb of engineering framework, which offers an epistemologically justified theoretical position and a pedagogical lens that can be used to examine ways engineering concepts and practices are taught in precollege education.

Author(s): Şenay Purzer , Jenny Quintana-Cifuentes , Muhsin Menekse
Year: 2021
Keywords: High, Engineering

Beyond Content: The Role of STEM Disciplines, Real-World Problems, 21st Century Skills, and STEM Careers within Science Teachers’ Conceptions of Integrated STEM Education

This study used an exploratory case study design to investigate conceptions of 19 K-12 science teachers after participating in an integrated STEM-focused professional development and implementing integrated STEM lessons into their classrooms.

Author(s): Emily Anna Dare , Khomson Keratithamkul , Benny Mart Hiwatig , Feng Li
Year: 2021

Second and Fifth Graders’ Use of Knowledge-Pieces and Knowledge-Structures When Solving Integer Addition Problems

In this study, we explored second and fifth graders’ noticing of negative signs and incorporation of them into their strategies when solving integer addition problems. For both grade levels, the order of the numerals, the location of the negative signs, and also the numbers’ absolute values in the problems played a role in students’ strategies used. Fifth graders’ greater strategy variability often reflected strategic use of the meanings of the minus sign. Our findings provide insights into students’ problem interpretation and solution strategies for integer addition problems and supports a blended theory of conceptual change.

Author(s): Mahtob Aqazade , Laura Bofferding
Year: 2021

Training a New Generation of Problem Solvers: Innovation in STEM Education

Humankind faces unprecedented environmental, social, and economic challenges. There is a critical need for STEM education to foster both science learning and the application of learning to problem solving. At the University of Utah, Professor Nancy Butler Songer and her collaborators have developed a suite of interdisciplinary instructional and field-based data collection resources offering elementary and secondary students the chance to create solutions for local, urban environmental issues.

Author(s): Nancy Butler Songer
Year: 2021

A Three-Part Synchronous Online Model for Middle Grade Mathematics Teachers’ Professional Development

In this chapter, we describe a three-part fully online model for the professional development of middle school mathematics teachers. This chapter contributes to understanding how online contexts provide opportunities to collect and analyze data in ways that would be difficult to accomplish in face-to-face settings.

Author(s): Jeffrey Choppin , Julie Amador , Cynthia Callard , Cynthia Carson , Ryan Gillespie , Jennifer Kruger , Stephanie Martin , Genie Foster 
Year: 2021

Innovator Interview: Steve Roderick

Interview with Steve Roderick about helping teachers on the InquirySpace project bring more authentic science experiences to their classes.

Author(s): The Concord Consortium
Year: 2021

A Model for Developing Sustainable Math Instructional Leadership

The Responsive Math Teaching project has been developing and refining a model for the development of mathematics instructional leadership in a network of 13 urban under-resourced elementary schools. This report summarizes the core elements of this model for developing sustainable math instructional leadership for systemic change at the district level.

Author(s): The Responsive Math Teaching Project Team
Year: 2021

Designing Learning Environments to Promote Academic Literacy in Mathematics in Multilingual Secondary Mathematics Classrooms

Emerging multilingual students can develop the dimensions of Academic Literacy in Mathematics (ALM) in classroom discussions. But, there is a need for empirically-validated principles for fostering such discussions. This research used ALM as a framework to create a unit of instruction on linear rates of change for ninth grade mathematics in which multilingual students benefit from discussions.

Author(s): William Zahner , Ernesto Daniel Calleros , Kevin Pelaez
Year: 2021

Using Interviews to Identify the Resources of Multilingual High School Students

The resources that multilingual students bring to school mathematics are often ignored. During a teacher-researcher collaborative project focused on creating more equitable learning environments in high school math classrooms, we noted an initial tendency to focus on the challenges and barriers facing multilingual students. To counter this tendency, we worked with two teachers to engage in a structured teacher-student interview to identify and highlight secondary multilingual students’ home and community resources. We adapted a module from TeachMath to guide the activity and facilitated surveys, debriefs and teacher-research conversations to unpack this experience.

Author(s): Megan D’Errico , William Zahner
Year: 2021

Examining the Responding Component of Teacher Noticing: A Case of One Teacher’s Pedagogical Responses to Students’ Thinking in Classroom Artifacts

In this study, we investigated how an experienced fourth-grade teacher responded to her students’ thinking as part of her teacher noticing practice in a formative assessment context. Our primary purpose in doing this work was to decompose the responding component of teacher noticing and use our findings to present an emerging framework characterizing the multidimensional nature of this practice.

Author(s): Melissa Luna , Sarah Selmer
Year: 2021

Methodological Advancements for Analyzing Teachers’ Learning in a Community of Practice

Professional development that privileges teachers’ voice, equity, and the investigation of high-quality instruction is essential to the mathematics education community. However, more research is needed to understand the process, content, and depth of teachers’ learning in this setting. This paper shares our analytic method designed to capture such learning. We integrate three complementary perspectives: Communities of Practice (theoretical framework), Teaching for Robust Understanding (conceptual framework), and Frame Analysis (analytical framework).

Author(s): Helene Leonard , Victoria Bonaccorso , Joseph DiNapoli , Eileen Murray
Year: 2021

PST Learning to Facilitate Argumentation Via Simulation: Exploring the Role of Understanding and Emotion

The present study focuses on examining transitions in elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs)’ understanding of, and skills in, leading argumentation-focused discussions in mathematics during participation in a sequence of three different practice-based activities, collectively referred to as the Online Practice Suite (OPS).

Author(s): Heather Howell , Dionne Cross Francis , Pavneet Kaur Bharaj , Calli Shekell
Year: 2021

Explaining Differences in One Teacher’s Instruction Across Multiple Tracked Fifth‐Grade Classes

In this article, we describe the case of “Keri,” a fifth-grade teacher who had completed an Elementary Mathematics Specialist (EMS) certification program. Drawn from a larger study investigating the knowledge, beliefs, and practices of EMSs, Keri's case was unique in that she was teaching mathematics to four classes in a departmentalized structure, where students were placed into different classes according to perceived mathematics ability. Observations from the larger study revealed that Keri's instructional practices did not align with her reported beliefs and knowledge. To explore this deviation, we conducted a case study where we observed Keri's instruction across multiple classes and used interviews to explore reasons for Keri's instructional decisions in terms of her perceived professional obligations.

Author(s): Corey Webel , Kimberly A. Conner , Christina Sheffel
Year: 2021

Eliciting and Refining Conceptions of STEM Education: A Series of Activities for Professional Development

Integrated STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education is becoming increasingly common in K–12 classrooms. However, various definitions of STEM education exist that make it challenging for teachers to know what to implement and how to do so in their classrooms. In this article, we describe a series of activities used in a week-long professional development workshop designed to elicit K–12 teachers’ conceptions of STEM and the roles that science, technology, engineering, and mathematics play in STEM education.

Author(s): Emily A. Dare , Elizabeth A. Ring-Whalen
Year: 2021

“We Are the Future”: Critical Inquiry and Social Action in the Classroom

This study explored how engaging in critical inquiry through Project-Based Inquiry (PBI) Global fostered social action with high school students. Drawing on theoretical perspectives from critical inquiry and social action and employing a collective case study approach, we focused on six diverse students from two of the 18 teams who participated in a PBI Global examining global water and sanitation over a two-month period.

Author(s): Hiller Spires , Marie Himes , Crystal Chen Lee , Andrea Gambino
Year: 2021

Examining the Use of Video Annotations in Debriefing Conversations during Video-Assisted Coaching Cycles

This study examined how mathematics coaches leverage written annotations to support professional discourse with teachers about important classroom events during synchronous debriefing conversations. Coaches and teachers created the annotations while asynchronously watching video of an implemented lesson as part of online video-assisted coaching cycles. More specifically, this project examined the extent to which a coach and teacher discussed the

annotations during a debrief conversation in a coaching cycle. We present a rationale for needing new knowledge about the relationships between video annotations and professional discourse as well as the potential implications of such knowledge.

Author(s): Ryan Gillespie , Julie M. Amador , Jeffrey Choppin
Year: 2021

Tracing Take-Up Across Practice-based Professional Development and Collaborative Lesson Design

This study explored how two professional development approaches to reforming math instruction with different mechanisms for fostering change might have valuable synergies when used in tandem to support take-up, i.e., teachers’ acceptance, adoption, and incorporation of ideas into practice.

Author(s): Jennifer Valerio
Year: 2021

Principles for Curriculum Design and Pedagogy in Multilingual Secondary Mathematics Classrooms

We introduce and illustrate three principles for designing secondary mathematics classrooms in which multilingual students can benefit from participating in mathematical discussions. Drawing from the Academic Literacy in Mathematics (ALM) framework (Moschkovich, 2015), we developed these principles through a four-year design research collaboration with ninth grade mathematics teachers working in a linguistically diverse urban secondary school in the southwest USA.

Author(s): William Zahner , Kevin Pelaez , Ernesto Daniel Calleros
Year: 2021

Impact of the Design of an Asynchronous Video-Based Learning Environment on Teacher Noticing and Mathematical Knowledge

In this paper, we share the design and impact of a set of two-hour online mathematics professional development modules adapted from face-to-face video-based materials.

Author(s): Nanette Seago , Angela Knotts
Year: 2021

360 Video as an Immersive Representation of Practice: Interactions between Reported Benefits and Teacher Noticing

This study examined and compared teachers’ perceived affordances of 360 video as a representation of practice and their professional noticing of students’ mathematics in 360 videos. Results from this study suggest that referencing teacher movement and student tables or groups is associated with a higher focus on student actions and that 360 video affords opportunities for teachers to notice students’ mathematical thinking.

Author(s): Karl Wesley Kosko  , Tracy Weston , Julie Amador
Year: 2021

Improving Integrated STEM Education: The Design and Development of a K-12 STEM Observation Protocol (STEM-OP) (RTP)

The work presented here describes in detail the development of an integrated STEM observation instrument - the STEM Observation Protocol (STEM-OP) - that can be used for both research and practice. Over a period of approximately 18-months, a team of STEM educators and educational researchers developed a 10-item integrated STEM observation instrument for use in K-12 science and engineering classrooms. The process of developing the STEM-OP began with establishing a conceptual framework, drawing on the integrated STEM research literature, national standards documents, and frameworks for both K-12 engineering education and integrated STEM education.

Author(s): Emily Anna Dare , Benny Mart Reblando Hiwatig , Khomson Keratithamkul , Joshua Alexander Ellis , Gillian Roehrig , Elizabeth A. Ring-Whalen , Mark Rouleau , Farah Faruqi , Corbin Rice , Preethi Titu , Feng Li , Jeanna R. Wieselmann , Elizabeth A Crotty
Year: 2021

Climate Education in Secondary Science: Comparison of Model-based and Non-Model-based Investigations of Earth’s Climate

In this mixed method study, we analyse the effectiveness of two pedagogical approaches – one model-based and another non-model-based – for developing secondary students’ understanding of the phenomenon of increase in Earth’s average surface temperatures, a core dimension of global climate change (GCC).

Author(s): Devarati Bhattacharya , Kim Carroll Steward , Cory T. Forbes
Year: 2021

North Carolina Students Engage in Purpose-Driven Inquiry to Address Global Challenges

This week is Global Goals week — an annual week of action, awareness, and accountability for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which are aimed at addressing global challenges like poverty and hunger. In North Carolina, two schools have integrated purpose-driven, interdisciplinary, and collaborative inquiry into their classrooms to empower students and teachers as local and global change agents during a particularly uncertain school year.

Author(s): Marie Himes
Year: 2021

Coaching from a Distance: Exploring Video-based Online Coaching

This study explored an innovative coaching model termed video-based online video coaching.  As part of an NSF-funded project, we studied nine mathematics coaches over four years as they engaged in video-based coaching with teachers from geographically distant, rural contexts.

Author(s): Cynthia D Carson , Jeffrey Choppin
Year: 2021

Participating in the Scientific Publication Process: Exploring How Pre-college Students Perceive Publication within the Scientific Enterprise

Scientists spend a substantial amount of their time engaging with the primary literature: reading, constructing, reviewing and revising it. Yet, the role of primary literature is generally absent from the development of scientific inquiry skills in the pre-college science classroom, thus undermining a true understanding of what it means to do science. In this study, we examined middle and high school student perceptions of scientific inquiry and the role of disciplinary literacy practices after engaging in scientific review and publication of their research papers.

Author(s): Sarah C. Fankhauser , Gwendolynne Reid , Gwendolyn Mirzoyan , Clara Meaders , Olivia Ho-Shing
Year: 2021

Designing for Mathematical Literacy: Introducing Exponential Growth Using Critical and Meaningful Problem Contexts

This department explores the concept of disciplinary literacy—the conceptual understandings and ways of reading, thinking, and writing involved in critiquing and constructing knowledge in a discipline—and its intersections with aspects of culturally sustaining pedagogy.

Author(s): William Zahner
Year: 2021

Contrasting Cases in Geometry: Think Alouds with Students about Transformations

There is strong empirical evidence in support of learning from comparisons in mathematics education research. The Animated Contrasting Cases in Geometry project seeks to extend this research and transform the learning of geometry for middle school students by designing a supplementary digital animated curriculum. This paper focuses on the Transformations unit, which is one of four units.

Author(s): Erin E. Krupa , Brianna Bentley , Joshua P. Mannix
Year: 2021

Culturally Relevant Pedagogy in Science: The SCI-Bridge Model

Urban Title I schools need teachers who recognize and can help address challenges with broadening participation in science and inequities in access to quality science instruction found in elementary schools. The paper presents scholarly work supported by a National Science Foundation Discovery Research K-12 grant. A new science instructional model that intersects effective practices in science education with the theoretical principles of culturally relevant pedagogy is provided. Grounded in evidence-based practice, the new model, SCI-Bridge, features how culturally responsive classroom management, facilitated discourse, and contextual anchoring can be implemented as part of science instruction in elementary classrooms.

Author(s): Diane Truscott , Brian Williams , Nancy Jo Schafer , Ana Solano-Campos , Stephanie Byrd
Year: 2021

Everything Happens for a Reason: Developing Causal Mechanistic Reasoning of Plate Tectonics

The goal of our National Science Foundation-funded Geological Models for Exploration of Dynamic Earth (GEODE) project is to help students use plate tectonics as an explanation for the landforms and geological phenomena observed on Earth’s surface.

Author(s): Amy Pallant , Hee-Sun Lee
Year: 2021

Empirical Research on K-16 Climate Education: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Recent implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) has intensified the focus on teaching and learning of the Earth’s climate and GCC in formal learning environments. Concurrently, the empirical research associated with climate education has also increased. We used an exhaustive, stepwise process to search for and identify relevant literature, systematically analyzing 178 empirical, peer-reviewed studies focused on climate literacy and education in formal K-16 settings.

Author(s): Devarati Bhattacharya , Kim Carroll Steward , Cory T. Forbes
Year: 2021

How to Engage Students in Addressing Global Problems

In a project designed to help create the next generation of problem-solvers, North Carolina State University researchers challenged a group of 11th graders to investigate and find solutions to a global problem: that billions of people lack access to clean water and sanitation services.

Author(s): Laura Jane Oleniacz
Year: 2021

What's In a Wave? Using Modeling and Computational Thinking to Enhance Students' Understanding of Waves

Teaching about wave structure and function is a critical element of any physical science curriculum and supported by Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer. Often, instruction focused on these concepts involves identifying and describing several aspects of wave structure, including amplitude, frequency, and wavelength. To support students’ learning of these ideas, teachers often rely on developing graphic models of a wave with students identifying different aspects of wave structure. To enhance this experience, some teachers employ readily available simulations from trusted websites, such as PhET or Netlogo. Digital resources are valuable tools that teachers can use to support students’ science understanding through manipulating elements of digitally constructed scientific models. These approaches to teaching promote students’ engagement in the practice of designing (drawing a wave) and using scientific models (working with a simulation). To expand upon these resources, we developed a series of instructional activities that deepen students’ conceptual understanding of waves by engaging in computational thinking while developing and using scientific and mathematical models.

Author(s): Patrick Enderle , Natalie King , Lauren Margulieux
Year: 2021

Increasing Engagement during Online Learning through the Use of Interactive Slides

The rapid and unexpected nature of the move to online instruction has meant that the content presented to students has been primarily static and linear. Thus, there is a need for creative pedagogical approaches that re-create some level of the laboratory experience. One economical and accessible approach to building an interactive lab experience is making web-based interactive slides. In the virtual spaces created by this approach, students can explore different modalities of content in a nonlinear and asynchronous manner.

Author(s): Nazzy Pakpour , Isabel Souto , Pamela Schaffer
Year: 2021

Eco-Solutioning: The Design and Evaluation of a Curricular Unit to Foster Students’ Creation of Solutions to Address Local Socio-Scientific Issues

The global pandemic and climate change have led to unprecedented environmental, social, and economic challenges with interdisciplinary STEM foundations. Even as STEM learning has never been more important, very few pre-college programs prepare students to address these challenges by emphasizing socio-scientific issue (SSI) problem solving and the engineering design of solutions to address local phenomena. The paper discusses the design and evaluation of a pre-college, SSI curricular unit where students expand their learning by creating solutions to increase biodiversity within local urban neighborhoods.

Author(s): Nancy Butler Songer , Guillermo D. Ibarrola Recalde
Year: 2021

Establishing Student Mathematical Thinking as an Object of Class Discussion

Productive use of student mathematical thinking is a critical yet incompletely understood dimension of effective teaching practice. We have previously conceptualized the teaching practice of building on student mathematical thinking and the four elements that comprise it. In this paper we begin to unpack this complex practice by looking closely at its first element, establish. Based on an analysis of secondary mathematics teachers’ enactments of building, we describe two critical aspects of establish—establish precision and establish an object—and the actions teachers take in association with these aspects.

Author(s): Keith R. Leatham , Laura R. Van Zoest , Ben Freeburn , Blake E. Peterson , Shari L. Stockero
Year: 2021

Investigating How Teachers' Formative Assessment Practices Change Across a Year

Teaching chemistry as a practice rather than as a mere collection of facts demands that teachers modify their practices, particularly their approach to formative assessment (FA). In this study, we investigated how teachers’ FA practices changed as a result of their participation in a professional development program designed with a Chemical Thinking perspective.

Author(s): Timothy N. Abell , Hannah Sevian
Year: 2021

Lessons From a Co-design Team on Supporting Student Motivation in Middle School Science Classrooms

Drawing from published literature, as well as the experiences of a co-design team of motivation and science education researchers and middle school science teachers, we address the landscape of decision points for designing and implementing professional learning focused on supporting middle school students’ motivation in science.

Author(s): Gwen C. Marchand , Jennifer A. Schmidt , Lisa Linnenbrink-Garcia , Christopher J. Harris , David McKinney , Pei Pei Liu
Year: 2021

Articulating a Transformative Approach for Designing Tasks that Measure Young Learners’ Developing Proficiencies in Integrated Science and Literacy

This paper introduces an approach for designing NGSS-aligned assessments that measure young learners’ science progress while also attending to the scientific language and literacy practices that are integral parts of the NGSS Performance Expectations.

Author(s): Alison K. Billman , Daisy Rutstein , Christopher J. Harris
Year: 2021

Simulations as a Platform for Understanding and Improving Teachers' Classroom Skills

This blog post looks at the role of simulations in teacher learning.

Author(s): Julie Cohen , Vivian Wong , Anandita Krishnamachari , Nathan Jones
Year: 2021

Challenges and Opportunities in Teaching and Learning Data Literacy through Art

Achieving data literacy is challenging when schools narrowly focus on statistical reasoning rather than on meaning- and inference-making. Without attention to the social contexts of data, learners can fail to develop a critical stance toward data, to understand the nature and production of data, the questions that it can answer, and the ways that data can be used to inform and misinform. We explore art as an accessible and personally relevant approach to developing middle school students’ data literacy.

Author(s): Camillia Matuk , Kayla Desportes , Anna Amato , Megan Silander , Ralph Vacca , Veena Vasudevan , Peter J. Woods
Year: 2021

Interlocking Models as Sites of Modeling Practice and Conceptual Innovation

The process of modeling a complex phenomenon often requires working across representational systems of differing scales, modalities, and purposes. When put into contact, entities across multiple representational systems can become related or “interlock.” This paper describes how students drew from multiple representational systems to construct “interlocking models” and how reasoning with interlocking models supported meaningful practice and conceptual innovation.

Author(s): Chris Georgen , Eve Manz
Year: 2021
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Middle Science Computing Integration with Preservice Teachers

We explored how preservice teachers in a middle school science methods course learned and applied computational thinking (CT) concepts and activities during a month-long
intervention.

Author(s): Lauren Margulieux , Aman Yadav
Year: 2021

Understanding Students' Sense-Making Processes When Faced with Unexpected Data: A Case Study in High School Biology

Examining a lesson in a high school biology unit that utilized noisy sensor data, we sought to understand the ways students engaged in active reasoning about the data and the factors that influenced this process. Video analysis centers on one small group of students as they learn to use sensors to collect data on osmosis, focusing particularly on their reactions to variation within and across experimental runs.

Author(s): Natalya St. Clair , Brandi Ediss , Lynn Stephens
Year: 2021

Exploring Variation in Ways of Thinking About and Acting to Control a Chemical Reaction

Chemical scientists and engineers are interested in controlling chemical processes to attain specific goals, from synthesizing a desired substance to hindering a particular transformation. Nevertheless, students typically have few opportunities to develop the understandings and practices that are required to effectively engage in chemical control. In this study, we investigated similarities and differences among individuals with different levels of expertise in chemistry in the ways they think about how to control and act to control a chemical reaction.

Author(s): Klaudja Caushi , Hannah Sevian , Vicente Talanquer
Year: 2021
Keywords: High, Chemistry

Beyond the Basics: A Detailed Conceptual Framework of Integrated STEM

This paper puts forth a detailed conceptual framework for K-12 integrated STEM education that can be used by researchers, educators, and curriculum developers as a common vision

Author(s): Gillian H. Roehrig , Emily A. Dare , Joshua A. Ellis , Elizabeth Ring-Whalen
Year: 2021

Students Learning About Science by Investigating an Unfolding Pandemic

We explored the COVID-19 pandemic as a context for learning about the role of science in a global health crisis. In spring 2020, at the beginning of the first pandemic-related lockdown, we worked with a high school teacher to design and implement a unit on human brain and behavior science. The unit guided her 17 students in creating studies that explored personally relevant questions about the pandemic to contribute to a citizen science platform.

Author(s): Camillia Matuk , Rebecca Martin , Veena Vasudevan , Kim Burgas , Kim Chaloner , Ido Davidesco , Sushmita Sadhukha , Yury Shevchenko , Engin Bumbacher , Suzanne Dikker
Year: 2021
Keywords: High, Curriculum, Science

Climate Crisis Learning through Scaffolded Instructional Tools

Socially relevant and controversial topics, such as the climate crisis, are subject to differences in the explanations that scientists and the public find plausible. Scaffolds can help students be evaluative of the validity of explanations based on evidence when addressing such topics and support knowledge gains. This study compared two scaffolds in which students weighed connections between lines of evidence and explanations for the topics of climate change and extreme weather events.

Author(s): Janelle M. Bailey , Sonia Jamani , Timothy G. Klavon , Joshua Jaffe , Svetha Mohan
Year: 2021

Museum Leadership for Engaging, Equitable Education: The Transformative Potential of Digitized Collections for Authentic Learning Experiences

Museums are local-to-global organizations operating in a digitized, distributed, and diverse 21st century world. Museums leaders face significant challenges in achieving broader relevance, meaningful engagement, and equitable outreach. This article examines the transformative potential of digitized collections to increase public engagement and enhance authentic educational efforts of museums, with specific emphasis on visual media as a key resource to achieve these outcomes.

Author(s): Kirsten R. Butcher , Mitchell J. Power , Madlyn Larson , Matthew P. Orr , Susana Velásquez-Franco , Michelle A. Hudson , Vanessa J. Bailey
Year: 2021
Keywords: Middle, Science

Making Sense of Sensemaking: Understanding How K–12 Teachers and Coaches React to Visual Analytics

With the spread of learning analytics (LA) dashboards in K-12 schools, educators are increasingly expected to make sense of data to inform instruction. However, numerous features of school settings, such as specialized vantage points of educators, may lead to different ways of looking at data. This observation motivates the need to carefully observe and account for the ways data sensemaking occurs, and how it may differ across K-12 professional roles. Our mixed-methods study reports on interviews and think-aloud sessions with middle-school mathematics teachers and instructional coaches from four districts in the United States.

Author(s): Fabio C. Campos , June Ahn , Daniela K. DiGiacomo , Ha Nguyen , Maria Hays
Year: 2021

Profiles of Elementary Teachers’ Use of Mathematics Curriculum Materials and the Influence of Teacher Expertise

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics has consistently emphasized the importance of curricular coherence in mathematics education. However, the predominance of the Internet has led to a lack of consistency in the use and quality of curricular materials. We drew on teachers’ self-report of their use of curriculum materials and conducted a Latent Class Analysis to examine patterns in 56 elementary teachers’ selection, use, and perceptions of materials for teaching mathematics, including the role that teacher expertise may play in these patterns.

Author(s): Christopher Engledowl , Corey Webel , Sheunghyun Yeo
Year: 2021

Competencies and Behaviors Observed When Students Solve Geometry Proof Problems: An Interview Study with Smartpen Technology

This peer-reviewed research journal publication addresses one of the grant goals with respect to how students performed on a set of proof tasks.

Author(s): Michelle Cirillo , Jenifer Hummer
Year: 2021

How Science Teachers DiALoG Classrooms: Towards a Practical and Responsive Formative Assessment of Oral Argumentation

This article presents lessons learned from an ongoing attempt to conceptualize, develop, and refine a way for teachers to gather formative assessment evidence about classroom argumentation as it happens.

Author(s): J. Bryan Henderson , Nicole Zillmer , April Holton , Steven Weiner , Eric Greenwald , Megan Goss , M. Lisette Lopez , Christina Morales , P. David Pearson , Katherine L. McNeill
Year: 2021

Impacts of Attending an Inclusive STEM High School: Meta-analytImpacts of Attending an Inclusive STEM High School: Meta-analytic Estimates from Five Studiesic Estimates from Five Studies

This study uses a meta-analytic approach to investigate the relationship between attending an inclusive STEM high school and a set of high school outcomes known to predict college entry and declaration of a STEM college major.

Author(s): Barbara Means , Haiwen Wang , Xin Wei , Viki Young , Emi Iwatani
Year: 2021

Investigating High School Chemistry Teachers’ Assessment Item Generation Processes for a Solubility Lab

Designing high school chemistry assessments is a complex and difficult task. Although prior studies about assessment have offered teachers guidelines and standards as support to generate quality assessment items, little is known about how teachers engage these supports or enact their own beliefs into practice while developing assessments. Presented in this paper are the results from analyzing discourse among five high school chemistry teachers during an assessment item generation activity, including assessment items produced throughout the activity

Author(s): Adam G. L. Schafer , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2021

Investigating How Assessment Design Guides High School Chemistry Teachers’ Interpretation of Student Responses to a Planned, Formative Assessment

This study seeks to better understand what teachers notice when interpreting assessment results and how the design of the assessment may influence teachers’ patterns of noticing. The study described herein investigates high school chemistry teachers’ interpretations of student responses to formative assessment items by identifying patterns in what teachers notice.

Author(s): Adam G. L. Schafer , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2021

It’s Virtually Possible: Rethinking Preservice Teachers’ Field Experiences in the Age of COVID-19 and Beyond

This chapter offers lessons learned by teacher educators who guided preservice teachers in the modification of hands-on engineering lessons for virtual implementation during the spring 2020 semester as part of an NSF-funded project.

Author(s): Kristie S. Gutierrez , Jennifer J. Kidd , Min Jung Lee
Year: 2021

Exploring Experienced Designers' Strategies in a CAD Learning Environment

This study explores design strategies used by experienced designers in Energy3D, a computer-aided design (CAD) simulation environment designed for learning settings, to provide insight into supporting students' use of CAD simulation environments in precollege settings.

Author(s): Anne M. McAlister , James P. Bywater , Jennifer L. Chiu
Year: 2021

Using Authentic Video Clips of Classroom Instruction to Capture Teachers’ Moment-to-Moment Perceiving as Knowledge-Filtered Noticing

This article reports on the development of a novel, video-based measure of teachers’ moment-to-moment noticing as knowledge-filtered perception.

Author(s): Nicole B. Kersting , James E. Smith , Beau Vezino
Year: 2021

Length Measurement in the Early Years: Teaching and Learning with Learning Trajectories

This study evaluated a portion of our learning trajectory, focusing on the instructional component. We found that the instruction was successful in promoting a progression from one level to the next for 40% of the children, with others developing positive new behaviors (but not sufficient to progress to a new level).

Author(s): Julie Sarama , Douglas H. Clements , Jeffrey E. Barrett , Craig J. Cullen , Aaron Hudyma , Yuly Vanegas
Year: 2021

Visualizing Chemistry Teachers’ Enacted Assessment Design Practices to Better Understand Barriers to “Best Practices”

In this paper, the relationship between high school chemistry teachers’ self-generated “best practices” for developing formative assessments and the assessments they implement in their courses are examined.

Author(s): Adam G. L. Schafer , Victoria M. Borlanda , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2021

Negotiations in Scientific Argumentation: An Interpersonal Analysis

Argumentation enables students to engage in real world scientific practices by rationalizing claims grounded in supporting evidence. Student engagement in scientific argumentation activates the negotiation process by which students develop and defend evidence-based claims. Little is known, however, on the intricate process and potential patterns of negotiation between students during scientific argumentation. The present study seeks to fill this gap by exploring how a group of university science education students negotiated when evaluating the relationship between lines of evidence and alternative explanatory models of a phenomena (i.e., climate change).

Author(s): Donna Governor , Doug Lombardi , Catie Duffield
Year: 2021

Students and Teachers Mobilizing Mathematical Concepts through Reciprocal Noticing

This article elaborates a theoretical, methodological, and analytical approach intended to highlight the materiality and reciprocity of noticing in mathematics classrooms.

Author(s): Higinio Dominguez
Year: 2021

Prospective K-8 Teachers’ Noticing of Student Justifications and Generalizations in the Context of Analyzing Written Artifacts and Video-Records

This paper contributes to current discussions about supporting prospective teachers (PSTs) in developing skills of noticing students’ mathematical thinking. The results document that without providing any intentional support for PSTs’ noticing skills, PSTs are more deliberate to focus on mathematically significant aspects of student thinking while analyzing written artifacts of student work compared to video-records.

Author(s): Marta T. Magiera , Vecihi S. Zambak
Year: 2021

Promoting Teacher Self-Efficacy for Supporting English Learners in Mathematics: Effects of the Visual Access to Mathematics Professional Development

The Visual Access to Mathematics (VAM) project developed and studied teacher professional development (PD) focused on linguistically-responsive teaching to facilitate ELs’ mathematical problem solving and discourse. This study examines whether VAM PD has a positive impact on teachers’ self-efficacy in supporting ELs in mathematics and how components of the PD may have influenced teacher outcomes.

Author(s): Jill Neumayer DePiper , Josephine Louie , Johannah Nikula , Pamela Buffington , Peter Tierney-Fife , Mark Driscoll
Year: 2021

Integrating a Statistical Topic Model and a Diagnostic Classification Model for Analyzing Items in a Mixed Format Assessment

Selected response items and constructed response (CR) items are often found in the same test. Conventional psychometric models for these two types of items typically focus on using the scores for correctness of the responses. Recent research suggests, however, that more information may be available from the CR items than just scores for correctness. In this study, we describe an approach in which a statistical topic model along with a diagnostic classification model (DCM) was applied to a mixed item format formative test of English and Language Arts.

Author(s): H.-J. Choi , Seohyun Kim , Allan S. Cohen , Jonathan Templin , Yasemin Copur-Gencturk
Year: 2021

Teaching Early Algebra through Example-based Problem Solving: Insights from Chinese and U.S. Elementary Classrooms

Drawing on rich classroom observations of educators teaching in China and the U.S., this book details an innovative and effective approach to teaching algebra at the elementary level, namely, "teaching through example-based problem solving" (TEPS).

Author(s): Meixia Ding
Year: 2021

Theory to Practice: Prospective Mathematics Teachers’ Recontextualizing Discourses Surrounding Collective Argumentation

Teacher education programs have a critical role in supporting prospective teachers’ connections between theory and practice. In this study, authors examined three prospective secondary mathematics teachers’ discourses regarding collective argumentation during and after a unit of instruction addressing collective argumentation and ways they recontextualized their on-campus coursework (theory) into their student teaching (practice) as demonstrated by their support for students’ mathematical arguments during student teaching.

Author(s): Carlos Nicolas Gomez Marchant , Hyejin Park , Yuling Zhuang , Jonathan K. Foster , AnnaMarie Conner
Year: 2021

Machine Learning-Enabled Automated Feedback: Supporting Students’ Revision of Scientific Arguments Based on Data Drawn from Simulation

This paper focuses on three simulation-based scientific argumentation tasks called Trap, Aquifer, and Supply. These tasks were part of an online science curriculum module addressing groundwater systems for secondary school students.

Author(s): Hee-Sun Lee , Gey-Hong Gweon , Trudi Lord , Noah Paessel , Amy Pallant , Sarah Pryputniewicz
Year: 2021

What You Find Depends on How You See: Examining Asset and Deficit Perspectives of Preservice Science Teachers’ Knowledge and Learning

This article explores how scholars have framed studies of preservice science teacher (PST) knowledge and learning over the past twelve years.

Author(s): Ron Gray , Scott McDonald , David Stroupe
Year: 2021

Influence of Features of Curriculum Materials on the Planned Curriculum

This study explored the verb clauses and thematic development evident in curriculum materials and in transcripts of teachers planning lessons using the materials.

Author(s): Jeffrey Choppin , Jon Davis , Amy Roth McDuffie , Corey Drake
Year: 2021

LLAMA Year 5 Technical Report

This is a technical report detailing the methods and findings for each of the research studies in the LLAMA project. 

Year: 2021

Understanding of the Properties of Operations: A Cross-Cultural Analysis

This study examines how sampled Chinese and U.S. third and fourth grade students (NChina=167,NUS=97) understand the commutative, associative, and distributive properties.

Author(s): Meixia Ding , Xiaobao Li , Ryan Hassler , Eli Barnett
Year: 2021

The Development of ePCK of Newly Hired In-field and Out-of-field Teachers during their First Three Years of Teaching

This study explored the potential impact of teaching outside of one’s field of expertise. This longitudinal cross-case study examined the development of enacted pedagogical content knowledge (ePCK) among a group of in-field and out-of-field (OOF) physical science teachers during their first 3 years of teaching.

Author(s): Harleen Singh , Julie A. Luft , Jessica B. Napier
Year: 2021

Prompting Collaborative and Exploratory Discourse: An Epistemic Network Analysis Study

This study used an easy-to-implement prompting intervention in the context of collaborative (pair) programming with upper elementary students to demonstrate the potential of Epistemic Network Analysis to understand the impact of the intervention.

Author(s): Jessica Vandenberg, Zarifa Zakaria, Jennifer Tsan, Anna Iwanski, Collin Lynch, Kristy Elizabeth Boyer, and Eric Wiebe
Year: 2021

Data Investigations to Further Social Justice Inside and Outside of STEM

This article focuses on discussion and preliminary findings from classroom testing of the prototype learning module: Investigating Income Inequality in the U.S.

Author(s): Josephine Louie , Jennifer Stiles , Emily Fagan , Soma Roy , Beth Chance
Year: 2021

“Teaching Them How to Fish”: Learning to Learn and Teach Responsively

The Responsive Math Teaching (RMT) project’s 3-year model for professional development introduces teachers to a new instructional model through a full year of monthly Math Circles, where they experience problem solving and productive struggle from the student perspective while working through challenging open-ended tasks, engaging in mathematical discussions, and reflecting on the process. This paper examines teachers’ views of what they learned from this experience and how it affected both their instructional practices and their visions of mathematics teaching and learning.

Author(s): Caroline B. Ebby , Brittany Hess , Lizzy Pecora , Jennifer Valerio
Year: 2021

The Quest for Sustainable Futures: Designing Transformative Learning Spaces with Multilingual Black, Brown, and Latinx Young People Through Critical Response-ability

In this paper we argue for the need to design and develop transformative learning ecologies that explicitly position the diverse voices of youth from nondominant communities as central to re-defining and re-envisioning relationally just, pluralistic, and sustainable futures. To this end, we seek to provide examples from participatory design-based learning ecologies to illustrate the centering of middle school youth voices and agencies from multilingual Black, Brown, and Latinx communities through critical response-ability.

Author(s): Shakhnoza Kayumova , Deborah J. Tippins
Year: 2021

Growing Garden-based Learning: Mapping Practical and Theoretical Work through Design

Echoing calls to expand environmental education research through design, this study explores the role of design in garden-based education and illustrate its contributions towards practical impact and theoretical insight.

Author(s): Steven J. Zuiker , Amanda K. Riske
Year: 2021

The Power of Interviewing Students

A teacher uses formative assessment interviews to uncover evidence of students’ understandings and to plan targeted instruction in a mathematics intervention class. Authors present an example of a student interview, a discussion of the benefits and challenges of conducting interviews, and actionable suggestions for implementing them.

Author(s): Theresa J. MacVicar , Amy R. Brodesky , Emily R. Fagan
Year: 2021

Strengthen Mathematics Intervention to Promote Student Success: Suggestions for middle level principals

This article offers six suggestions for middle school principals to implement or strengthen mathematics intervention classes at their schools, based off the findings of the authors' NSF-funded research.

Author(s): Amy Brodesky , Emily Fagan
Year: 2021
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Building Argumentation Skills in the Biology Classroom: An Evolution Unit that Develops Students’ Capacity to Construct Arguments from Evidence

Describes a scaffolded claims-evidence-reasoning (CER) argumentation framework that is embedded within a new eight-week, freely available curriculum unit developed by the Genetic Science Learning Center – Evolution: DNA and the Unity.

Author(s): Sheila A. Homburger , Dina Drits-Esser , Molly Malone , Louisa A. Stark
Year: 2021
Keywords: High, Curriculum, Science

Gathering Response Process Data for a Problem-Solving Measure through Whole-Class Think Alouds

This is a description of a new methodological tool to gather response process validity evidence. The context is scholarship within mathematics education contexts.

Author(s): Jonathan David Bostic , Toni A. Sondergeld , Gabriel Matney , Gregory Stone , Tiara Hicks
Year: 2021

“Well That's How the Kids Feel!”—Epistemic Empathy as a Driver of Responsive Teaching

In this article, the authors present evidence from teachers' reflections that this stability was supported by the teachers' intellectual and emotional experiences as learners. Specifically, they argue that engaging in extended scientific inquiry provided a basis for the teachers having epistemic empathy for their students—their tuning into and appreciating their students' intellectual and emotional experiences in science, which in turn supported teachers' responsiveness in the classroom.

Author(s): Lama Z. Jaber , Vesal Dini , David Hammer
Year: 2021

Networking Frameworks: A Method for Analyzing the Complexities of Classroom Cultures Focusing on Justifying

In this paper, authors network five frameworks (cognitive demand, lesson cohesion, cognitive engagement, collective argumentation, and student contribution) for an analytic approach that allows us to present a more holistic picture of classrooms which engage students in justifying.

Author(s): Eva Thanheiser , Kathleen Melhuish , Amanda Sugimoto , Brenda Rosencrans , Ruth Heaton
Year: 2021

Backward Transfer Influences from Quadratic Functions Instruction on Students’ Prior Ways of Covariational Reasoning about Linear Functions

The study reported in this article examined the ways in which new mathematics learning influences students’ prior ways of reasoning. Authors conceptualize this kind of influence as a form of transfer of learning called backward transfer. The focus of the study was on students’ covariational reasoning about linear functions before and after they participated in a multi-lesson instructional unit on quadratic functions.

Author(s): Charles Hohensee , Sara Gartland , Laura Willoughby , Matthew Melville
Year: 2021

Taking STEM Enrichment Camps Virtual: Strategies & Reflections from Quick Pivot Due to COVID-19

This exploratory study aimed to (1) identify the  barriers to moving STEM enrichment programming in a rural environment from in-person to virtual activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) describe key decisions that were made in transitioning to the virtual format along with the rationale behind those decisions, and (3) disseminate best practices that emerged from the inaugural effort.

Author(s): Rebecca Zulli Lowe , Adrienne Smith , Christie Prout , G. G. Maresch , Christopher Bacot , Lura Sapp , Bill Eustace
Year: 2021

Learning to Lead: An Approach to Mathematics Teacher Leader Development

This paper describes a partnership between a university and an urban school district, formed with a goal of preparing mathematics teacher leaders to conduct professional development (PD) at their schools.

Author(s): Hilda Borko , Janet Carlson , Rebecca Deutscher , Kelly L. Boles , Victoria Delaney , Alissa Fong , Michael Jarry-Shore , James Malamut , Susan Million , Suki Mozenter , Anthony Muro Villa
Year: 2021

Think Alouds: Informing Scholarship and Broadening Partnerships through Assessment

Introduction to special issue focusing on think alouds and response process evidence. This work cuts across STEM education scholarship and introduces readers to robust means to engage in think alouds.

Author(s): Jonathan David Bostic
Year: 2021

A Framework of Construct-Irrelevant Variance for Contextualized Constructed Response Assessment

Estimating and monitoring the construct-irrelevant variance (CIV) is of significant importance to validity, especially for constructed response assessments with rich contextualized information. To examine CIV in contextualized constructed response assessments, we developed a framework including a model accounting for CIV and a measurement that could differentiate the CIV.

Author(s): Xiaoming Zhai , Kevin C. Haudek , Christopher Wilson , Molly Stuhlsatz
Year: 2021

Disciplinary Literacy in STEM: A Functional Approach

This study explores disciplinary literacy instruction integrated within an elementary engineering unit in an urban classroom.

Author(s): Patricia Paugh , Kristen Wendell
Year: 2021

Collaboratively Engineering for Justice in Sixth Grade STEM

In this article, it is argued that processes of co-production can support teachers and students in organizing resources for justice through science learning. Drawing upon a critical justice conceptual framework, critical ethnographic data from one urban middle school classroom during a unit focused on engineering for sustainable communities were analyzed.

Author(s): Angela Calabrese Barton , Kathleen Schenkel , Edna Tan
Year: 2021

On the Alignment of Teachers’ Mathematical Content Knowledge Assessments with the Common Core State Standards

This article provides content maps for two widely used teacher assessment instruments in the USA relative to the widely adopted Common Core State Standards. This common reference enables comparisons of content alignment both between the instruments and between parallel forms within each instrument.

Author(s): Yasemin Copur-Gencturk , Erik Jacobson , Richard Rasiej
Year: 2021

Insight from DRK-12 CAREER Awardees

This resource contains advice from CAREER awardees in the DRK-12 portfolio about how to develop a competitive proposal and successfully manage a CAREER project based on their experience.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2021

Longitudinal Clustering of Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Behaviors in Engineering Design

It is vital to develop an understanding of students' self-regulatory processes in the domains of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) for the quality delivery of STEM education. However, most studies have followed a variable-centered approach, leaving open the question of how specific SRL (Self-regulated Learning) behaviors group within individual learners. Furthermore, little is known about how students' SRL profiles unfold over time in STEM education, specifically in the context of engineering design. In this study, we examined the change of students’ SRL profiles over time as 108 middle school students designed green buildings in a simulation-based computer-aided design (CAD) environment

Author(s): Shan Li , Guanhua Chen , Wanli Xing , Juan Zheng , Charles Xie
Year: 2020

Conceptual Profile of Substance: Representing Heterogeneity of Thinking in Chemistry Classrooms

Teachers face challenges when building the concept of substance with students because tensions of meanings emerge from students’ daily life and canonical ideas developed in classrooms. A powerful tool to address learning, pedagogical, and research challenges is the conceptual profile theory. According to this theory, people employ various ways of conceptualizing the world to signify experiences. Conceptual profiles are models of the heterogeneity of modes of thinking and speaking about a given scientific concept which are used in a variety of contexts. To better understand the heterogeneity of thinking/speaking about substance, the present study aimed to answer: (1) What are the zones that constitute the conceptual profile of substance?; and (2) What ways of thinking and speaking about substance do teachers and students exhibit when engaged in a classroom formative assessment activity?

Author(s): Raúl Orduña Picón , Hannah Sevian , Eduardo F. Mortimer 
Year: 2020

Perspectives on Algebra I Tutoring Experiences With Students With Learning Disabilities

The researchers conducted a qualitative analysis of the perceptions of school personnel and pre-service teachers about an Algebra I tutoring program for students with learning disabilities. The researchers surveyed and interviewed the participants about the effectiveness of the program for the mathematics learning of the students with LD at the school and as a learning experience for the pre-service teachers.

Author(s): Casey Hord , Anna F. DeJarnette
Year: 2020

The Origins build-a-MEL: Introducing a Scaffold to Explore the Origins of the Universe

The origin of the Universe is something that people have pondered for thousands of years. As evidence has mounted, the Big Bang theory has become the consensus scientific model. Much of this same evidence refutes opposing theories such as the earlier Steady State model. The NGSS for high school includes the nature of and evidence for the Big Bang, providing a rich opportunity to explore—with the help of a scaffold—the connections between evidence and competing models about the origins of the Universe.

Author(s): Janelle M. Bailey , Timothy G. Klavon , Archana Dobaria
Year: 2020
Keywords: High, Earth Science

Accessible Physics for All

This article describes the experience of using the InquirySpace software in a classroom that practices full inclusion for ninth grade physics.

Author(s): Sarah Haavind , Michelle Murtha
Year: 2020

Teaching Earth and Environmental Science using Model-Evidence Link Diagrams

High-quality science education is essential for students to become scientifically literate. Model-Evidence Link (MEL) diagrams and build-a-MEL (baMEL) diagrams are instructional scaffolds that create an opportunity for students to build scientific understanding through the evaluation of the connections between evidence and alternative explanations of a scientific phenomenon. The MELs and baMELs allow for a natural incorporation of three-dimensional learning that has been recommended by the Next Generation Science Standards to enhance students’ comprehension. Through this science teaching methodology, students are able to see that by diagramming and then writing about one’s thoughts about the connections between evidence and explanations, one can deepen their understanding of scientific concepts.

Author(s): Erin Colfax , Ananya M. Matewos , Janelle M. Bailey
Year: 2020

Teachers’ Noticing, Interpreting, and Acting on Students’ Chemical Ideas in Written Work

Formative assessment is an important component of teaching as it enables teachers to foster student learning by uncovering, interpreting, and advancing student thinking. In this work, we sought to characterize how experienced chemistry teachers notice and interpret student thinking shown in written work, and how they respond to what they learn about it.

Author(s): Stephanie A. Murray , Robert Huie , Rebecca Lewis , Scott Balicki , Michael Clinchot , Gregory Banks , Vicente Talanquer , Hannah Sevian
Year: 2020

Analyzing Chemistry Teachers’ Formative Assessment Practices Using Formative Assessment Portfolio Chapters

The effective use of formative assessment (FA) has been demonstrated to confer positive impacts on student learning. To understand why and how FA works, it is necessary to characterize teachers’ FA practices, but because both teaching practice and learning depend on the nature of the discipline, there are disciplinary aspects to examining this. This study aimed to develop an analysis of chemistry teachers’ FA practices through the lens of the chemical thinking framework.

Author(s): Timothy N. Abell , Hannah Sevian
Year: 2020

Shifting Plates, Shifting Minds: Plate Tectonics Models Designed for Classrooms

This article introduces a new online curriculum module called “What will Earth look like in 500 million years?” Using two web-based tools, middle and high school students develop understandings of (1) how collective movements associated with a system of plates create the current distribution of landforms found on Earth’s surface, and (2) how earthquakes and volcanoes provide important clues for interactions at plate boundaries.

Author(s): Amy Pallant , Scott McDonald , Hee-Sun Lee
Year: 2020

Using Climate Models to Learn About Global Climate Change

This article focuses on investigating the phenomenon of increasing surface air temperatures using a global climate modeling approach.

Author(s): Devarati Bhattacharya , Kimberly Carroll Steward , Mark Chandler , Cory Forbes
Year: 2020

Empirical Recovery of Learning Progressions Through the Lens of Educators

In this manuscript, we propose that educators’ perspectives may serve as an independent source of evidence that can be integrated with traditional evidence sources (e.g., cognitive interviews with students, psychometric data). This manuscript describes two studies that used surveys to draw on educator knowledge of students to identify upper and lower bounds of a learning progression (MMaRS study) and to understand the order of intermediary phases of learning (ESTAR study).

Author(s): Leanne R. Ketterlin-Geller , Yetunde Zannou , Anthony Sparks , Lindsey Perry
Year: 2020

Examining Temporal Dynamics of Self-Regulated Learning Behaviors in STEM Learning: A Network Approach

From a network perspective, self-regulated learning (SRL) can be conceptualized as networks of mutually interacting self-regulatory learning behaviors. Nevertheless, the research on how SRL behaviors dynamically interact over time in a network architecture is still in its infancy, especially in the context of STEM (sciences, technology, engineering, and math) learning. In the present paper, we used a multilevel vector autoregression (VAR) model to examine the temporal dynamics of SRL behaviors as 101 students designed green buildings in Energy3D, a simulation-based computer-aided design (CAD) environment.

Author(s): Shan Li , Hanxiang Du , Wanli Xing , Juan Zheng , Guanhua Chen , Charles Xie
Year: 2020

Eliminating counterexamples: An intervention for improving adolescents’ contrapositive reasoning

Students’ difficulties with contrapositive reasoning are well documented. Lack of intuition about contrapositive reasoning and lack of a meta-argument for the logical equivalence between a conditional claim and its contrapositive may contribute to students’ struggles. This case study investigated the effectiveness of the eliminating counterexamples intervention in improving students’ ability to construct, critique, and validate contrapositive arguments in a U.S. eighth-grade mathematics classroom. The intervention involved constructing descriptions of all possible counterexamples to a conditional claim and its contrapositive, comparing the two descriptions, noting that the descriptions are the same barring the order of phrases, and finding a counterexample to show the claim is false or viably arguing that no counterexample exists.

Author(s): David Yopp
Year: 2020

In the Classrooms of Newly Hired Secondary Science Teachers: The Consequences of Teaching In-field or Out-of-field

Science teachers must sometimes teach outside of their expertise, and this type of teaching assignment is referred to as being out-of-field. Among newly hired teachers, this type of assignment may have a detrimental impact in the development of their instruction. This study explored the classroom instruction of 17 newly hired teachers who were teaching both in-field and out-of-field in the physical sciences during their first three years.

Author(s): Jessica B. Napier , Julie A. Luft , Harleen Singh
Year: 2020

Constructing Goals for Student Learning through Conversation

Learning goals differ from performance goals. This article elaborates on their function and importance as the guiding force behind maintaining cognitive rigor during mathematics learning.

Author(s): Jessica Hunt , Mary Kay Stein
Year: 2020

Eliminating counterexamples: A case study intervention for improving adolescents’ ability to critique direct arguments

Students’ difficulties with argumentation, proving, and the role of counterexamples in proving are well documented. Students in this study experienced an intervention for improving their argumentation and proving practices. The intervention included the eliminating counterexamples (ECE) framework as a means of constructing and critiquing viable arguments for a general claim. This framework involves constructing descriptions of all possible counterexamples to a conditional claim and determining whether or not a direct argument eliminates the possibility of counterexamples. This case study investigates U.S. eighth-grade (age 13) mathematics students’ conceptions about the validity of a direct argument after the students received instruction on the ECE framework. We describe student activities in response to the intervention, and we identify students’ conceptions that are inconsistent with canonical notions of mathematical proving and appear to be barriers to using the ECE framework.

Author(s): Carolyn Maher
Year: 2020

Controlled Implementations: Teaching Practice to Practicing Mathematics Teachers

In this chapter, authors use the Framework for Teaching Practice (Grossman, et al., 2009) as a conceptual tool for analzying the design of professional development.

Author(s): Paola Sztajn , Lara Dick , Reema Alnizami , Dan Heck , Kristen Malzahn
Year: 2020

Computational Participation and the Learner‐Technology Pairing in K‐12 STEM Education

This paper explores the theoretical connection between STEM and emergent technologies, with a focus on learner behaviors and the potential of technology-mediated experiences with computational participation (CP) in shaping STEM learning.

Author(s): Ramya Sivaraj , Joshua A. Ellis , Jeanna R. Wieselmann , Gillian H. Roehrig
Year: 2020

Domain appropriateness and skepticism in viable argumentation

Several recent studies have focused on helping students understand the limitations of empirical arguments (e.g., Stylianides, G. J. & Stylianides, A. J., 2009, Brown, 2014). One view is that students use empirical argumentation because they hold empirical proof schemes—they are convinced a general claim is true by checking a few cases (Harel & Sowder, 1998). Some researchers have sought to unseat students’ empirical proof schemes by developing students’ skepticism, their uncertainty about the truth of a general claim in the face of confirming (but not exhaustive) evidence (e.g., Brown, 2014; Stylianides, G. J. & Stylianides, A. J., 2009). With sufficient skepticism, students would seek more secure, non-empirical arguments to convince themselves that a general claim is true. We take a different perspective, seeking to develop students’ awareness of domain appropriateness (DA), whether the argument type is appropriate to the domain of the claim. In particular, DA entails understanding that an empirical check of a proper subset of cases in a claim’s domain does not (i) guarantee the claim is true and does not (ii) provide an argument that is acceptable in the mathematical or classroom community, although checking all cases does both (i) and (ii). DA is distinct from skepticism; it is not concerned with students’ confidence about the truth of a general claim. We studied how ten 8th graders developed DA through classroom experiences that were part of a broader project focused on developing viable argumentation. 

Year: 2020

How Facilitating K–12 Professional Development Shapes Science Faculty's Instructional Change

This qualitative study examines the processes by which science faculty reshape their pedagogical practices through facilitating professional development for K–12 teachers, and how individual characteristics, social interactions, and organizational contexts influence their choices.

Author(s): Kathryn N. Hayes , Caron Inouye , Christine L. Bae , Brit Toven‐Lindsey
Year: 2020

“Zooming In” on Robotics during COVID-19: A Preservice Teacher, an Engineering Student, and a 5th Grader Engineer Robotic Flowers via Zoom

An NSF-funded program partnering preservice teachers and undergraduate engineering students to teach robotics to fifth graders was adapted to a virtual format via Zoom. A case study intimately explored one team’s experience as they engineered bio-inspired robots over five weekly sessions.

Author(s): Jennifer Kidd , Krishna Kaipa , Kristie Gutierrez , Pilar Pazos , Orlando Ayala , Stacie Ringleb
Year: 2020

Decomposing Practice in Teacher Professional Development: Examining Sequences of Learning Activities

In this paper, authors analyze a PD design, examining its activities and the sequencing of professional learning tasks.

Author(s): Paola Sztajn , Daniel J. Heck , Kristen A. Malzahn , Lara K. Dick
Year: 2020

Toward a Productive Definition of Technology in Science and STEM Education

This theoretical paper summarizes of technology initiatives across science and STEM education from the past 30 years to present perspectives on the role of technology in science-focused STEM education.

Author(s): Joshua Ellis , Jeanna Wieselmann , Ramya Sivaraj , Gillian Roehrig , Emily Dare , Elizabeth Ring-Whalen
Year: 2020

Conceptions and Consequences of Mathematical Argumentation, Justification, and Proof

This book aims to advance ongoing debates in the field of mathematics and mathematics education regarding conceptions of argumentation, justification, and proof and the consequences for research and practice when applying particular conceptions of each construct. Through analyses of classroom practice across grade levels using different lenses - particular conceptions of argumentation, justification, and proof - researchers consider the implications of how each conception shapes empirical outcomes. In each section, organized by grade band, authors adopt particular conceptions of argumentation, justification, and proof, and they analyse one data set from each perspective. In addition, each section includes a synthesis chapter from an expert in the field to bring to the fore potential implications, as well as new questions, raised by the analyses. Finally, a culminating section considers the use of each conception across grade bands and data sets.

Author(s): Kristen N. Bieda, AnnaMarie Conner, Karl W. Kosko, Megan Staples , AnnaMarie Conner , Karl W. Kosko , Megan Staples
Year: 2020

Articulating the Student Mathematics in Student Contributions

We draw on our experiences researching teachers’ use of student thinking to theoretically unpack the work of attending to student contributions in order to articulate the student mathematics (SM) of those contribution.

Author(s): Laura R. Van Zoest , Shari L. Stockero , Keith R. Leatham , Blake E. Peterson , Joshua M. Ruk
Year: 2020

Effect and Influence of Ambisonic Audio in Viewing 360 Video

Research has provided evidence of the value of producing multiple representationsof content for learners (e.g., verbal, visual, etc.). However, much of the research has acknowledged changes in visual technologies while not recognizing or utilizing related audio innovations. The purpose of this study was to respond to this gap by comparing the outcomes of watching 360 video with either monophonic or ambisonic audio.

Author(s): Richard E. Ferdig , Karl W. Kosko , Enrico Gandolfi
Year: 2020

Clarifiable Ambiguity in Classroom Mathematics Discourse

Ambiguity is a natural part of communication in a mathematics classroom. In this paper, a particular subset of ambiguity is characterized as clarifiable. Clarifiable ambiguity in classroom mathematics discourse is common, frequently goes unaddressed, and unnecessarily hinders in-the-moment communication because it likely could be made more clear in a relatively straightforward way if it were attended to. We argue for deliberate attention to clarifiable ambiguity as a critical aspect of attending to meaning and as a necessary precursor to productive use of student mathematical thinking.

Author(s): Blake E. Peterson , Keith R. Leatham , Lindsay M. Merrill , Laura R. Van Zoest , Shari L. Stockero
Year: 2020

Developing Transmedia Engineering Curricula Using Cognitive Tools to Impact Learning and the Development of STEM Identity

This paper examines the use of Imaginative Education (IE) to create an NGSS-aligned middle school engineering curriculum that supports transfer and the development of STEM identity.

Author(s): Glenn W. Ellis , Jeremiah Pina , Rebecca Mazur , Al Rudnitsky , Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh , Isabel Huff , Sonia Ellis , Crystal M. Ford , Kate Lytton , Kaia Claire Cormier
Year: 2020

LEAP: Learning through an Early Algebra Progression

Designed to be integrated with any curriculum, each grade level includes 18-20 one-hour lessons to be conducted throughout the school year. Each LEAP lesson lasts about an hour is designed to fit within a typical daily math instructional period.

Author(s): Maria Blanton , Angela Murphy Gardiner , Ana Stephens , Eric Knuth
Year: 2020

Teachers' Responses to Instances of Student Mathematical Thinking with Varied Potential to Support Student Learning

This study investigated teachers’ responses to a common set of instances of student mathematical thinking (SMT) with varied potential to support students’ mathematical learning, as well as the productivity of such responses.

Author(s): Shari L. Stockero , Laura R. Van Zoest , Ben Freeburn , Blake E. Peterson , Keith R. Leatham
Year: 2020

Cognitive Instructional Principles in Elementary Mathematics Classrooms: A Case of Teaching Inverse Relations

This study examines how three cognitive instructional principles including worked examples, representations, and deep questions are used in eight experienced elementary teachers’ early algebra lessons in the U.S.

Author(s): Meixia Ding , Ryan Hassler , Xiaobao Li
Year: 2020

Preparing Science Teachers Through Practice-Based Teacher Education

This comprehensive volume advances a vision of teacher preparation programs focused on core practices supporting ambitious science instruction. The book advocates for collaborative learning and building a community of teacher educators that can collectively share and refine strategies, tools, and practices. 

Author(s): David Stroupe , Karen Hammerness , Scott McDonald
Year: 2020

Teaching Science in Rural Elementary Schools: Affordances and Constraints in the Age of NGSS

Providing science instruction is an ongoing priority and challenge in elementary grades, especially in high-need rural schools. Nonetheless, few studies have investigated the factors that facilitate or limit teachers’ science instruction in these settings, particularly since the introduction of the Next Generation Science Standards. In this study we investigated affordances and constraints to elementary science instruction in high-need rural schools.

Author(s): Doron Zinger , Judith Haymore Sandholtz , Cathy Ringstaff
Year: 2020

Teachers Collaborating in Communities of Mathematics Immersion

The Mathematics Immersion for Secondary Teachers at Scale program engages sets of teachers in local school sites, connected synchronously and asynchronously to colleagues in other sites, in doing mathematics designed to promote experiences of mathematical immersion, community, and connection to the work of teaching. This study of two groups of sites over one year examines fidelity to the program as a model for systematically providing these opportunities, and the extent to which teacher participants experienced immersion, community, and connection in their collaborative work with the course facilitator and their local and distant colleagues.

Author(s): Daniel J. Heck , Pippa Hoover , Evelyn M. Gordon , Matthew McLeod
Year: 2020

Out-of-Field Teaching in Science

Special issue of the Journal of Science Teacher Education focused on out-of-field teaching in science.

Author(s): Julie A. Luft , Linda Hobbs , Deborah Hanuscin
Year: 2020

Design, Development, and Initial Testing of Asset-Based Intervention Grounded in Trajectories of Student Fraction Learning

One of the most relentless areas of difficulty in mathematics for children with learning disabilities (LDs) and difficulties is fractions. This article reports the development and initial testing of an intervention designed to increase access to and advancement in conceptual understanding.

Author(s): Jessica H. Hunt , Kristi Martin , Andy Khounmeuang , Juanita Silva , Blain Patterson , Jasmine Welch-Ptak
Year: 2020

Preparing Paraeducators for the Teacher Pipeline: Building Confidence Through Professional Development in Mathematics

The article describes our project that was designed to provide experiences to support paraeducators' professional growth in a large urban district by building their mathematical knowledge for teaching and leadership. Providing paras with professional learning opportunities can open pathways to teaching positions, giving them the potential to diversify the teaching pool and address teacher shortages.

Author(s): Judy Storeygard , Karen Mutch-Jones
Year: 2020

Design Considerations in Multisite Randomized Trials Probing Moderated Treatment Effects Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics

The purpose of this study is to develop a statistical framework and tools for the effective and efficient design of multisite randomized trials (MRTs) probing moderated treatment effects.

Author(s): Nianbo Dong , Benjamin Kelcey , Jessaca Spybrook
Year: 2020

Addressing the Problem of Always Starting Over: Identifying, Valuing, and Sharing Professional Knowledge for Teaching

Authors discuss the possibilities of retaining and sharing professional knowledge as a way of addressing the problem of always starting over.

Author(s): Jinfa Cai , Anne Morris , Charles Hohensee , Stephen Hwang , Victoria Robison , Michelle Cirillo , Steven L. Kramer , James Hiebert , Arthur Bakker
Year: 2020

Shifts in Elementary Teachers' Pedagogical Reasoning: Studying Teacher Learning in an Online Graduate Program in Engineering Education

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine elementary teachers' pedagogical reasoning in an online graduate program. Authors asked: What stances do teachers take toward learning and teaching engineering design? How do these stances shift over the course of the program?

Author(s): Jessica Watkins , Merredith Portsmore , Rebecca D. Swanson
Year: 2020

Synchronous Online Model for Mathematics Teachers' Professional Development

In this chapter, the authors present the design rationale for and empirical results from a predominantly synchronous three-part online model for the professional development of mathematics teachers in rural contexts.

Author(s): Jeffrey Choppin , Julie M. Amador , Cynthia Callard , Cynthia Carson , Ryan Gillespie
Year: 2020

The Impact of High School Life Science Teachers’ Subject Matter Knowledge and Knowledge of Student Misconceptions on Students’ Learning

This article investigates whether teachers’ subject matter knowledge (SMK) and knowledge of students’ misconceptions (KOSM) in high school life science are associated with students’ posttest performance on multiple-choice test items designed to reveal student misconceptions.

Author(s): Chen Chen , Gerhard Sonnert , Philip M. Sadler , Susan Sunbury
Year: 2020

Exploring Prospective Teachers’ Ability to Generate and Analyze Evidence-based Explanatory Arguments

In this paper, using written responses of 37 PSTs preparing to teach grades 1-8 mathematics, authors examined explanations they constructed to support their problem solutions and explanations they provided in support of their critiques of student-generated explanations.

Author(s): Marta T. Magiera , Vecihi S. Zambak
Year: 2020

Characterizing the Formative Assessment Enactment of Experienced Science Teachers

In this article, authors examined classroom videos of nine experienced teachers of elementary, middle, and high school science, aiming to create a model of FA enactment that is useful to teachers.

Author(s): Vesal Dini , Hannah Sevian , Klaudja Caushi , Raúl Orduña Picón
Year: 2020

Engineering Mindsets and Learning Outcomes in Elementary School

This article describes the general and engineering mindsets of students in fifth‐grade U.S. classrooms (ages 10 and 11) who received engineering instruction. It explores how general mindsets may predict engineering learning outcomes and how engineering mindsets may be predicted by general mindset and other variables.

Author(s): Pamela S. Lottero‐Perdue , Cathy P. Lachapelle
Year: 2020

Maximizing the Quality of Learning Opportunities for Every Student

In this editorial, authors discuss the first of the five overarching problems: defining and measuring learning opportunities precisely enough to study how to maximize the quality of the opportunities experienced by every student.

Author(s): Jinfa Cai , Anne Morris , Charles Hohensee , Stephen Hwang , Victoria Robison , Michelle Cirillo , Steven L. Kramer , James Hiebert , Arthur Bakker
Year: 2020

Rethinking the Classroom Science Investigation

In this article, authors propose a framework that centers the investigation as a key locus for constructing alignments among phenomena, data, and explanatory models and makes visible the work that scientists engage in as they develop and stabilize alignments.

Author(s): Eve Manz , Richard Lehrer , Leona Schauble
Year: 2020
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Tiering Instruction for Middle School Students

In this article, we describe an example of differentiating instruction (DI) involving middle school students from a five-year project funded by the National Science Foundation.

Author(s): Amy J. Hackenberg , Robin Jones , Rebecca Borowski
Year: 2020

Productive Thinking and Science Learning in Design Teams

In this study, authors examined middle-school students’ naturally occurring design conversations in small design teams and their learning of science as a result of engaging in an engineering and science unit.

Author(s): S. Selcen Guzey , Ji Yoon Jung
Year: 2020

Encouraging Collaboration and Building Community in Online Asynchronous Professional Development: Designing for Social Capital

This study explores how a design combining social capital mechanisms with essential teacher learning and PD characteristics supported teachers’ abilities to participate in the online course and collaboratively build knowledge.

Author(s): Susan A. Yoon , Katherine Miller , Thomas Richman , Daniel Wendel , Ilana Schoenfeld , Emma Anderson , Jooeun Shim
Year: 2020

Teacher Voices from an Online Elementary Mathematics Community: Examining Perceptions of Professional Learning

This study compares web usage data with interviews from 41 participants, who are members of an online professional development site called the Everyday Mathematics Virtual Learning Community (VLC), to explore how elementary school teachers learn from classroom video.

Author(s): Shereen Oca Beilstein , Genevieve M. Henricks , Victoria Jay , Michelle Perry , Meg Schleppenbach Bates , Cheryl G. Moran , Joseph Robinson Cimpian
Year: 2020

Exploring Differences in Practicing Teachers’ Knowledge Use in a Dynamic and Static Proportional Task

This exploratory study investigated 32 teachers’ use of knowledge resources in two mathematically similar tasks (one a paper and pencil task, the other a dynamic task) around proportional reasoning.

Author(s): Rachael Eriksen Brown , Chandra Hawley Orrill , Jinsook Park
Year: 2020

Next Generation Sheltered Instruction to Support English Learners in Secondary Science Classrooms

Using findings from a 4‐year research and development effort, we propose an updated model of sheltered instruction for science classrooms that leverages the opportunities provided by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to better support multilingual learners in middle and high school science.

Author(s): Cory Buxton , Linda Caswell
Year: 2020

Science Strategy Interventions

Strategies and strategic processing within science education are designed to help students learn not only what scientists have come to understand about the world but also how they learn it. Although many domain-general strategies can be implemented in science classrooms, some strategies are either specific to science or are encouraged within science. Historically, concept development and conceptual change approaches and empirical investigations dominated science’s strategies and strategic processing. More recently, argumentation, science as modeling, and the incorporation of socio-scientific topics dominate the strategies and strategic processing within science teaching and learning. Challenges to more widespread use of these approaches include lack of teacher experience and pedagogical knowledge around the strategies, as well as time and curricular limitations. Teacher education and professional development programs should seek to explicitly implement contemporary science strategy interventions to improve upon their use in K-12 classrooms and other learning environments. Doing so effectively will require well-researched and validated instructional scaffolds to facilitate the teaching and use of contemporary science learning strategies. This paper was prepared for the 2020 AERA Annual Meeting.

Author(s): Doug Lombardi , Janelle Bailey
Year: 2020

“You are Never too Little to Understand Your Culture”: Strengthening Early Childhood Teachers through the Diné Institute for Navajo Nation Educators

This article describes one effort to strengthen early childhood teaching in schools on the Navajo Nation that centers the work of two teachers within a program attempting to support teachers in the development of academically rigorous, culturally responsive curriculum across the Navajo Nation.

Author(s): Angelina E. Castagno , Tiffany Tracy , Desiree Denny , Breanna Davis , Hosava Kretzmann
Year: 2020

Teachers’ Abilities to Make Sense of Variable Parts Reasoning

The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers understand one specific aspect of proportional reasoning - the extent to which practicing teachers were able to make sense of reasoning that involved the fixed number of variable-sized parts perspective.

Author(s): Chandra Hawley Orrill , John E. Millett
Year: 2020

An Emerging Community in Online Mathematics Teacher Professional Development: An Interactional Perspective

The purpose of this study was to better understand the process by which a community emerges in such a PD setting by examining how the cohesiveness of 21 mathematics teachers’ social network evolves and associated shifts in the quality of mathematics teachers’ mathematical discourse.

Author(s): Anthony Matranga , Jason Silverman
Year: 2020

Critical Science Agency and Power Hierarchies: Restructuring Power within Groups to Address Injustice Beyond Them

Drawing upon a social practice theory analytical lens with a focus on power and using critical participatory ethnography methods, this study investigated the ways middle school students restructured power hierarchies as they worked to complete the design challenge of making their classroom community more sustainable, and how power hierarchy restructuring impacted students' opportunities to enact critical science agency (CSA).

Author(s): Kathleen Schenkel , Angela Calabrese Barton
Year: 2020

From Science Student to Conceptual Agent: Examining the Individual Shifts in Engagement During Scaffolded Instruction

In this paper we describe a qualitative study in which we examine individual student engagement during implementation of an instructional scaffold for critical evaluation of scientific models during Earth and space science lessons. We coded dialogic interactions of one student group in a sixth grade science classroom across three observations, wherein we analyzed the trajectory of engagement for a single student - Ray (a pseudonym), within the co-constructed learning of the group. The first of these observations involved implementation of a preconstructed scaffold, called the Model-Evidence Link (MEL) diagram, on the topic of hydraulic fracturing (fracking). With the MEL, students use evidence to compare a scientific model to an alternative model. In the second two observations, students used a more agentic variation of the activity called the build-a-MEL, to study the topics of fossils and freshwater resources respectively. After three observations, we transcribed and coded each interaction of students in the group. We then categorized and identified emerging patterns of Ray’s discourse and interactions with group members by using both a priori engagement codes and open coding. This paper was prepared for the 2020 AERA Annual Meeting. 

Author(s): Ananya Matewos , Doug Lombardi , Janelle Bailey , Imogen Herrick
Year: 2020
Keywords: Middle, High, Science

The Re-Novicing of Elementary Teachers in Science? Grade Level Reassignment and Teacher PCK

In this study, authors examine the consequences of within-school churn for the pedagogical content knowledge of elementary teacher participants in an NSF-funded science PD program.

Author(s): Deborah L. Hanuscin , Zandra de Araujo , Dante Cisterna , Kelsey Lipsitz , Delinda van Garderen
Year: 2020

The Role of Balance Scales in Supporting Productive Thinking about Equations Among Diverse Learners

This research focuses on ways in which balance scales mediate students’ relational understandings of the equal sign.

Author(s): Ana Stephens , Yewon Sung , Susanne Strachota , Ranza Veltri Torres , Karisma Morton , Angela Murphy Gardiner , Maria Blanton , Eric Knuth , Rena Stroud
Year: 2020

Transferability of Teacher Noticing

This study compared prospective mathematics teachers' (PMTs) noticing while teaching a lesson during their student teaching internship of PMTs who participated in a noticing intervention to those who did not participate in the intervention to determine whether the two groups of PMTs noticed different aspects of instruction.

Author(s): Shari L. Stockero
Year: 2020

Impact of Graph Technologies in K-12 Science and Mathematics Education

In this article, authors use meta-analysis to analyze 42 design and comparison studies involving data from 7699 students spanning over 35 years.

Author(s): Dermot FrancisDonnelly-HermosilloaLibby F.GerardbMarcia C.Linn
Year: 2020

Mathematics Teaching Has Its Own Imperatives: Mathematical Practice and the Work of Mathematics Instruction

In the article, the authors locate how mathematics instruction may actively respond to the influence of the discipline of mathematics and exemplify how obligations to other stakeholders may participate in the practical rationality of mathematics teaching as those influences are incorporated into instruction.

Author(s): Patricio Herbst , Daniel Chazan
Year: 2020

K–12 DREAMS to Teach Program at Morehouse College

This study explores the pathways to K–12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics instruction among Black/African American males in the Discovery Research Education for African American Men in STEM to Teach (DREAMS to Teach) program at Morehouse College

Author(s): Cynthia Trawick , Thema Monroe-White , Jigsa A. Tola , Jamie P. Clayton , J. K. Haynes
Year: 2020

Characterizing Science Classroom Discourse Across Scales

This Research in Science Education article focuses on characterizing classroom discourse in science.

Author(s): William A. Sandoval , Jarod Kawasaki , Heather F. Clark
Year: 2020

Development and Validation of a High School STEM Self‐Assessment Inventory

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a self‐assessment using critical components of successful inclusive STEM high schools for school personnel and educational researchers who wish to better understand their STEM programs and identify areas of strength.

Author(s): Erin Peters Burton , Tara S. Behrend , Shari Matray , Clarissa Hudson , Michael Ford
Year: 2020

Teaching Practices for Differentiating Mathematics Instruction for Middle School Students

This study is a case of using second-order models of students’ mathematical thinking to differentiate instruction, and it reveals that inquiring into research-based knowledge and inquiring responsively into students’ thinking are at the heart of differentiating mathematics instruction.

Author(s): Amy J. Hackenberg , Mark Creager , Ayfer Eker
Year: 2020

Teacher Noticing and Reasoning about Student Thinking in Classrooms as a Result of Participating in a Combined Professional Development Intervention

This article examines the teacher learning that results from participating in a two-year professional development intervention that combined lesson study, video clubs, and animation discussions.

Author(s): Gloriana Gonzalez , Gabriela E. Vargas
Year: 2020

Chemistry Critical Friendships: Investigating Chemistry-Specific Discourse within a Domain-General Discussion of Best Practices for Inquiry Assessments

Presented in this paper are the results from analyzing a discussion between five high school chemistry teachers as they generated a set of best practices for inquiry assessments.

Author(s): Adam G. L. Schafer , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2020

The Role of Instructional Materials in the Relationship Between the Official Curriculum and the Enacted Curriculum

The authors studied how the distal policy mechanisms of curricular aims and objectives articulated in official curriculum documents influenced classroom instruction, and the factors that were associated with the enactment of those curricular aims and objectives.

Author(s): Jeffrey Choppin , Amy Roth McDuffie , Corey Drake , Jon Davis
Year: 2020

Initiation-Entry-Focus-Exit and Participation: A Framework for Understanding Teacher Groupwork Monitoring Routines

In this paper, authors offer a framework for teacher monitoring routines—a consequential yet understudied aspect of instruction when teachers oversee students’ working together.

Author(s): Nadav Ehrenfeld , Ilana S. Horn
Year: 2020

A Design-Based Process in Characterizing Experienced Teachers’ Formative Assessment Enactment in Science Classrooms

Formative assessment can facilitate teachers’ abilities to elicit and notice the disciplinary substance of students’ thinking and to respond based on this. Following a design-based process, we developed principled practical knowledge to create resources that might guide experienced teachers in examining their formative assessment practice and provide researchers with tools to study formative assessment enactment.

Author(s): Hannah Sevian , Vesal Dini
Year: 2019

Justice in Science Education: How to Honor Student Epistemologies While Supporting 3-Dimensional Science Teaching

Conference proceedings from the 2019 Science Education at the Crossroads Conference.

Author(s): Kathryn Hayes
Year: 2019

Profiles of Middle School Science Teachers: Accounting for Cognitive and Motivational Characteristics

This study takes a person‐centered approach by applying latent profile analysis to examine how cognitive (pedagogical content knowledge) and motivational (instructional goal orientations, self‐efficacy beliefs, and reform values) characteristics combine to form science teacher profiles in middle school.

Author(s): Christine L. Bae , Kathryn N. Hayes , Morgan DeBusk‐Lane
Year: 2019

Talk is the Ticket to Teaching Math to English Learners

This article describes one mathematics professional development program designed to support all K-5 students' engagement in productive mathematical discussions, in particular emergent multilingual learners.

Author(s): Kristen Malzahn , Paola Sztajn , Daniel Heck
Year: 2019

Argumentation Infographic

Research suggests that if students use viable argumentation in their middle school classes, then they will increase their complex mathematical reasoning and mathematics achievement. This is a 2-page infographic detailing the results from a case study.

Author(s): RMC
Year: 2019

Development and Pilot Testing of a Three-Dimensional, Phenomenon-based Unit that Integrates Evolution and Heredity

Describes development and pilot testing of a 3-dimensional, phenomenon-based unit that integrates evolution and heredity. The 8-week unit is designed for introductory-level high school biology courses. Results from a national pilot test with 944 grade nine and ten students in 16 teachers' classrooms show statistically significant gains with large effect sizes from pretest to posttest in students' conceptual understanding of evolution and heredity. Students also gained sill in identifying claims, evidence and reasoning in scientific arguments.

Author(s): Sheila A. Homburger , Dina Drits‑Esser , Molly Malone , Kevin Pompei , Kagan Breitenbach , Ryan D. Perkins , Pete C. Anderson , Nicola C. Barber , Amy J. Hawkins , Sam Katz , Max Kelly , Harmony Starr , Kristin M. Bass , Jo Ellen Roseman , Joseph Hardcastle , George DeBoer , Louisa A. Stark
Year: 2019
Keywords: High, Curriculum, Science

Restoring Mathematics Identities of Black Learners: A Curricular Approach

This article describes an identity-based curriculum, Mathematics for Justice, Identity, and meta-Cognition (or MaJIC), that provides a form of mathematics therapy through a restorative justice framework.

Author(s): Maisie L. Gholson , Darrius D. Robinson
Year: 2019

Improving Ecological Education through a Four‐Dimensional Framework

This article describes the 4‐Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) framework. Developed by a task force of ESA members who solicited input from a variety of groups, the framework takes a fresh and innovative approach toward the teaching of ecology.

Author(s): Kenneth Klemow , Alan Berkowitz , Carmen Cid , George Middendorf
Year: 2019

Helping K-12 Teachers Get Unstuck with Scratch: The Design of an Online Professional Learning Experience

In this paper, authors describe the design and implementation of Getting Unstuck, a 21-day, email-based learning experience for K-12 teachers interested in developing greater familiarity and fluency with Scratch.

Author(s): Paulina Haduong , Karen Brennan
Year: 2019

Analyzing Successful Teaching Practices in Middle School Science and Math Classrooms when using Robotics

This paper analyzes teaching practices that successfully integrate robotics in middle school science and math classrooms.

Author(s): Veena Jayasree Krishnan , Sheila Borges Rajguru , Vikram Kapila
Year: 2019

The Joys of Teaching Ecology in K–12 and Informal Settings

This article describes opportunities for primary and secondary ecology education in formal and informal settings.

Author(s): Rhea M  M Esposito , Cornelia Harris , Alan R Berkowitz , Maribel Pregnall
Year: 2019

Applying the Curriculum Research Framework in the Design and Development of a Technology-Based Tier 2 Mathematics Intervention

The production of the first-grade Precision Mathematics intervention was grounded in the Curriculum Research Framework (CRF), which involves a series of iterative cycles of development, implementation field-testing, analysis, and revision. Results from initial implementation studies suggest that teachers and students can feasibly implement the first-grade Precision Mathematics intervention in authentic education settings. Challenges faced in developing technology-based mathematics interventions are discussed.

Author(s): Christian T. Doabler , Ben Clarke , Allison R. Firestone , Jessica E. Turtura , Kathy J. Jungjohann , Tasia L. Brafford , Marah Sutherland , Nancy J. Nelson , Hank Fien
Year: 2019

Pathways for Analyzing and Responding to Student Work for Formative Assessment: The Role of Teachers’ Goals for Student Learning

This study explored how teachers interpreted and responded to their own student work during the process of formative assessment.

Author(s): Caroline Brayer Ebby , Janine Remillard , Jordan H. D'Olier
Year: 2019

Use of a Design Canvas in a Robotics Workshop and Analysis of its Efficacy

This paper describes how the design canvas of Kline et al. was adopted and implemented in our workshop and investigates its benefits.

Author(s): Abhidipta Mallik , Sheila Borges Rajguru , Vikram Kapila
Year: 2019

Does Early Algebra Matter? The Effectiveness of an Early Algebra Intervention in Grades 3 to 5

A cluster randomized trial design was used to examine the effectiveness of a Grades 3 to 5 early algebra intervention with a diverse student population.

Author(s): Maria Blanton , Rena Stroud , Ana Stephens , Angela Murphy Gardiner , Despina A. Stylianou , Eric Knuth , Isil Isler-Baykal , Susanne Strachota
Year: 2019

Efficacy of a First-Grade Mathematics Intervention on Measurement and Data Analysis

This study investigated the efficacy of the Precision Mathematics Level 1 (PM-L1) intervention, a Tier 2 print- and technology-based mathematics intervention designed to increase first-grade students’ conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills around the areas of measurement and data analysis.

Author(s): Christian T. Doabler , Ben Clarke , Derek Kosty , Jessica E. Turtura , Allison R. Firestone , Keith Smolkowski , Kathleen Jungjohann , Tasia L. Brafford , Nancy J. Nelson , Marah Sutherland , Hank Fien , Steven A. Maddox
Year: 2019

Families’ Capacity to Engage in Science Inquiry at Home Through Structured Activities

The purpose of this study was to describe how families utilize science activity packs at home.

Author(s): Lacey Strickler-Eppard , Charlene M. Czerniak , Joan Kaderavek
Year: 2019

Designing Robotics-based Science Lessons Aligned with the Three Dimensions of NGSS-plus-5E Model: A Content Analysis

In this study, analyzing lesson plans using the rubrics provided opportunities for suggestions and feedback for improvement to developers and it informs the development of new lessons by the project team.

Author(s): Hye Sun You , Sonia Mary Chacko , Sheila Borges Rajguru , Vikram Kapila
Year: 2019

WorldWide Telescope in Education

This chapter describes curricula that use WorldWide Telescope in teaching key topics in Astro 101 and K–12 science, including parallax, Hubble’s Law and large-scale structure in the universe, seasons, Moon phases and eclipses, and life in the universe.

Author(s): Patricia Udomprasert , Alyssa Goodman , Edwin Ladd , Stella Offner , Harry Houghton , Erin Johnson , Susan Sunbury , Julia Plummer , Erika Wright , Philip Sadler , Philip Rosenfield , Curtis Wong
Year: 2019

Making Critical Thinking Visible for Student Analysis and Reflection: Using Structured Documentation to Enhance Effective Reasoning and Communication

This Science Scope article discusses how to foster critical-thinking skills in middle school science.

Author(s): Kirsten R. Butcher , Madlyn Larson , McKenna Lane
Year: 2019

Different Ways to Implement Innovative Teaching Approaches at Scale

This article discusses the implementation of innovative teaching approaches in mathematics.

Author(s): Katja Maass , Paul Cobb , Konrad Krainer , Despina Potari
Year: 2019

From the Inside Out: Teacher Responses to the AP Curriculum Redesign

From 2012–2015, Advanced Placement (AP) science courses underwent a large-scale curricular reform to include more scientific inquiry and reasoning, reduce emphasis on broad content coverage, and focus on depth of understanding, with corresponding changes in high-stakes AP examinations. In this study, authors explore how teachers prepared for and adapted to this reform over a three-year period.

Author(s): Ayana McCoy , Abigail Jurist Levy , Kim Frumin , Frances Lawrenz , Christopher Dede , Arthur Eisenkraft , Christian Fischer , Barry Fishman , Brandon Foster
Year: 2019

Revisiting Purpose and Conceptualisation in the Design of Assessments of Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge

In this paper, authors focus on the design of assessments of mathematics teachers’ knowledge by emphasising the importance of identifying the purpose for the assessment, defining the specific construct to be measured, and considering the affordances of particular psychometric models on the development of assessments as well as how they are able to communicate learning or understanding.

Author(s): Chandra Hawley Orrill , Yasemin Copur-Gencturk , Allan Cohen , Jonathan Templin
Year: 2019

Fostering Video Sharing and Discourse Among STEM Educational Researchers in a Multimodal Environment

This article looks at the 2017 STEM for All Video Showcase, a multimodal environment, that enabled educational researchers to share and discuss short videos depicting their federally-funded work to improve STEM education. In a mixed methods study, authors investigate the forms of participation that took place and the benefits that accrued to those who presented.

Author(s): Joni Falk , Debra Bernstein , Brian Drayton
Year: 2019

Revealing Teacher Knowledge through Making: A Case Study of Two Prospective Mathematics Teachers

We describe an experience within mathematics teacher preparation that engages pre-service teachers of mathematics (PMTs) in Making and design practices that we hypothesized would inform their conceptual, curricular, and pedagogical thinking.

Author(s): Steven Greenstein , Eileen Fernández , Jessica Davidson
Year: 2019

Thinking Beyond the Score: Multidimensional Analysis of Student Performance to Inform the Next Generation of Science Assessments

Informed by Systemic Functional Linguistics and Latent Dirichlet Allocation analyses, this study utilizes an innovative bilingual (Spanish–English) constructed response assessment of science and language practices for middle and high school students to perform a multilayered analysis of student responses.

Author(s): Lourdes Cardozo‐Gaibisso , Seohyun Kim , Cory Buxton , Allan Cohen
Year: 2019

Pre-service Teachers’ Conceptions of Mathematical Argumentation

Drawing on a situated perspective on learning, authors analyzed written, open-ended journals of 52 pre-service teachers (PSTs) concurrently enrolled in mathematics and pedagogy with field experience courses for elementary education majors.

Author(s): Hyejin Park , Marta T. Magiera
Year: 2019

Investigating Classroom-related Factors that Influence Student Perceptions of LEGO Robots as Educational Tools in Middle Schools

This paper investigates classroom-related factors such as pedagogical strategies and management of robotics-based educational content that contribute to the formation of student perceptions in robotics-enhanced classes.

Author(s): Shramana Ghosh , Sheila Borges Rajguru , Vikram Kapila
Year: 2019

The Price of Nice: How Good Intentions Maintain Educational Inequity

In The Price of Nice, an interdisciplinary group of scholars explores Niceness in educational spaces from elementary schools through higher education to highlight how this seemingly benign quality reinforces structural inequalities.

Author(s): Angelina E. Castagno, Editor
Year: 2019

Analysis of the e-TEN Calibration Data

The present report summarizes the analyses of the calibration data for the electronic Test of Early Numeracy (e-TEN), an adaptive, iPad-based test of early numeracy achievement.

Author(s): Ying Liu , Elizabeth M. McCarthy , Arthur J. Baroody , Michael D. Eiland
Year: 2019

Coordinating between Graphs and Science Concepts: Density and Buoyancy

Authors investigate ways to support students in integrating their understanding of density concepts through a graph that is linked to a simulation depicting the relationship between mass, volume, and density.

Author(s): Jonathan M. Vitale , Lauren Applebaum , Marcia C. Linn
Year: 2019

Middle School Teacher Professional Development in Creating a NGSS-plus-5E Robotics Curriculum

This paper will describe the process and result of developing a LEGO robotics, NGSS, and 5E aligned middle school curriculum during a three-week summer PD program for teachers who teach urban students-of-color.

Author(s): Shramana Ghosh , Veena Jayasree Krishnan , Sheila Borges Rajguru , Vikram Kapila
Year: 2019

Getting a Grip: A Framework for Designing and Adapting Elementary School Science Investigations

This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching.

Author(s): Eve Manz
Year: 2019
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Designing in Context: Reaching Beyond Usability in Learning Analytics Dashboard Design

In this paper, authors present a design narrative of our experience developing dashboards to support middle school mathematics teachers’ pedagogical practices, in a multi-university, multi-school district, improvement science initiative in the United States.

Author(s): June Ahn , Fabio Campos , Maria Hays , Daniela Digiacomo
Year: 2019

Bridging the Distance: One-on-One Video Coaching Supports Rural Teachers

This article describes online video coaching model used with middle-grades, rural mathematics teachers.

Author(s): Cynthia D. Carson , Cynthia Callard , Ryan Gillespie , Jeffrey Choppin , Julie M. Amador
Year: 2019

Designing NGSS-Aligned Lesson Plans During a Teacher Professional Development Program

This paper describes a program to engage teachers to learn about mechatronics, robotics, and Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) through hands-on activities and collaborative research.

Author(s): Sai Prasanth Krishnamoorthy , Sheila Borges Rajguru , Vikram Kapila
Year: 2019

Qualitative graphing in an authentic inquiry context: How construction and critique help middle school students to reason about cancer

This study offers a critical exploration of how to design instruction that simultaneously supports students' science and graph understanding within complex inquiry contexts.

Author(s): Camillia Matuk , Jiayuan Zhang , Irina Uk , Marcia C. Linn
Year: 2019

The Impacts of a Research-Based Model for Mentoring Elementary Preservice Teachers in Science

This article focuses on the impacts of a program designed to prepare elementary classroom teachers to mentor preservice teachers for effective science instruction.

Author(s): Matthew Miller , Daniel Hanley , Joseph Brobst
Year: 2019

Teachers' framing of argumentation goals: Working together to develop individual versus communal understanding

This study explores how teachers describe, or frame, expectations for classroom discussions pertaining to the science practice of argumentation. Authors use the theoretical lens of a participation framework to examine how teachers emphasize particular actions and goals for their students' argumentation.

Author(s): María González‐Howard , Katherine L. McNeill
Year: 2019
Keywords: Middle, Science

Thinking Scientifically in a Changing World

Shifting people’s judgments toward the scientific involves teaching them to purposefully evaluate connections between evidence and alternative explanations.

Author(s): Doug Lombardi
Year: 2019

Epistemological framing and novice elementary teachers' approaches to learning and teaching engineering design

In this article, authors present a comparative case study examining the epistemological framing dynamics of two novice urban teachers and argue that the stances that novice teachers adopt toward engineering learning and knowledge are consequential for the opportunities they create for students.

Author(s): Kristen B. Wendell , Jessica E. S. Swenson , Tejaswini S. Dalvi
Year: 2019

Hurricane with a History: Hawaiian Newspapers Illuminate an 1871 Storm

In this article, authors explain how 114 years of Hawaiian-language newspapers starting in 1834 extend our knowledge of natural disasters into the nineteenth century and to precontact times.

Author(s): Steven Businger, M. Puakea Nogelmeier, Pauline W. U. Chinn, and Thomas Schroeder
Year: 2019

Ramp It Up!

Preschoolers investigate force and motion with a digital journal.

Author(s): Ashley Lewis Presser , Ximena Dominguez , Marion Goldstein , Regan Vidiksis , Danae Kamdar
Year: 2019
Keywords: Pre-K, Science

What Matters for Urban Adolescents’ Engagement and Disengagement in School: A Mixed-Methods Study

This study uses a mixed-method sequential exploratory design to examine influences on urban adolescents’ engagement and disengagement in school.

Author(s): Jennifer A. Fredricks , Alyssa K. Parr , Jamie L. Amemiya , Ming-Te Wang , Scott Brauer
Year: 2019

The Role of Simulation-Enabled Design Learning Experiences on Middle School Students’ Self-generated Inherence Heuristics

This article describes the effect of simulation-enabled Learning by Design learning experiences on student-generated heuristics that can lead to solutions to problems.

Author(s): Alejandra J. Magana , Sindhura Elluri , Chandan Dasgupta , Ying Ying Seah , Aasakiran Madamanchi , Mireille Boutin
Year: 2019

Clarifiable Ambiguity in Classroom Mathematics Discourse

In this article, authors argue for deliberate attention to clarifiable ambiguity as a critical aspect of attending to meaning and as a necessary precursor to productive use of student mathematical thinking.

Author(s): Blake E. Peterson , Keith R. Leatham , Lindsay M. Merrill , Laura R. Van Zoest , Shari L. Stockero
Year: 2019
Keywords: High, Mathematics

Non-visual Perception of Lines on a Multimodal Touchscreen Tablet

In this article, authors demonstrate that line following via multimodal feedback is possible on touchscreens and present guidelines for the presentation of such non-visual graphical concepts.

Author(s): Jennifer L. Tennison , Jenna L. Gorlewicz
Year: 2019

Gina’s mathematics: Thinking, tricks, or “teaching”?

This paper discusses the extent to which one case study elementary school child with identified learning disabilities (LDs) made sense of composite units and unit fractions.

Author(s): Jessica H.Hunt , Beth L.MacDonald , JuanitaSilva
Year: 2019

How Place-based Science Education Strategies can Support Equity for Students, Teachers, and Communities

This brief describes how to support equity for students, teachers, and communities through place-based science education strategies.

Author(s): Sarah Coleman, Pauline Chinn, Deb Morrison, and Laruen Kaupp
Year: 2019

Empowering Students with Specific Learning Disabilities: Jim’s Concept of Unit Fraction

This paper investigates how one elementary school child with specific visual motor integration differences constructed a unit fraction concept.

Author(s): Jessica H. Hunt , Juanita Silva , Rachel Lambert
Year: 2019

Addressing Misconceptions in Secondary Geometry Proof

Use these ideas to diagnose and address common conceptual obstacles that inhibit students’ success.

Author(s): Michelle Cirillo , Jenifer Hummer
Year: 2019

Exploring Students’ Experimentation Strategies in Engineering Design Using an Educational CAD Tool

The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ experimentation strategies while they work on a design challenge.

Author(s): Ying Ying Seah , Alejandra J. Magana
Year: 2019

Framing, Adapting, and Applying: Learning to Contextualize Science Activity in Multilingual Science Classrooms

This article looks at context-based approaches to science instruction. Authors studied the effects of changes to a set of secondary science teacher education programs, all of which were redesigned with attention to the Secondary Science Teaching with English Language and Literacy Acquisition (SSTELLA) instructional framework, a framework for responsive and contextualized instruction in multilingual science classrooms.

Author(s): Sara Tolbert , Corey Knox , Ivan Salinas
Year: 2019

Coordinating between Graphs and Science Concepts: Density and Buoyancy

Authors investigate ways to support students in integrating their understanding of density concepts through a graph that is linked to a simulation depicting the relationship between mass, volume, and density.

Author(s): Jonathan M. Vitale , Lauren Applebaum , Marcia C. Linn
Year: 2019
Keywords: Middle, Science

Toward a theoretical structure to characterize early probabilistic thinking

The purpose of this report is to sketch a tentative theoretical structure with the potential to anchor curricular decisions and inform further research on early probability learning.

Author(s): Randall E. Groth , Jathan W. Austin , Madeline Naumann , Megan Rickards
Year: 2019

Complementary Assessments of Prospective Teachers’ Skill with Eliciting Student Thinking

This article reports on how three prospective teachers had differing opportunities to demonstrate their skills in the context of the field assessment, but similar opportunities in the context of the simulation assessment.

Author(s): Meghan Shaughnessy , Timothy A. Boerst , Susanna Owens Farmer
Year: 2019

Eliminating Counterexamples: A Case Study Intervention for Improving Adolescents’ Ability to Critique Direct Arguments

This case study investigates U.S. eighth-grade (age 13) mathematics students’ conceptions about the validity of a direct argument after the students received instruction on the eliminating counterexamples (ECE) framework.

Author(s): David A. Yopp , Rob Ely , Anne E. Adams , Annelise W. Nielsen , Erin C. Corwine
Year: 2019

Automated text scoring and real‐time adjustable feedback: Supporting revision of scientific arguments involving uncertainty

This paper describes HASbot, an automated text scoring and real‐time feedback system designed to support student revision of scientific arguments.

Author(s): Hee‐Sun Lee , Amy Pallant , Sarah Pryputniewicz , Trudi Lord , Matthew Mulholland , Ou Lydia Liu
Year: 2019

Characterizing the Interplay of Cognitive and Metacognitive Knowledge in Computational Modeling and Simulation Practices

Authors discuss student dimensions of expertise when engaged in modeling and simulation practices and describe how students used their cognitive and metacognitive knowledge to approach a computational challenge.

Author(s): Alejandra J. Magana , Hayden W. Fennell , Camilo Vieira , Michael L. Falk
Year: 2019

How to support secondary school students’ consideration of uncertainty in scientific argument writing: A case study of a High-Adventure Science curriculum module

In this article, authors discuss an online Earth science curriculum module called, “Will there be enough fresh water?” designed to engage students in thinking about uncertainty as part of writing scientific arguments.

Author(s): Amy Pallant , Hee-Sun Lee , Sarah Pryputniewicz
Year: 2019

Children’s Integer Understanding and the Effects of Linear Board Games: A Look at Two Measures

The purpose of this study was to identify affordances and limitations of using order and value comparison tasks versus number placement tasks to infer students’ negative integer understanding and growth in understanding.

Author(s): Laura Bofferding , Andrew Hoffman
Year: 2019

Growth in children’s understanding of generalizing and representing mathematical structure and relationships

Authors share results from a quasi-experimental study that examines growth in students’ algebraic thinking practices of generalizing and representing generalizations, particularly with variable notation, as a result of an early algebra instructional sequence implemented across grades 3–5.

Author(s): Maria Blanton , Isil Isler-Baykal , Rena Stroud , Ana Stephens , Eric Knuth , Angela Murphy Gardiner
Year: 2019

“This is Really Frying My Brain!”: How Affect Supports Inquiry in an Online Learning Environment

This article discusses supporting inquiry in an online learning environment.

Author(s): Lama Z. Jaber , Elizabeth Hufnagel , Jennifer Radoff
Year: 2019

The Impact of Engineering Curriculum Design Principles on Elementary Students’ Engineering and Science Learning

This article reports an efficacy study of an elementary engineering curriculum, Engineering is Elementary, that includes a set of hypothesized critical components designed to encourage student engagement in practices, connect engineering and science learning, and reach diverse students.

Author(s): Christine M. Cunningham , Cathy P. Lachapelle , Robert T. Brennan , Gregory J. Kelly , Chris San Antonio Tunis , Christine A. Gentry
Year: 2019

Supporting the Scientific Practices through Epistemologically Responsive Science Teaching

In this article, authors explore a variety of types of responsive teaching and elaborate a specific type of responsive teaching—epistemologically responsive science teaching.

Author(s): Leema K. Berland , Rosemary S. Russ , Cori P. West
Year: 2019

Designing for Rightful Presence in STEM: The Role of Making Present Practices

In this article, it is argued that the construct of rightful presence, and the coconstructed “making present” practices that give rise to moments of rightful presence, is 1 way to consider how to make sense of the historicized and relational nature of consequential learning.

Author(s): Angela Calabrese Barton , Edna Tan
Year: 2019
Keywords: High, Engineering

How Viewers Orient Toward Student Dialogue in Online Math Videos

Authors describe an alternative model of online math videos that feature unscripted dialogue of secondary school students, who convey sources of confusion and resolve the dilemmas that arise during problem solving.

Author(s): Joanne Lobato , Carren Walker
Year: 2019
Keywords: High, Mathematics, Video

Instruments to Measure Elementary Student Mindsets about Smartness and Failure in General and with respect to Engineering

The aim of this study was to assess evidence for the validity of General Mindset (GM) and Engineering Mindset (EM) surveys that we developed for fifth-grade students (ages 10-11).

Author(s): Pamela S. Lottero-Perdue , Cathy P. Lachapelle
Year: 2019

Mathematical content knowledge and knowledge for teaching: exploring their distinguishability and contribution to student learning

In this replication and extension study, we explore these issues, drawing on evidence from a multi-year study of over 200 fourth- and fifth-grade US teachers. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of these data suggested a single dimension for teacher knowledge.

Author(s): Charalambos Y. Charalambous , Heather C. Hill , Mark J. Chin , Daniel McGinn
Year: 2019

The Role of Teacher Framing in Producing Coherent NGSS-Aligned Teaching

In this Journal of Science Teacher Education article, Jarod Kawasaki and William Sandoval report on one teachers’ efforts to re-design an entire instructional unit as a coherent storyline about forces and motion as a part of a multiyear professional development project around the NGSS.

Author(s): Jarod Kawasaki , William Sandoval
Year: 2019

The Effect of Automated Feedback on Revision Behavior and Learning Gains in Formative Assessment of Scientific Argument Writing

This study investigates a formative feedback system integrated into an online science curriculum module teaching climate change.

Author(s): Mengxiao Zhu , Ou Lydia Liu , Hee-Sun Lee
Year: 2019

Developing Student 21st Century Skills in Selected Exemplary Inclusive STEM High Schools

This conversion mixed method study analyzed student work samples and teacher lesson plans from seven exemplary inclusive STEM high schools to better understand at what level teachers at these schools are engaging and developing student 21st Century skills.

Author(s): Stephanie M. Stehle , Erin E. Peters-Burton
Year: 2019

Engineering for sustainable communities: Epistemic tools in support of equitable and consequential middle school engineering

This study is focused on engineering for sustainable communities (EfSC) in three middle school classrooms.

Author(s): Edna Tan , Angela Calabrese Barton , Aerin Benavides
Year: 2019

Theorizing Reciprocal Noticing with Non-dominant Students in Mathematics

In this paper, the author theorizes reciprocal noticing as a relational practice through which teachers and students exchange roles as knowers by reciprocating each other’s noticing as they study mathematics concepts.

Author(s): Higinio Dominguez
Year: 2019

Integrating a Space for Teacher Interaction into an Educative Curriculum: Design Principles and Teachers' Use of the iPlan Tool

Authors describe the design principles of iPlan, a web-based tool provides access to educative curriculum materials in an online interactive learning platform, and discuss implications for designing educative and online systems for teacher learning.

Author(s): Miray Tekkumru-Kisa , Christian Schunn
Year: 2019

Patterns Linking Interpreting and Deciding How to Respond During the Launch of a Lesson: Noticing from an Integrated Perspective

Authors describe a complementary way of studying the connections between different aspects of noticing, one that stresses the content of teachers noticing. They report on a study in which participants were shown depictions of students reacting to the launch of a complex task. Participants then chose among a variety of possible interpretations and teacher responses.

Author(s): Rob Wieman , Corey Webel
Year: 2019

Validating a Model for Assessing Science Teacher’s Adaptive Expertise with Computer-Supported Complex Systems Curricula and Its Relationship to Student Learning Outcomes

In this study, the authors propose and validate a model of adaptive expertise needed for teachers to successfully deliver NGSS-informed computer-supported complex systems curricula in high school science classrooms.

Author(s): Susan A. Yoon , Chad Evans , Katherine Miller , Emma Anderson , Jessica Koehler
Year: 2019

Lesson Study Design Features for Supporting Collaborative Teacher Learning

Based on a teacher survey of lesson study, this study found that facilitators’ focus on student thinking, the quality of materials, and duration of lesson study were significantly associated with teacher participation in an effective inquiry process, which in turn is associated with perceived positive changes in teacher knowledge, self-efficacy, and expectation.

Author(s): Motoko Akiba , Aki Murata , Cassandra C. Howard , Bryan Wilkinson
Year: 2019

Profiling Self-Regulation Behaviors in STEM Learning of Engineering Design

This study analyzes the engineering design behaviors of 108 ninth-grade U.S. students using principal component analysis and cluster analysis.

Author(s): Juan Zheng , Wanli Xing , Gaoxia Zhu , Guanhua Chen , Henglv Zhao , Charles Xie
Year: 2019

Beyond Classroom Academics: A School-Wide and Multi-Contextual Perspective on Student Engagement in School

A school-wide and multi-contextual perspective on student engagement in school.

Author(s): Ming-Te Wang , Tara L. Hofkens
Year: 2019

Making Mathematical Thinking Visible

This article describes how diagrams can be a powerful tool to develop and communicate mathematical understanding for English language learners.

Author(s): Johannah Nikula , Jill Neumayer DePiper , Mark Driscoll
Year: 2019

What Can We Learn from Correct Answers?

This article describes how research-based learning progressions can be used to enhance the analysis and response to student work.

Author(s): Caroline B. Ebby , Elizabeth T. Hulbert , Nicole Fletcher
Year: 2019

The Impact of Multimedia Educative Curriculum Materials (MECMs) on Teachers' Beliefs about Scientific Argumentation

Authors discuss how teachers used MECMs and whether that use impacted their beliefs about the practice of scientific argumentation.

Author(s): Suzanna Loper , Katherine L. McNeill , María González-Howard , Lisa M. Marco-Bujosa , Laura M. O’Dwyer
Year: 2019

Developing a Three-Dimensional View of Science Teaching: A Tool to Support Preservice Teacher Discourse

This study utilized the methodology of Improvement Science “Plan, Do Study, Act” cycles in order to design a Three-Dimensional Mapping Tool (3D Map) as a visual scaffold for use in science teaching methods courses to support preservice teachers in unpacking the components of NGSS and to promote discourse related to the three-dimensionality of planning instruction.

Author(s): Michelle L. Sinapuelas , Corinne Lardy , Michele A. Korb , Christine Lee Bae , Rachelle DiStefano
Year: 2019

Scaling up innovative learning in mathematics: exploring the effect of different professional development approaches on teacher knowledge, beliefs, and instructional practice

The purpose of the current study was to explore different ways for teachers to engage in Professional learning experiences (PLEs) and how these approaches might enable the field to scale up these efforts in a sustainable manner.

Author(s): Daniel J. Heck , Courtney L. Plumley , Despina A. Stylianou , Adrienne A. Smith , Gwendolyn Moffett
Year: 2019

Understanding Science and Language Connections: New Approaches to Assessment with Bilingual Learners

Authors report on the use of bilingual constructed response science assessments in the context of a research and development partnership with secondary school science teachers.

Author(s): Cory Buxton , Ruth Harman , Lourdes Cardozo-Gaibisso , Lei Jiang , Khanh Bui , Martha Allexsaht-Snider
Year: 2019

Race to the Top and Lesson Study Implementation in Florida: District Policy and Leadership for Teacher Professional Development

Based on a mixed methods study of a statewide survey and interviews of district professional development directors, we found that district requirement of lesson study, funding provision, and future sustainability plan were significantly and positively associated with a broader implementation of lesson study within the district. Implications for educational leaders at local educational agencies are discussed.

Author(s): Motoko Akiba , Aki Murata , Cassie Howard , Bryan Wilkinson , Judith Fabrega
Year: 2019

In-Game Actions to Promote Game-Based Math Learning Engagement

This mixed-method study was designed to examine whether middle school students’ in-game actions are likely to promote certain types of learning engagement (i.e., content and cognitive engagement).

Author(s): Jewoong Moon , Fengfeng Ke
Year: 2019

Longitudinal Investigation of Primary Inservice Teachers’ Modelling the Hydrological Phenomena

This manuscript focuses on longitudinal research with four primary inservice teachers’ learning and engagement in model-based teaching about water over three years, investigating teachers conceptualizations and practice modelling water related phenomena over time. Findings from the study indicate while each teacher had individual trajectories in conceptualising and enacting scientific modelling in the classroom, we observed unique approaches within teachers.

Author(s): Tina Vo , Cory Forbes , Laura Zangori , Christina Schwarz
Year: 2019

Mentoring the Mentors: Hybridizing Professional Development to Support Cooperating Teachers’ Mentoring Practice in Science

This article describes key features of a hybrid professional development (PD) program that was designed to prepare elementary classroom teachers to mentor preservice teachers for effective science instruction.

Author(s): Josie Melton , Matthew Miller , Joseph Brobst
Year: 2019

Dynamics of Scientific Engagement in a Blended Online Learning Environment

Authors investigate in-service teachers’ scientific engagement in a blended online science inquiry course. A key implication of this study is the importance of instructional attention to epistemology and affect to create online learning environments that promote productive framings of scientific inquiry.

Author(s): Vesal Dini , Lama Jaber , Ethan Danahy
Year: 2019

Guiding Collaborative Revision of Science Explanations

This paper illustrates how the combination of teacher and computer guidance can strengthen collaborative revision and identifies opportunities for teacher guidance in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment.

Author(s): Libby Gerard , Ady Kidron , Marcia C. Linn
Year: 2019

An Examination of Credit Recovery Students’ Use of Computer-Based Scaffolding in a Problem-Based, Scientific Inquiry Unit

In this study, we investigated how high school credit recovery students worked in small groups and used computer-based scaffolds to conduct scientific inquiry in a problem-based learning unit centered on water quality.

Author(s): Brian R. Belland , D. Mark Weiss , Nam Ju Kim , Jacob Piland , Jiangyue Gu
Year: 2019

CADRE Early Career Guidance: Tips for Early Career STEM Education Researchers

The CADRE Early Career Guide offers advice from experienced DR K-12 awardees on becoming a successful researcher in the field of STEM education. The guide also profiles a support program, the CADRE Fellows, for doctoral students in STEM education research.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2019

Flipping Instruction in a Fifth Grade Class: A Case of an Elementary Mathematics Specialist

In this article, we use data from interviews, class observations, and an analysis of instructional videos to describe an elementary mathematics specialists' efforts to incorporate flipped instruction for mathematics in her fifth grade class. We use this case to highlight how a knowledgeable teacher might use flipped instruction to enhance her teaching, and also describe potential challenges.

Author(s): Corey Webel , Christina Sheffel , Kimberly A.Conner
Year: 2018

Cultivating Epistemic Empathy in Preservice Teacher Education

This study investigates the emergence and cultivation of teachers' “epistemic empathy” in response to analyzing videos of student inquiry. We define epistemic empathy as the act of understanding and appreciating someone's cognitive and emotional experience within an epistemic activity—i.e., activity aimed at the construction, communication, and critique of knowledge. Our goals are (1) to conceptually develop the construct and contrast it to more general notions of caring and (2) to empirically examine epistemic empathy in the context of preservice teacher education. We discuss tensions in teachers' expressions of epistemic empathy, and we end with implications for research and practice.

Author(s): Lama Jaber , Sherry Southerland , Felisha Drake
Year: 2018

Engaging Students with Non-routine Geometry Proof Tasks

Students who earned high marks during the proof semester of a geometry course were interviewed to understand what high-achieving students actually took away from the treatment of proof in geometry. The findings suggest that students had turned proving into a rote task, whereby they expected to mark a diagram and prove two triangles congruent.

Author(s): Michelle Cirillo
Year: 2018

Experimental Impacts of the Ongoing Assessment Project on Teachers and Students

In this report, authors describe the results of a rigorous two-year study of the impacts of a mathematics initiative called Ongoing Assessment Project (OGAP) on teacher and student learning in grades 3-5 in two Philadelphia area school districts.

Author(s): Jonathan A. Supovitz , Caroline B. Ebby , Janine Remillard , Robert A. Nathenson
Year: 2018

The Anthropology of Educational Policy: Ethnographic Inquiries into Policy as Sociocultural Practice

This book provides a single "go to" source on the disciplinary history, theoretical framework, methodology, and empirical applications of the anthropology of education policy across a range of education topics, policy debates, and settings.

Author(s): Angelina E. Castagno , Teresa McCarty
Year: 2018

Describing Curricular Materials for Mathematics Teacher Education in an Online, Rich Media Platform

This chapter explores a way of describing the teacher education curricular materials being developed by mathematics teacher educators through their interaction with the LessonSketch online platform.

Author(s): Daniel Chazan , Patricio Herbst , Dana Grosser-Clarkson , Elizabeth Fleming , Janet Walkoe , Emina Alibegović
Year: 2018

Scaffolding Scientific Thinking: Students’ Evaluations and Judgments During Earth Science Knowledge Construction

The present paper documents a quasi-experimental study where high school Earth science students completed these instructional scaffolds, including an explanation task scored for evaluative levels (erroneous, descriptive, relational, and critical), along with measures of plausibility reappraisal and knowledge.

Author(s): Doug Lombardi , Janelle M. Bailey , Elliot S. Bickel , Shondricka Burrell
Year: 2018

Examining physics identity development through two high school interventions

Using structural equation modeling, the researchers test a path model of various physics identity constructs, extending an earlier, established model. In this paper, they also compare a preliminary structural analysis of students' physics identities before and after the career lesson, with an eye towards understanding how students' identities develop over time and due to these experiences.

Author(s): Hemeng Cheng , Geoff Potvin , Raina Khatri , Laird Kramer , Robynne M. Lock , Zahra Hazari
Year: 2018

Student learning emotions in middle school mathematics classrooms: investigating associations with dialogic instructional practices

Authors examine how dialogic instruction, a socially dynamic form of instruction, was associated with four learning emotions in mathematics: enjoyment, pride, anger, and boredom.

Author(s): Alyssa Parr , Jamie Amemiya , Ming-Te Wang
Year: 2018

The Soda Can Crusher Challenge

In this article, authors describe how we engaged grade 3–5 students in an engineering design activity supported with relevant reading, writing, and talking tasks embedded within the engineering design activity.

Author(s): Hasan Deniz , Erdogan Kaya , Ezgi Yesilyurt
Year: 2018

Aligning Test Scoring Procedures with Test Uses: A Balancing Act

Test scoring procedures should align with the intended uses and interpretations of test results. In this paper, we examine three test scoring procedures for an operational assessment of early numeracy, the Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA). Current test specifications call for subscores to be reported for each of the eight subtests on the EGMA. This test scoring procedures has been criticized as being difficult for stakeholders to use and interpret, thereby impacting the overall usefulness of the EGMA for informing decisions. We examine the psychometric properties including the reliability and distinctiveness of the results and usefulness of reporting test scores as (1) total scores, (2) subscores, and (3) composite scores. These test scoring procedures are compared using data from an actual administration of the EGMA. Conclusions and recommendations for test scoring procedures are made. Generalizations to other testing programs are proposed.

Author(s): Leanne Ketterlin Geller , Lindsey Perry , Linda Platas , Yasmin Sitabkhana
Year: 2018

Simulations as a Tool for Practicing Questioning

Authors discuss some of the affordances and constraints of using online teaching simulations to support reflection on specific pedagogical actions.

Author(s): Corey Webel , Kimberly Conner , Wenmin Zhao
Year: 2018

What They Learn When They Learn Coding: Investigating Cognitive Domains and Computer Programming Knowledge in Young Children

This study investigated N = 57 Kindergarten through second grade children’s performance on a programming assessment after engaging in a 6-week curricular intervention called ScratchJr.

Author(s): Amanda Strawhacker , Marina Umaschi Bers
Year: 2018

Impact of Model‐based Science Curriculum and Instruction on Elementary Students' Explanations for the Hydrosphere

Scientific modeling affords opportunities for students to develop representations, make their ideas visible, and generate model‐based explanations for complex natural systems like the water cycle. This study describes a comprehensive evaluation of a 5‐year, design‐based research project focused on the development, implementation, revision, and testing of an enhanced, model‐centered version of the Full Option Science System (FOSS) Water (2005) unit in third grade classrooms.

Author(s): Ben Baumfalk , Devarati Bhattacharya , Tina Vo , Cory Forbes , Laura Zangori , Christina Schwarz
Year: 2018

Most and Least: Differences in Integer Comparisons Based on Temperature Comparison Language

This article explores how students’ integer value comparisons differed based on question phrasing (which temperature is hottest, most hot, least hot, coldest, most cold, least cold) and on numbers presented (positive, negative, mixed) within the context of temperature.

Author(s): Laura Bofferding , Sherri Farmer
Year: 2018

Climate Literacy: Insights from Research on K-16 Climate Education

Authors discuss insights from research on K-16 climate education.

Author(s): Devarati Bhattacharya , Cory Forbes , Mark Chandler , Kimberly Carroll Steward , A. McKinzie Sutter
Year: 2018

#BlackGirlMagic: The identity conceptualizationof Black women in undergraduate STEM education

In this study, authors use Phenomenological Variant Ecological Systems Theory as a strengths‐based approach to investigate 10 undergraduate Black women’s perceptions of race and gender on their STEM identity development and engagement.

Author(s): Terrell R. Morton , Eileen C. Parsons
Year: 2018

A framework for characterizing students’ cognitive processes related to informal best fit lines

Using existing literature, authors create a hypothetical framework of cognitive processes associated with studying informal best fit lines and refine the framework using data from a cycle of design-based research about building students’ understanding of covariation.

Author(s): Randall E. Groth , Matthew Jones , Mary Knaub
Year: 2018

Transferring specialized content knowledge to elementary classrooms: Preservice teachers’ learning to teach the associative property

This study explores how preservice teachers (PSTs) transfer the intended specialized content knowledge (SCK) to elementary classrooms.

Author(s): Meixia Ding , Kayla Heffernan
Year: 2018

Personal and Canonical PCK: A Synergistic Relationship?

Features approaches for leveraging PCK research in STEM learning across formal and informal settings.

Author(s): P. Sean Smith , Courtney L. Plumley , Meredith L. Hayes , R. Keith Esch
Year: 2018

Teachers’ orientations toward using student mathematical thinking as a resource during whole-class discussion

The purpose of this study is to characterize teachers’ orientations toward using student mathematical thinking as a resource during whole-class instruction.

Author(s): Shari L. Stockero , Keith R. Leatham , Mary A. Ochieng , Laura R. Van Zoest , Blake E. Peterson
Year: 2018

Modeling with tape diagrams

This article describes a tool to build, ensure, and solidify students’ understanding of quantitative relationships.

Author(s): Meixia Ding
Year: 2018

Opportunities to Participate (OtP) in Science: Examining Differences Longitudinally and Across Socioeconomically Diverse Schools

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a survey of opportunities to participate (OtP) in science that will allow educators and researchers to closely approximate the types of learning opportunities students have in science classrooms.

Author(s): Christine L. Bae , Morgan DeBusk-Lane , Kathryn N. Hayes , Fa Zhang
Year: 2018

Transitioning from textbook to classroom instruction in mathematics: The case of an expert Chinese teacher

This study reports how an expert Chinese teacher implements mathematics textbook lessons in enacted instruction.

Author(s): Chen Wei , Meixia Ding
Year: 2018

Integrating STEM into Preschool Education: Designing a Professional Development Model in Diverse Settings

In this article, the authors outline the main components and the iterative design process we undertook to ensure that the professional supports are relevant and effective for teachers and children.

Author(s): Kimberly Brenneman , Alissa Lange , Irena Nayfeld
Year: 2018

Teaching of the associative property: A natural classroom investigation

In this study we investigate the teaching of the associative property in a natural classroom setting through observation of classroom video of several elementary math classes in a large urban school district.

Author(s): Eli Barnett , Meixia Ding
Year: 2018

Content validity evidence for new problem-solving measures (PSM3, PSM4, and PSM5)

The study’s purpose is to describe content validity evidence related to new problem-solving measures currently under development.

Author(s): Jonathan Bostic , Gabriel Matney , Toni Sondergeld , Gregory Stone
Year: 2018

The Computational Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) Capability Flow: An Approach to Articulating CAT Capabilities over Time in African-American Middle-school Girls

This paper explores the CAT Capability Flow, which begins to describe the processes and sub-skills and capabilities involve in computational algorithmic thinking (CAT). To do this, authors engage in an approach which results in an initial flowchart that depicts the processes students are engaging in as an iteratively-refined articulation of the steps involved in computational algorithmic thinking.

Author(s): Jakita Thomas
Year: 2018

The Differential Impact of Two Engineering Professional Development Programs on Elementary Teachers’ Engineering Teaching Efficacy Beliefs

The purpose of this study is to explore to what extent supporting elementary teachers’ PCK about teaching engineering would improve their beliefs that students’ engineering learning can be influenced by effective engineering instruction.

Author(s): Hasan Deniz , Erdogan Kaya , Ezgi Yesilyurt
Year: 2018

Validation: A Burgeoning Methodology for Mathematics Education Scholarship

The goal for this proceeding is to foster the conversation about validation using examples and to communicate information about validation in ways that are broadly accessible.

Author(s): Jonathan Bostic , Gabriel Matney , Toni Sondergeld , Gregory Stone
Year: 2018

What Does It Mean to Notice My Students’ Ideas in Science Today?: An Investigation of Elementary Teachers’ Practice of Noticing Their Students’ Thinking in Science

An investigation of elementary teachers’ noticing of students’ ideas and their thinking surrounding their noticing practice.

Author(s): Melissa J. Luna
Year: 2018

Does student-centered instruction engage students differently? The moderation effect of student ethnicity

This study examined the relationship between student-centered mathematics instruction and adolescents’ behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and social engagement in mathematics and whether the relationship differed by ethnicity.

Author(s): Eli Talbert , Tara Hofkens , Ming-Te Wang
Year: 2018

Curriculum and Instruction at Exemplar Inclusive STEM High Schools

In recent years, prominent organizations have released large-scale policy reports on the state of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States, with particular emphasis on curricula and instructional practices. The purpose of this paper was to examine the curriculum and instruction occurring at high performing STEM-focused high schools that have no academic conditions for student admission. This study conducted a cross-case analysis across eight case studies of contextually different but well-regarded inclusive STEM high school. Common themes that emerged included different hierarchical levels of design and implementation (classroom-level, cross-cutting school level, school-wide) as well as responsive design of curriculum and instruction. Unique contextual differences are discussed as well as implications for replication of inclusive STEM school design.

Author(s): Erin Peters-Burton , Ann House , Ed Han , Sharon Lynch
Year: 2018

Towards Meaningful Physics Recognition: What does this recognition actually look like?

This article examines recognition by presenting the case of a physics teacher, Dr. D, and his student, Kristina, to address the question: What are the ways in which a young woman perceives recognition from her teacher?

Author(s): Zahra Hazari , Cheryl Cass
Year: 2018
Keywords: High, Physics

Using a three‐dimensional thinking graph to support inquiry learning

This study proposes and investigates the effects of a three‐dimensional thinking graph (3DTG) that allows learners to combine in a single image, problem information, subject knowledge (key concepts and their relationships), and the hypothesizing and reasoning process involved in exploring a problem, to support inquiry learning.

Author(s): Juanjuan Chen , Minhong Wang , Tina A. Grotzer , Chris Dede
Year: 2018
Keywords: High, Science

Productive Struggle for All: Differentiated Instruction

This article looks at strategies that create access while maintaining the cognitive demand of a mathematics task.

Author(s): Sararose D. Lynch , Jessica H. Hunt , Katherine E. Lewis
Year: 2018

Examining the Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching of Proving in Scenarios Written by Pre-service Teachers

This chapter examines what aspects of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching of Proving (MKT-P) can be observed in written scenarios of classroom interactions, produced by pre-service teachers of mathematics.

Author(s): Orly Buchbinder , Alice Cook
Year: 2018

Measuring Pedagogy and the Integration of Engineering Design in STEM Classrooms

The present study examined changes in high school biology and technology education pedagogy during the first year of a three-year professional development (PD) program using the INSPIRES educative curriculum.

Author(s): Tory Williams , Jonathan Singer , Jacqueline Krikorian , Christopher Rakes , Julia Ross
Year: 2018

Creating Inclusive PreK–12 STEM Learning Environments

This brief offers insights from National Science Foundation-supported research for education leaders and policymakers who are broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM). Many of these insights confirm knowledge that has been reported in research literature; however, some offer a different perspective on familiar challenges.

Author(s): Malcom Butler , Cory Buxton , Odis Johnson Jr. , Leanne Ketterlin-Geller , Catherine McCulloch , Natalie Nielsen , Arthur Powell
Year: 2018

Improving the preparation of novice secondary science teachers for English learners: A proof of concept study

This proof of concept study investigated a secondary science teacher preparation intervention in six university programs across Arizona, California, and Texas. Researchers and science method instructors (SMIs) collaboratively restructured respective science method courses to hold fidelity to an interrelated set of instructional practices that attend to science learning as envisioned in a Framework for K–12 Science Education, while also creating contextualized spaces for language and literacy development targeted to English learners (ELs), but also supportive of “mainstream” students.

Author(s): Edward G. Lyon , Trish Stoddart , George C. Bunch , Sara Tolbert , Ivan Salinas , Jorge Solis
Year: 2018
Keywords: High, Science

Promoting Linguistically Diverse Students’ Short-Term and Long-Term Understanding of Chemical Phenomena Using Visualizations

In this study, we examine the short-term and long-term effects of interactive visualizations in improving linguistically diverse eighth-grade students’ understanding of properties of matter and chemical reactions during inquiry instruction.

Author(s): Kihyun Ryoo , Kristin Bedell , Amanda Swearingen
Year: 2018
Keywords: Middle, Science

Supporting Science Teachers In Creating Lessons With Explicit Conceptual Storylines

This article describes a four-step strategy used in our professional development program to help elementary science teachers recognize and create lesson plans with coherent conceptual storylines.

Author(s): Dante Cisterna , Kelsey Lipsitz , Deborah Hanuscin , Zandra de Araujo , Delinda van Garderen
Year: 2018

Evaluation of three interventions teaching area measurement as spatial structuring to young children

In this article, authors evaluated the effects of three instructional interventions designed to support young children’s understanding of area measurement as a structuring process.

Author(s): Douglas H. Clements , Julie Sarama , Jeffrey E. Barrett , Craig J. Cullen , Aaron Hudyma , Ron Dolgin , Amanda L. Cullen , Cheryl L. Eames
Year: 2018

Moving toward approximations of practice in teacher professional development: Learning to summarize a problem-based lesson

This article focuses on problem-based lessons in teacher professional development.

Author(s): Gloriana González
Year: 2018

Teaching About Energy

In this article, we draw upon the Conceptual Profile Theory to discuss the negotiation of meanings related to the energy concept in an 11th grade physics classroom.

Author(s): Orlando Aguiar Jr. , Hannah Sevian , Charbel N. El-Hani
Year: 2018
Keywords: High, Physics

Writing a Scientific Explanation

This resource provides access to a classroom video of a lesson from the project's middle school ecosystems unit, and the related student scaffold and scoring rubric.

Author(s): American Museum of Natural History
Year: 2018

Considerations for STEM Education from PreK through Grade 3

This brief draws on research supported by the National Science Foundation to highlight important considerations for educators and others who design and provide STEM educational experiences for young children.

Author(s): Julie Sarama , Douglas Clements , Natalie Nielsen , Maria Blanton , Nancy Romance , Mark Hoover , Carolyn Staudt , Arthur Baroody , Christine McWayne , Catherine McCulloch
Year: 2018

The complex interplay between examples and proving: Where are we and where should we head?

Our work suggests re-conceptualization of research concerning students’ over reliance on example-based reasoning, moving from a view of such reasoning as a stumbling block to quickly overcome toward a view of such reasoning as a necessary and critical foundation in learning to prove.

Author(s): Orit Zaslavsky , Eric Knuth
Year: 2018

Fostering High School Students’ Conceptual Understanding and Argumentation Performance in Science through Quality Talk Discussions

The purpose of our quasi‐experimental study was to examine the effectiveness of Quality Talk Science, a professional development model and intervention, in fostering changes in teachers’ and students’ discourse practices as well as their conceptual understanding and scientific argumentation. Findings revealed treatment teachers’ and students’ discourse practices better reflected critical‐analytic thinking and argumentation at posttest relative to comparison classrooms.

Author(s): P. Karen Murphy , Jeffrey A. Greene , Elizabeth Allen , Sara Baszczewski , Amanda Swearingen , Liwei Wei , Ana M. Butler
Year: 2018

How to envision equitable mathematics instruction: Views of U.S. and Korean preservice teachers

This article focused on equitable mathematics instruction for U.S. and Korean preservice teachers.

Author(s): Ji-Eun Lee , Jinho Kim , Sangmee Kim , Woong Lim
Year: 2018

Comparing Haptic Pattern Matching on Tablets and Phones: Large Screens Are Not Necessarily Better

The current study investigates two questions: (1) Do screen size and grid density impact a user's accuracy on pattern-matching tasks? (2) Do screen size and grid density impact a user's time on task?

Author(s): Jennifer L. Tennison , Zachary S. Carril , Nicholas A. Giudice , Jenna L. Gorlewicz
Year: 2018

National Survey on Supporting Struggling Mathematics Learners in the Middle Grades: Executive Summary

This executive summary captures the results of the National Survey on Supporting Struggling Mathematics Learners in the Middle Grades, a study designed and conducted by EDC. T

Author(s): Amy R. Brodesky , Jacqueline S. Zweig , Karen Karp , Emily R. Fagan , Linda Hirsch
Year: 2018

The Use of Theory in Research on Broadening Participation in PreK–12 STEM Education: Information and guidance for prospective DRK–12 grantees

This paper seeks to provide a resource for prospective DRK-12 awardees by identifying some of the theories that current and recent DRK-12 awardees are using in their research on broadening participation.

Author(s): Arthur Powell , Natalie Nielsen , Malcolm Butler , Cory Buxton , Odis Johnson, Jr. , Leanne Ketterlin-Geller , Jennifer Stiles , Catherine McCulloch
Year: 2018

Examining the career paths of doctorates in mathematics education working in institutions of higher education

This article focuses on the career paths in higher education taken by 351 doctoral graduates in mathematics education and provides insight into their career path and their resulting workload.

Author(s): Jeffrey C. Shih , Robert E. Reys , Barbara J. Reys , Christopher Engledowl
Year: 2018

The Impact of Teacher Gender on Girls’ Performance on Programming Tasks in Early Elementary School

The goal of this paper is to examine whether having female robotics teachers positively impacts girls’ performance on programming and robotics tasks.

Author(s): Amanda Sullivan , Marina Umaschi Bers
Year: 2018

Touchscreen-Based Haptic Information Access for Assisting Blind and Visually-Impaired Users: Perceptual Parameters and Design Guidelines

This paper studies key usability parameters governing accurate rendering of haptically-perceivable graphical materials

Author(s): Hari Prasath Palani , Jennifer L. Tennison , G. Bernard Giudice , Nicholas A. Giudice
Year: 2018

Supporting English Learners in STEM Subjects

The imperative that all students, including English learners (ELs), achieve high academic standards and have opportunities to participate in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) learning has become even more urgent and complex given shifts in science and mathematics standards. As a group, these students are underrepresented in STEM fields in college and in the workforce at a time when the demand for workers and professionals in STEM fields is unmet and increasing. However, English learners bring a wealth of resources to STEM learning, including knowledge and interest in STEM-related content that is born out of their experiences in their homes and communities, home languages, variation in discourse practices, and, in some cases, experiences with schooling in other countries.

English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives examines the research on ELs’ learning, teaching, and assessment in STEM subjects and provides guidance on how to improve learning outcomes in STEM for these students. This report considers the complex social and academic use of language delineated in the new mathematics and science standards, the diversity of the population of ELs, and the integration of English as a second language instruction with core instructional programs in STEM.

Author(s): Committee on Supporting English Learners in STEM Subjects; David Francis and Amy Stephens (Editors)
Year: 2018

Teaching of the associative property: A natural classroom investigation

In this study we investigate the teaching of the associative property in a natural classroom setting through observation of classroom video of several elementary math classes in a large urban school district.

Author(s): Eli Barnett , Meixia Ding
Year: 2018

Cross-Case Analysis of Engineering Education Experiences in Inclusive STEM-Focused High Schools in the United States

The purpose of this paper is to report results of a systematic cross-case analysis exploring the extent of engineering learning opportunities in five exemplar Inclusive STEM High Schools (ISHSs).

Author(s): Erin E. Peters-Burton , Todd Johnson
Year: 2018
Keywords: High

Authenticity and Personal Creativity: How EarSketch Affects Student Persistence

This conference paper explains how EarSketch affects student persistence.

Author(s): Tom McKlin , Brian Magerko , Taneisha Lee , Dana Wanzer , Doug Edwards , Jason Freeman
Year: 2018

Science in the LearningGardens: A study of motivation, achievement, and science identity in low-income middle schools

This study reports results from 113 students and three science teachers from two low-income urban middle schools participating in SciLG. It highlights the role of students’ views of themselves as competent, related, and autonomous in the garden, as well as their engagement and re-engagement in the garden, as potential pathways by which garden-based science activities can shape science motivation, learning, and academic identity in science.

Author(s): Dilafruz R. Williams , Heather Brule , Sybil S. Kelley , Ellen A. Skinner
Year: 2018

Why and how do middle school students exchange ideas during science inquiry?

This study explores how technology can support idea exchanges in ways that value individuals’ prior ideas, and allow students to use these ideas to benefit their own and their peers’ learning.

Author(s): Camillia Matuk , Marcia C. Linn
Year: 2018
Keywords: Middle, Science

Middle school teachers’ differing perceptions and use of curriculum materials and the common core

Eight middle school mathematics teachers’ perceptions and uses of curriculum materials and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) were investigated.

Author(s): Amy Roth McDuffie , Jeffrey Choppin , Corey Drake , Jon D. Davis , Jennifer Brown
Year: 2018

Pre-service K-8 Teachers’ Professional Noticing and Strategy Evaluation Skills: An Exploratory Study

This study sheds light on three teaching competencies: Pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) professional noticing of student mathematical reasoning and strategies, their ability to assess the validity of student reasoning and strategies, and to select student strategy for class discussion.

Author(s): Vecihi S. Zambak , Marta T. Magiera
Year: 2018

Our Watershed

In this article, students use data and models to make a difference in their own school yard.

Author(s): Nanette Marcum-Dietrich , Steve Kerlin , Carolyn Staudt , Melinda Daniels
Year: 2018
Keywords: High, Science

Designing Simulations to Learn About Pre-service Teachers’ Capabilities with Eliciting and Interpreting Student Thinking

This chapter focuses on the design of simulation assessments to learn about pre-service teachers’ capabilities with eliciting and interpreting student thinking.

Author(s): Meghan Shaughnessy , Timothy Boerst
Year: 2018

Teacher learning in a combined professional development intervention

The study examines geometry teachers' video club discussions in a two-year professional development intervention that combined lesson study, video clubs, and animation discussions to promote teacher noticing of students' prior knowledge.

Author(s): Gloriana González , Lisa Skultety
Year: 2018

The Evidence Based Curriculum Design Framework: Leveraging Diverse Perspectives in the Design Process

The ubiquity of touchscreen, mobile tablet technology has resulted in a plethora of “apps for learning” yet few leverage the learning sciences as a design driver. This paper describes our approach to integrating the learning sciences with best practices in app design: a design framework that involves researchers and developers in a co-development process to create apps based on research and evidence. Our framework centers around a learning blueprint which is intended to serve as a “boundary object.” This boundary object facilitates a design process that allows the design team to focus on both children’s engagement and learning. Here we describe the challenges that our project team encountered and our approaches to overcome those challenges on the Next Generation Preschool Math (NGPM) project, a development and research effort devoted to creating a supplemental preschool math curriculum supplement with integrated digital apps.

Author(s): Philip Vahey , David Reider , Jillian Orr , Ashley Lewis Presser , Ximena Dominguez
Year: 2018
Keywords: Pre-K, Mathematics

Engineering Encounters: Engineering a Model of the Earth as a Water Filter

This column describes creating a classroom culture for engineering.

Author(s): Jonathon Kilpatrick , Nanette Marcum-Dietrich , John Wallace , Carolyn Staudt
Year: 2018

Elementary Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching Structure and Properties of Matter

In this study we examined 5th-grade teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for 1 particular core idea: the small particle model (SPM) of matter. We assessed teachers’ initial PCK through a lesson plan task, the Content Representation tool, and interviews and then adapted and tested a scoring rubric to facilitate comparison of teachers’ PCK.

Author(s): Deborah L. Hanuscin , Dante Cisterna , Kelsey Lipsitz
Year: 2018

Think-Pair-Show-Share to Increase Classroom Discourse

The authors fuse Universal Design for Learning (UDL), differentiation, and talk moves into three key planning and pedagogy considerations.

Author(s): Jessica H. Hunt , Beth MacDonald , Rachel Lambert , Trisha Sugita , Juanita Silva
Year: 2018

Uncovering the Skills That Preservice Teachers Bring to Teacher Education: The Practice of Eliciting a Student’s Thinking

This article reports a study of the specific knowledge of and skills with teaching practice that novices bring to teacher education with respect to one teaching practice, eliciting student thinking in elementary mathematics, and describes the use of a standardized teaching simulation to learn about novices’ skills.

Author(s): Meghan Shaughnessy , Timothy A. Boerst
Year: 2018

Teachers’ Noticing of Students’ Thinking in Science Through Classroom Artifacts: In What Ways Are Science and Engineering Practices Evident?

Building on the work of teacher noticing, this study investigated teachers’ noticing of students’ thinking evident in artifacts from their science teaching context.

Author(s): Melissa J. Luna , Sarah J. Selmer , James A. Rye
Year: 2018
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Probing the Relevance of Chemical Identity Thinking in Biochemical Contexts

In this study, we examined the relevance of CI in biochemical contexts and first explored the ways in which practicing biochemists consider CI relevant in their work.

Author(s): Courtney Ngai , Hannah Sevian
Year: 2018

“Just put it together to make no commotion:” Re-imagining Urban Elementary Students’ Participation in Engineering Design Practices

In the growing field of K-12 engineering education, there is limited research that highlights the experiences of youth from historically marginalized communities within engineering learning environments. This study offers insights into the ways in which two groups of elementary school students constructed approaches for participating in the engineering design practice of collaborative reflective decision-making. Findings suggest that students conceptualized urban, engineering learning environments as spaces for risk management. This notion of managing risks informed their participation in collaborative decision-making, and the ways in which they viewed themselves as doers of engineering. Implications for this study include the continued need for the development of methodologies and frameworks that provide opportunities to uncover these potential risks, and design supports for student participation in engineering design practices.

Author(s): Christopher Wright , Kristen Wendell , Patricia Paugh
Year: 2018

Teacher’s Toolkit: The Argumentation Toolkit

This column provides how-to strategies and practical advice for the science teacher.

Author(s): Maria González-Howard , Lisa Marco-Bujosa , Katherine L. McNeill , Megan Goss , Suzanna Loper
Year: 2018
Keywords: Middle, Science

Reframing Inclusive Science Instruction to Support Teachers in Promoting Equitable Three-Dimensional Science Classrooms

In this conceptual article, we reframe inclusive science instruction by examining the literature in science and multicultural education and describe five elements to support teachers in realizing inclusive science instruction as a pedagogical shift.

Author(s): Angela Kolonich , Gail Richmond , Joseph Krajcik
Year: 2018
Keywords: High, Science

Rehumanizing the Mathematics Education of Students with Disabilities: Critical Perspectives on Research and Practice

This editorial is part of a special issue of Investigations in Mathematics Learning Critical Approaches that was inspired by a Disability in Mathematics Education working group.

Author(s): Rachel Lambert , Paulo Tan , Jessica Hunt , Amber G. Candela
Year: 2018

Ambitious Science Teaching

Ambitious Science Teaching outlines a powerful framework for science teaching to ensure that instruction is rigorous and equitable for students from all backgrounds. The practices presented in the book are being used in schools and districts that seek to improve science teaching at scale, and a wide range of science subjects and grade levels are represented.

Author(s): Mark Windschitl , Jessica Thompson , Melissa Braaten
Year: 2018

Project Accelerate: Bringing AP® Physics 1 to Underserved Students

Project Accelerate is a partnership program between Boston University (BU) and the nation’s high schools combining the supportive infrastructures from the students’ traditional school with a highly interactive private edX online instructional tool to bring a College Board accredited AP Physics 1 course to schools not offering this opportunity. During the 2015-16 academic year, Boston University piloted this model with four Boston Public School (BPS) high schools and three small suburban high schools. During the first year of the pilot, students enrolled in Project Accelerate outperformed their peer groups enrolled in traditional AP Physics 1 classrooms.

Author(s): Mark D. Greenman , Andrew Duffy
Year: 2018

NSF Prospective New Awardee Guide (January 2018)

Effective as of January 2018, NSF's Prospective New Awardee Guide includes information on federal requirements, NSF points of contact and frequently asked questions, grantee standards, and indirect costs.

Author(s): NSF
Year: 2018
Keywords: Other

“Approximate” Multiplicative Relationships between Quantitative Unknowns

Three 18-session design experiments were conducted, each with 6–9 7th and 8th grade students, to investigate relationships between students’ rational number knowledge and algebraic reasoning. Implications for teaching are explored in this article.

Author(s): Amy J. Hackenberg , Robin Jones , Ayfer Eker , Mark Creager
Year: 2017

Teachers’ Views of Students’ Mathematical Capabilities: Challenges and Possibilities for Ambitious Reform

This study offers a large-scale snapshot of middle-grades teachers’ views of their students’ mathematical capabilities in the context of instructional reform.

Author(s): Kara Jackson , Lynsey Gibbons , Charlotte J. Sharpe
Year: 2017

Integrating Geospatial Technologies in Fifth-Grade Curriculum: Impact on Spatial Ability and Map-Analysis Skills

This study explores the effects of geographic information systems (GIS) curriculum on fifth-grade students' spatial ability and map-analysis skills.

Author(s): May Jadallah , Alycia M. Hund , Jonathan Thayn , Joel Garth Studebaker , Zachary J. Roman , Elizabeth Kirby
Year: 2017

Exploring the Difficulties African-American Middle School Girls Face Enacting Computational Algorithmic Thinking over three Years while Designing Games for Social Change

This article explores middle school girls' reflections about the difficulties they faced while using computational algorithmic thinking capabilities as they engaged in collaborative game design for social change. Authors focus on how these difficulties changed over the course of three years as well as new difficulties that emerged from year to year as girls become more expert game designers and computational algorithmic thinkers.

Author(s): Jakita O. Thomas , Yolanda Rankin , Rachelle Minor , Li Sun
Year: 2017

Exploring African American Middle-School Girls' Perceptions of Themselves as Game Designers

This paper explores African American middle-school girls' perspectives of their experience with the Supporting Computational Algorithmic Thinking (SCAT) project and perceptions of themselves as game designers.

Author(s): Jakita O. Thomas , Rachelle Minor , O. Carlette Odemwingie
Year: 2017

Variations in coaching knowledge and practice that explain elementary and middle school mathematics teacher change

This study investigated relationships between changes in certain types of coaching knowledge and practices among mathematics classroom coaches and how these explain changes in the attitudes, knowledge, and practice of the teachers they coach.

Author(s): David A. Yopp , Elizabeth A. Burroughs , John T. Sutton , Mark C. Greenwood
Year: 2017

Navigating the Academic Job: Developing Your Identity as an Early Career Scholar

Perspectives from the 2017 AERA Conference session "Navigating the Academic Job: Perspective from Deans, Late-Career Faculty, and New faculty at Varying Universities.”

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2017

Expanding STEM Opportunities Through Inclusive STEM Focused High Schools

Inclusive STEM high schools (ISHSs) (where STEM is science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) admit students on the basis of interest rather than competitive examination. This study examines the central assumption behind these schools—that they provide students from subgroups underrepresented in STEM with experiences that equip them academically and attitudinally to enter and stay in the STEM pipeline.

Author(s): Barbara Means , Haiwen Wang , Xin Wei , Sharon Lynch , Vanessa Peters , Viki Young , Carrie Allen
Year: 2017
Keywords: High

Findings from the 2017 DRK-12 Program Survey

This report presents key findings from a keyword survey administered in 2017 to the principle investigators of the CADRE Discovery Research PreK–12 (DRK–12) program during the fall of 2017. The survey asked respondents to select keywords that described their projects’ target audiences, foci, research, and evaluation.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2017
Keywords: Other

A Pleasure to Measure! Tasks for Teaching Measurement in the Elementary Grades

A Pleasure to Measure will enable you to select activities quickly, easily, and confidently to target the content that your students are ready to learn. You’ll find everything that you need in the six E’s that the authors detail for each activity—Essentials, Engage, Explore, Expect, Extend, and Enrich.

Author(s): Jeffrey Barrett , Craig Cullen , Diana Behnke , David Klanderman
Year: 2017

Turn-Taking and Chatting in Collaborative Music Live Coding

In this paper, authors explore collaborative music live coding (CMLC) using the live coding environment and pedagogical tool EarSketch. In particular, we examine the use of turn-taking and a customized chat window inspired by the practice of pair programming, a team-based strategy to efficiently solving computational problems.

Author(s): Anna Xambó , Pratik Shah , Gerard Roma , Jason Freeman , Brian Magerko
Year: 2017

Science as Experience, Exploration, and Experiments: Elementary Teachers’ Notions of ‘Doing Science’

This study begins to reframe the deficit approach to research in science teaching by privileging the experiences elementary teachers have had with science – both in and out of schools – throughout their lives. This work demonstrates that teachers’ storied lives are important for educational researchers and teacher educators, as they reveal elements of teaching knowledge that may be productive and resourceful for refining teachers’ science practice.

Author(s): Ashley N. Murphy , Melissa J. Luna , Malayna B. Bernstein
Year: 2017

Classroom Videos from Disruptions in Ecosystems Unit

This blog post includes the link to 4 videos of teachers using the project's middle school ecosystems unit.

Author(s): Dora Kastel
Year: 2017

Framing Engineering Practices in Elementary School Classrooms

This article focused on engineering practices for elementary classrooms.

Author(s): Christine M. Cunningham , Gregory J. Kelly
Year: 2017

The roles of engineering notebooks in shaping elementary engineering student discourse and practice

This study examines how students’ engineering notebooks across four units of the curriculum Engineering is Elementary (EiE) support student work during design challenges.

Author(s): Jonathan D. Hertel , Christine M. Cunningham , Gregory J. Kelly
Year: 2017

Learning With EarSketch

This article features EarSketch -a STEAM learning intervention that combines a programming environment and API for Python and JavaScript, a digital audio workstation, an audio loop library, and a standards-aligned curriculum to teach introductory computer science together with music technology and composition.

Author(s): Jason Freeman , Brian Magerko , Doug Edwards , Morgan Miller , Shelly Engelman , Roxanne Moore , Anna Xambó , Tom McKlin
Year: 2017
Keywords: High, Equity, Technology

Methods and Strategies: What’s the Story?

This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching.

Author(s): Kelsey Lipsitz , Dante Cisterna , Deborah Hanuscin
Year: 2017
Keywords: Elementary, Science

STEAM-Based Interventions in Computer Science: Understanding Feedback Loops in the Classroom

In this paper, authors present the causal loop diagrams developed to explain the relationships between the actors and attributes involved in implementing EarSketch in a particular school setting. The diagram allows us to better make decisions that ensure both an engaging but also effective STEAM-based computing curriculum.

Author(s): Roxanne Moore , Michael Helms , Michael Helms
Year: 2017

Where is Difference? Processes of Mathematical Remediation through a Constructivist Lens

In this study, we challenge the deficit perspective on mathematical knowing and learning for children labeled as LD, focusing on their struggles not as a within student attribute, but rather as within teacher-learner interactions. We present two cases of fifth-grade students labeled LD as they interacted with a researcher-teacher during two constructivist-oriented teaching experiments designed to foster a concept of unit fraction. Data analysis revealed three main types of interactions, and how they changed over time, which seemed to support the students’ learning: Assess, Cause and Effect Reflection, and Comparison/Prediction Reflection. We thus argue for an intervention in interaction that occurs in the instructional process for students with LD, which should replace attempts to “fix” ‘deficiencies’ that we claim to contribute to disabling such students.

Author(s): Jessica Hunt , Ron Tzur
Year: 2017

Supporting Mentor Teachers in the Assessment of and Inquiry into High-Leverage Science Teaching Practices

This paper reviews the literature on mentor teachers’ learning in relationship to high leverage practices and summarizes existing research on mentoring and experienced teacher learning that might help inform the design of our model of mentor teachers’ learning.

Author(s): Karen Hammerness , Elaine Howes , Julie Contino , Natasha Cooke-Nieves , Ro Kinzler , Maritza Macdonald , Cristina Trowbridge
Year: 2017

Teachers' Understandings of Realistic Contexts to Capitalize on Students' Prior Knowledge

This article examine geometry teachers' perspectives regarding realistic contexts during a lesson study cycle. I ask the following. (a) What are the participants' perspectives regarding realistic contexts that elicit students' prior knowledge? (b) How are the participants' perspectives of realistic contexts related to teachers' instructional obligations? (c) How do the participants draw upon these perspectives when designing a lesson?

Author(s): Gloriana González
Year: 2017

Learning and Teaching Measurement: Coordinating Quantity and Number

This chapter focused on learning and teaching measurement.

Author(s): John P. Smith III , Jeffrey E. Barrett
Year: 2017

Principles for Designing Large-Format Refreshable Haptic Graphics Using Touchscreen Devices: An Evaluation of Nonvisual Panning Methods

This article describes the development of four novel non-visual panning methods designed from the onset with consideration of these perceptual and cognitive constraints.

Author(s): Hari Prasath Palani , Nicholas A. Giudice
Year: 2017

Children’s Measurement: A Longitudinal Study of Children’s Knowledge and Learning of Length, Area, and Volume

This monograph is a report on a four-year-long multisite longitudinal study that studied children’s thinking and learning about geometric measurement (i.e., length, area, and volume).

Author(s): Jeffrey E. Barrett , Douglas H. Clements , Julie Sarama
Year: 2017

Meet me in Azul’s room: Designing a virtual field placement for learning to teach mathematics

This article explores the ways in which a teacher educator uses digital technology to create a virtual field placement to blur the boundaries between a university methods course and teacher candidates' field placements.

Author(s): Joel Amidon , Daniel Chazan , Dana Grosser-Clarkson , Elizabeth Fleming
Year: 2017

Directing focus and enabling inquiry with representations of practice: Written cases, storyboards, and teacher education

In this conference paper, authors discuss affordances and liabilities of using a storyboard to depict a written case of a teacher’s dilemma that involves race, opportunity to learn, and student community.

Author(s): Patricio Herbst , Nicolas Boileau , Lawrence Clark , Daniel Chazan
Year: 2017

Using a Video Club Design to Promote Teacher Attention to Students' Ideas in Science

In this article, authors introduce the design of a science teaching video club and present a study of its implementation.

Author(s): Melissa J. Luna , Miriam Gamoran Sherin
Year: 2017

Tips for Writing for Publication

This tool is designed for early career STEM education researchers to offer tips for writing for publication. The advice largely comes from National Science Foundation-funded awardees who have graciously shared information about their own writing and publishing experiences.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2017

NSF Prospective New Awardee Guide 17-1

The Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) is comprised of documents relating to the National Science Foundation's proposal and award process for the assistance programs of NSF.

Author(s): NSF
Year: 2017
Keywords: Graduate

Attributes of instances of student mathematical thinking that are worth building on in whole-class discussion

This study investigated attributes of 278 instances of student mathematical thinking during whole-class interactions that were identified as having high potential, if made the object of discussion, to foster learners’ understanding of important mathematical ideas.

Author(s): Laura R. Van Zoest , Shari L. Stockero , Keith R. Leatham , Blake E. Peterson , Napthalin A. Atanga , Mary A. Ochieng
Year: 2017
Keywords: Middle, High, Mathematics

STEM starts early: Grounding science, technology, engineering, and math education in early childhood

This report summarizes the latest research findings on the importance and impact of early STEM across the child's ecological systems, as well as the critical importance of framing communications about early STEM in an effective way. It also articulates six recommendations for practice, policy, and research that will promote dramatic improvement in early STEM education for all young children.

Author(s): Elisabeth McClure , Doug Clements , Lisa Guernsey , Susan Nall Bales , Jennifer Nichols , Nat Kendall-Taylor , Michael Levine
Year: 2017

Tips for Building Professional Networks

This tool is designed for early career STEM education researchers to offer tips for building professional networks. The advice largely comes from National Science Foundation-funded awardees and early career researchers and developers who have graciously shared information
about their own networking experiences.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2017

Emerging Design Principles for Online and Blended Teacher Professional Development in K-12 STEM Education

Following the launch of Spotlight on Online & Blended Professional Development (PD), CADRE convened awardees representing 11 DRK-12 projects in a series of activities designed to elicit and form consensus around emerging design principles for online and blended teacher PD programs. The resulting principles are presented in a new report.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2017

Supporting improvements in the quality of mathematics teaching on a large scale

We report on an eight-year project in which we partnered with several large urban school districts in the U.S. that were attempting to support mathematics teachers’ development of ambitious, inquiry-oriented instructional practices.

Author(s): Paul Cobb , Kara Jackson , Thomas Smith , Erin Henrick
Year: 2017
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Developing and Using Models

Helping Students Make Sense of the World Using Next Generation Science and Engineering Practices was developed for K–12 science teachers, curriculum developers, teacher educators, and administrators. These authors and many others contributed to the Framework’s initial vision and tested their ideas in actual science classrooms.

Author(s): Cynthia Passmore , Christina Schwarz , Jocelyn Mankowski
Year: 2017

Students making systems models: An accessible approach

This article describes a new open-source systems modeling tool called SageModeler and a curricular approach designed to support students and teachers in engaging in systems modeling.

Author(s): Daniel Damelin , Joseph S. Krajcik , Cynthia McIntyre , Tom Bielik
Year: 2017

A synthesis of mathematics writing: Assessments, interventions, and surveys

To understand the mathematics writing of students, we conducted a synthesis to evaluate empirical research about mathematics writing. We identified 29 studies that included a mathematics-writing assessment, intervention, or survey for students in 1st through 12th grade. All studies were published between 1991 and 2015.

Author(s): Sarah Powell , Michael Hebert , Jeremy Cohen , Tutita Casa , Janine Firmender
Year: 2017

Early Childhood Educators’ Self-Efficacy in Science, Math, and Literacy Instruction and Science Practice in the Classroom

Quality early science education is important for addressing the low science achievement, compared to international peers, of elementary students in the United States. Teachers’ beliefs about their skills in a content area, that is, their content self-efficacy is important because it has implications for teaching practice and child outcomes. However, little is known about how teachers’ self-efficacy for literacy, math and science compare and how domain-specific self-efficacy relates to teachers’ practice in the area of science. Analysis of survey and observation data from 67 Head Start classrooms across eight programs indicated that domain-specific self-efficacy was highest for literacy, significantly lower for science, and lowest for math. Classrooms varied, but in general, engaged in literacy far more than science, contained a modest amount of science materials, and their instructional support of science was low. Importantly, self-efficacy for science, but not literacy or math, related to teachers frequency of engaging children in science instruction. Teachers’ education and experience did not predict self-efficacy for science. Practice or Policy: To enhance the science opportunities provided in early childhood classrooms, pre-service and in-service education programs should provide teachers with content and practices for science rather than focusing exclusively on literacy.

Now more than ever, scientific literacy (i.e., systemizing methods, engaging in critical comparison, utilizing research to inform practice) has been recognized as vital for the 21st-century workforce (National Research Council, 2010 National Research Council. (2010). Exploring the intersection of science education and 21st century skills: A workshop summary. National Research Council. Washington, DC: National Academies Press). Strong science education is critical for developing these skills in the U.S. population. However, U.S. elementary children perform below several of their international peers in science achievement tests (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2012). This is not surprising considering that the foundation for scientific understanding is shaky: Elementary teachers spend just 6% to 13% of their instructional time teaching science (NCES, 2012 National Center for Education Statistics. (2012). The condition of education 2012. Retrieved from
http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012045.pdf), and preschool teachers devote even less time (4%–8% of instructional time) to promoting science experiences (Tu, 2006 Tu, T. (2006). Preschool science environment: What is available in a preschool classroom? Early Childhood Education Journal, 33, 245–251. doi:10.1007/s10643-005-0049-8). A primary factor, particularly among early childhood educators, is a lack of preparation for designing and implementing science education, which results in little confidence for teaching science (Greenfield et al., 2009 Greenfield, D. B., Jirout, J., Dominguez, X., Greenberg, A., Maier, M., & Fuccillo, J. (2009). Science in the preschool classroom: A programmatic research agenda to improve science readiness. Early Education & Development, 20, 238–264. doi:10.1080/10409280802595441; Hamlin & Wisneski, 2012 Hamlin, M., & Wisneski, D. B. (2012). Supporting the scientific thinking and inquiry of toddlers and preschoolers through play. Young Children, 67, 82–88). Of course, children are unlikely to develop necessary science knowledge and skills without effective science instruction and experiences (Gelman & Brenneman, 2012 Gelman, R., & Brenneman, K. (2012). Classrooms as learning labs. In N. Stein & S. Raudenbusch (Eds.), Developmental science goes to school (pp. 113–126). New York, NY: Routledge; Morris, Croker, Masnick, & Zimmerman, 2012 Morris, B. J., Croker, S., Masnick, A. M., & Zimmerman, C. (2012). The emergence of scientific reasoning. In H. Kloos, B. J. Morris, & J. L. Amaral (Eds.), Current topics in children’s learning and cognition (pp. 61–82). Rijeka, Croatia: InTech). Thus, one critical research aim fulfilled by the present study was to describe early childhood educator self-efficacy for science and identify how self-efficacy is related to the science opportunities provided in early childhood classrooms.

Author(s): Hope Gerde , Steven Pierce , Kyungsook Lee , Laurie Van Egeren
Year: 2017

Mathematical Argumentation in Middle School—The What, Why, and How

This guide delivers all the tools you need to get serious about mathematical argumentation and bring well-planned, well-constructed mathematical discourse to life in your classroom.

Author(s): Jennifer Knudsen , Harriette Stevens , Teresa Lara-Meloy , Hee-Joon Kim , Nicole Shechtman
Year: 2017

What is “repeated reasoning" in MP8?

To make sense of the Common Core State Standards mathematical practice (MP) 8, this article illustrates what “repeated reasoning” means, why looking for and expressing regularity in it is such a valuable mathematical habit of mind, and how that differs from analyzing structure (MP 7) and from finding patterns in numerical results.

Author(s): E. Paul Goldenberg , Cynthia J. Carter , June Mark , Johannah Nikula , Deborah B. Spencer
Year: 2017

Four Levels of Scientific Modeling Practices in Expert Learning

This paper describes model construction practices used by scientifically trained experts.

Author(s): John Clement
Year: 2017
Keywords: Middle, Science

Tips for Developing NSF Proposals

This tool is designed for early career STEM education researchers to offer tips for writing grant proposals. The advice largely comes from National Science Foundation-funded awardees who have graciously shared information about their own proposal writing experiences. Their perspectives are a good complement to the official NSF guidelines.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2017

A Student Asks About (-5)!

A first-year algebra student’s curiosity about factorials of negative numbers became a starting point for an extended discovery lesson into territory not usually explored in secondary school mathematics.

Author(s): E. Paul Goldenberg , Cynthia J. Carter
Year: 2017

Subtraction Involving Negative Numbers: Connecting to Whole Number Reasoning

In this article, we explore how students attempt to bridge from their whole number reasoning to integer reasoning as they solve subtraction problems involving negative numbers.

Author(s): Laura Bofferding , Nicole Wessman-Enzinger
Year: 2017

Pressurizing the STEM Pipeline: an Expectancy-Value Theory Analysis of Youths’ STEM Attitudes

In the current study, we advance this research by using EVT as a framework to examine the STEM attitudes of young students directly. We hypothesize that students’ academic-related expectancies for success and subjective task values will be associated with an increase in STEM attitudes.

Author(s): Christopher Ball , Kuo-Ting Huang , Shelia R. Cotten , R.V. Rikard
Year: 2017
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Large Scale Scientific Modeling Practices that Can Influence Science Instruction at the Unit and Lesson Levels

In this study we articulate a multi-level scientific Modeling Practices Framework derived from expert studies on model based teaching strategies in classrooms and examine its usefulness in an actual classroom context.

Author(s): Maria Cecilia Nunez-Oviedo , John Clement
Year: 2017
Keywords: Middle, Science

Commentary: Meet Me in Azul’s Room: Designing a Virtual Field Placement for Learning to Teach Mathematics

This article explores the ways in which a teacher educator uses digital technology to create a virtual field placement to blur the boundaries between a university methods course and teacher candidates’ field placements.

Author(s): Joel Amidon , Daniel Chazan , Dana Grosser-Clarkson , Elizabeth Fleming
Year: 2017
Keywords: Other, Mathematics

Why Should Students Write in Math Class?

When teachers understand the key purposes for having students do mathematical writing, they can use that writing to deepen understanding.

Author(s): Tutita M. Casa , Kyle Evans , Janine M. Firmender , Madelyn W. Colonnese
Year: 2017

Learning to Notice Important Student Mathematical Thinking in Complex Classroom Interactions

Noticing students' mathematical thinking is a key element of effective instruction, but novice teachers do not naturally engage in this practice. Prospective secondary school mathematics teachers were engaged in an intervention grounded in analysis of minimally edited video from local secondary school mathematics classrooms; the goal was to support their ability to notice important student thinking within the complexity of instruction. Evidence of participants' learning in five iterations of the intervention is discussed, including their focus on student mathematical thinking, their ability to discuss the mathematics in that thinking, and their ability to notice particular high-leverage instances of student thinking.

Author(s): Shari L. Stockero , Rachel L. Rupnow , Anna E. Pascoe
Year: 2017
Keywords: Middle, High, Mathematics

Prompting meaningful analysis from pre-service teachers using elementary mathematics video vignettes

By altering the framing conditions that accompany video clips posted to the Everyday Mathematics Virtual Learning Community, this study examined whether more deeply analytical comments could be elicited from pre-service teachers.

Author(s): Shereen Oca Beilstein , Michelle Perry , Meg Schleppenbach Bates
Year: 2017

Identifying Teaching Strategies that Support Thinking with Imagery During Model-Based Discussions

This study investigates strategies teachers use to support mental imagery during model-based science class discussions.

Author(s): A. Lynn Stevens , John Clement , Norman Price , Maria Nunez-Oviedo
Year: 2017
Keywords: Middle, Science

Tips for Pursuing Academic Careers

This tool is designed for early career STEM education researchers to offer tips for pursuing careers in academia. The advice largely comes from National Science Foundation-funded awardees who have graciously shared information about their own career pathways, work experiences, and perspectives.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2017

NSF DR K-12 Solicitation 17-584

Submitting a proposal to NSF's DR K-12 Program? Read the latest solicitation.

Author(s): National Science Foundation
Year: 2017
Keywords: Graduate

High School Students’ Evaluations, Plausibility (Re) Appraisals, and Knowledge about Topics in Earth Science

Evaluation is an important aspect of science and is receiving increasing attention in science education. The present study investigated (1) changes to plausibility judgments and knowledge as a result of a series of instructional scaffolds, called model–evidence link activities, that facilitated evaluation of scientific and alternative models in four different Earth science topics (climate change, fracking and earthquakes, wetlands and land use, and the formation of Earth’s Moon) and (2) relations between evaluation, plausibility reappraisal, and knowledge.

Author(s): Doug Lombardi , Elliot S. Bickel , Janelle M. Bailey , Shondricka Burrell
Year: 2017

Designing Large-scale Multisite and Cluster-randomized Studies of Professional Development

The results from these analyses are intended to guide researchers in making more-informed decisions about the tradeoffs and considerations involved in selecting study designs for assessing the impacts of professional development programs.

Author(s): Ben Kelcey , Jessaca Spybrook , Geoffrey Phelps , Nathan Jones , Jiaqi Zhang
Year: 2017

Co-Constructing Models in High School Physics: Comparing Degrees of Teacher and Student Participation in Whole Class Discussions

In this study, we analyzed the participation of teachers and students during their co-construction of explanatory models for concepts in circuit electricity in two high school physics classes.

Author(s): Grant Williams , John Clement
Year: 2017
Keywords: High, Science

Tips for Pursuing Non-Academic Careers

This tool is designed for early career STEM education researchers to offer tips for pursuing careers outside of academia. The advice largely
comes from National Science Foundation-funded awardees who have graciously shared information about their own career pathways, work experiences, and perspectives.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2017

Grants.gov Application Guide

A guide for preparation and submission of NSF applications via grants.gov. Effective January 30, 2017.

Author(s): National Science Foundation
Year: 2017
Keywords: Graduate

The Preparation of a Mathematics Educator: The Case of Carey

The article outlines some academic knowledge and intern experiences that will help prepare the next generation of researchers in mathematics education once a doctoral program has been entered.

Author(s): Robert Reys
Year: 2017

Instructional Scaffolding in STEM Education

This book examines the extent to which study quality, assessment type, and scaffolding characteristics (strategy, intended outcome, fading schedule, scaffolding intervention, and paired intervention) influence cognitive student outcomes.

Author(s): Brian Belland
Year: 2017

Traveling Teacher Professional Development Model: Local Interpretation and Adaptation of Lesson Study in Florida

The chapter discusses the underlying views of teacher professional development and the teaching profession in the U.S. that played an important role in the adaptation process of lesson study.

Author(s): Motoko Akiba
Year: 2016

STEM-focused High Schools as a Strategy for Enhancing Readiness for Postsecondary STEM Programs

The logic underlying inclusive STEM high schools (ISHSs) posits that requiring all students to take advanced college preparatory STEM courses while providing student-centered, reform-oriented instruction, ample student supports, and real-world STEM experiences and role models will prepare and inspire students admitted on the basis of STEM interest rather than prior achievement for postsecondary STEM. This study tests that logic model by comparing the high school experiences and achievement of students in ISHSs and comparison schools in North Carolina.

Author(s): Barbara Means , Haiwen Wang , Viki Young , Vanessa Peters , Sharon Lynch
Year: 2016
Keywords: High

Measuring Science Instructional Practice: A Survey Tool for the Age of NGSS

This article describes the process of developing and validating a Science Instructional Practices survey instrument that is appropriate for NGSS and other related science standards.

Author(s): Kathryn N. Hayes , Christine S. Lee , Rachelle DiStefano , Dawn O’Connor , Jeffery C. Seitz
Year: 2016

The Diverse Faces of Teacher Leadership: A Typology and Survey Tool

The purpose of this mixed methodology study was to operationalize distinct types of teacher leadership into an organized typology, based on case studies of teacher leaders in a science education project.

Author(s): Christine Lee Bae , Kathryn N. Hayes , Dawn M. O’Connor , Jeffery C. Seitz , Rachelle DiStefano
Year: 2016

A Coding Tool for Examining the Substance of Teacher Professional Learning and Change with Example Cases from Middle School Science Lesson Study

This study presents a theoretically grounded set of codes to systematically document the various aspects of teacher learning and change (knowledge and beliefs, professional learning community, resources) in lesson study across contexts.

Author(s): Christine Lee Bae , Kathryn N. Hayes , Jeffery Seitz , Dawn O’Connor , Rachelle DiStefano
Year: 2016

A Training Ground for Women of Color in STEM: Spelman College Tackles the STEM Pipeline as a Social Justice Issue

Paper from the 2016 Advancing Social Justice from Classroom to Community Conference.

Author(s): Kimberly M Jackson , Mentewab Ayalew , Jakita Thomas , Yewande Olubummo , Dolores Bradley , Joycelyn Wilson
Year: 2016

Initial Understandings of Fraction Concepts Evidenced by Students With Mathematics Learning Disabilities and Difficulties

This study extends current literature by presenting key understandings of fractions, documented through problem-solving activity, language, representations, and operations, evidenced by students with LD and mathematics difficulties as they engaged with equal sharing problems.

Author(s): Jessica H. Hunt , Jasmine J. Welch-Ptak , Juanita M. Silva
Year: 2016

Breaking Dichotomies: Learning to Be a Teacher of Science in Formal and Informal Settings

This chapter examines the affordances of museum resources in informal settings and how they shape science teacher identity.

Author(s): Lucy Avraamidou , Wolff-Michael Roth
Year: 2016

Tool trouble: Challenges with Using Self-Report Data to Evaluate Long-Term Chemistry Teacher Professional Development

The purpose of this study was to compare the ability of different instruments, independently developed and traditionally used for measuring science teachers’ beliefs in short-term interventions, to longitudinally measure teachers’ changing beliefs.

Author(s): Deborah G. Herrington , Ellen J. Yezierski , Senetta F. Bancroft
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Developing coherent conceptual storylines: Two elementary challenges

In this exploratory study, we present typologies that represent two primary challenges teachers faced in developing coherent conceptual storylines in their lesson design, and examine the extent to which professional development enhanced their capacity to develop a coherent conceptual storyline.

Author(s): Deborah Hanuscin , Kelsey Lipsitz , Dante Cisterna-Alburquerque , Kathryn A. Arnone , Delinda van Garderen , Zandra de Araujo , Eun Ju Lee
Year: 2016
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Targeting Instruction with Formative Assessment Probes

This paper describes a strategic process for using formative assessment probes to gather and interpret evidence of student mathematics understandings and misconceptions and then targeting instruction to address identified needs.

Author(s): Emily R. Fagan , Cheryl Rose Tobey , Amy R. Brodesky
Year: 2016

Appendix 5 of the California Science Framework: Computer Science in Science

This appendix of the California Science Framework focuses on Computer Science in Science.

Author(s): Irene Lee
Year: 2016

Facilitating Teacher Learning When Using Different Representations of Practice

This study investigates facilitation of professional development to promote teacher learning when using animations and videos in a study group with five teachers.

Author(s): Gloriana González , Jason T. Deal , Lisa Skultety
Year: 2016

Factors impacting teachers’ argumentation instruction in their science classrooms

In this study, we surveyed 42 middle school science teachers and conducted follow-up interviews with 25 to investigate the factors that teachers believe impact their argumentation instruction.

Author(s): Katherine L. McNeill , Rebecca Katsh-Singer , María González-Howard , Suzanna Loper
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Science

Analysis of Pre-service Teachers’ Generalization and Justification Strategies in Solutions to Figural Pattern-generalization Tasks

We analyzed 37 PSTs’ written solutions to four figural pattern generalization tasks, video recordings of class discussions, and audio-recordings of problem-based interviews during which the PSTs were asked to solve one pattern generalization task, to answer the following research questions: (1) What relationships and structural aspects of a figural pattern do PSTs build upon to formulate pattern generalization? (2) How do they utilize uncovered relationships and structural aspects of a figural pattern to justify their general rules?

Author(s): Meghan Sebranek , Marta T. Magiera
Year: 2016

Profile of research preparation of doctorates in mathematics education in the United States

This study reports data gathered from over 500 doctoral graduates in mathematics education from 23 institutions in the USA from 1997 to 2014 as they self-assessed their research preparation during their doctoral program.

Author(s): Jeffrey C. Shih , Robert E. Reys , Christopher Engledowl
Year: 2016

Stable Beginnings in Engineering Design

We examine a pair of students who share a central objective of designing an optimal solution for their fictional client, and who persist in achieving their objective. We argue that the students’ stable framing of the activity involves their engagement in engineering design, and that the abilities they demonstrate in pursuit of a solution are evidence of their productive beginnings in engineering design.

Author(s): Mary E. McCormick , David Hammer
Year: 2016

Effects of Teacher Knowledge and Quality of Instruction on Linguistically Diverse Learners

The main goal of this project is to empirically estimate whether and which classroom factors contribute to mathematics gains of English Language Learners in Texas schools.

Author(s): M. Alejandra Sorto , Rachel S. G. Bower , Teresa Lynn Salazar
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Who Chooses STEM Careers? Using a Relative Cognitive Strength and Interest Model to Predict Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

While past research has mainly focused on absolute cognitive ability levels in math and verbal domains, the current study tested whether relative cognitive strengths and interests in math, science, and verbal domains in high school were more accurate predictors of STEM career decisions.

Author(s): Ming-Te Wang , Feifei Ye , Jessica Lauren Degol
Year: 2016

Does Competency-based Professional Development have legs?

Does the promise of competency-based PD outweigh the challenges to implementing it? Do we really want competency-based PD or just more effective, sustained, job-embedded PD like instructional coaching, lesson study, and the like. Read this blog by Meg S. Bates as she ponders these questions and more.

Author(s): Meg S. Bates
Year: 2016

Power Analyses for Detecting Treatment by Moderator Effects in Cluster Randomized Trials

This article presents a framework for calculating statistical power for moderator effects at all levels for two- and three-level CRTs.

Author(s): Jessica Spybrook , Benjamin Kelcey , Nianbo Dong
Year: 2016

Students’ conceptions of reflection: Opportunities for making connections with perpendicular bisector

Author(s): Anna F. DeJarnettea , Gloriana González , Jason T. Deal , Sahid L. Rosado Lausell
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Mathematics

Learning in a community of practice: Factors impacting English-learning students’ engagement in scientific argumentation

This case study uses the conceptual framework of communities of practice to investigate the relationship between English-learning students' argumentation and their middle school sheltered English immersion (SEI) science classroom community.

Author(s): María González-Howard , Katherine L. McNeill
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Science

Developing an understanding of children's justifications for the circle area formula

In this study we investigated eighth grade students’ informal justification for the circle area formula to expand accounts of the measurement knowledge for middle-school age students.

Author(s): Jenna R. O’Dell , Theodore J. Rupnow , Craig J. Cullen , Jeffrey E. Barrett , Douglas H. Clements , Julie Sarama , Douglas W. Van Dine
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Elementary Mathematics Specialists in “Departmentalized” Teaching Assignments: Affordances and Constraints

In this article, we describe the experiences of three Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMS) who were part of a larger project investigating the impact of EMS certification and assignment (self-contained or “departmentalized”) on teaching practices and student achievement outcomes.

Author(s): Corey Webel , Kimberly A. Conner , Christina Sheffel , James E. Tarr , Christopher Austin
Year: 2016

A Recent History of the Production of Doctorates in Mathematics Education

This article highlights the production of doctorates in mathematics education for the past fifty years.

Author(s): Barbara Reys , Robert Reys
Year: 2016

Use of Automated Scoring and Feedback in Online Interactive Earth Science Tasks

In this study, we analyze log data to examine the granularity of students’ interactions with automated scores and feedback and investigate the association between various students’ behaviors and their science performance

Author(s): Mengxiao Zhu , Ou Lydia Liu , Liyang Mao , Amy Pallant
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science, Technology

Examining the sustainability of teacher learning following a year-long science professional development programme for inservice primary school teachers

The study examined patterns of change in primary school teachers’ inquiry practices, inquiry beliefs and physical science content knowledge during both years as well as the effects of school-level and individual-level factors on these changes in the year following the programme.

Author(s): Dina Drits-Esser , Julie Gess-Newsome , Louisa A. Stark
Year: 2016
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Online Professional Development: A primer

This article provides a framework for making sense of common online teacher learning opportunities. It also suggests situations where online professional development may be most useful and presents a challenge for educators to consider when engaging in online learning.

Author(s): Meg S. Bates , Lena Phalen , Cheryl Moran
Year: 2016

Beyond the controversy: Instructional scaffolds to promote critical evaluation and understanding of Earth science

Our project team has been developing and testing four MELs about socio-scientific issues (climate change, wetlands and land use, fracking and earthquakes) and abstract ideas (formation of Earth’s Moon) for use in high school classrooms.

Author(s): Doug Lombardi
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Thematic Analysis of Students’ Talk While Solving a Real-world Problem in Geometry

From a social semiotic perspective, students’ use of language is fundamental to mathematical meaning making. We applied thematic analysis to examine students’ use of geometric and contextual ideas while solving a geometry problem that required them to determine the optimal location for a new grocery store on a map of their local community. Students established semantic patterns to connect the problem context to geometry. Groups differed in how they used geometry in their discussion of the solution, in particular with how students used distance to describe the location of a new grocery store. Overall, students’ knowledge of the problem context served as a resource for them to establish geometric meanings. Thematic analysis, which describes the connections in students’ talk between out-of-school and discipline-specific knowledge, highlights ways in which instruction can build upon students’ prior experiences for the purpose of learning in school.

Author(s): Anna F. DeJarnette , Gloriana González
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Mathematics

Effectiveness of Inquiry-Based Lessons Using Particulate Level Models To Develop High School Students’ Understanding of Conceptual Stoichiometry

The study, an action research project carried out by a teacher enrolled in a long-term professional development program, has implications for the value of rigorous materials design and evaluation framed by the chemistry education research literature.

Author(s): Stephanie Kimberlin , Ellen Yezierski
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Using students' conceptions of air to evaluate a guided-inquiry activity classifying matter using particulate models

This paper describes a guided-inquiry activity designed for the first week of a first-year high school chemistry course.

Author(s): Amanda Vilardo , Ann H. MacKenzie , Ellen J. Yezierski
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Some Thoughts on Doctoral Preparation in Mathematics Education

This commentary focuses on doctoral programs and doctoral preparation in mathematics education.

Author(s): Robert Reys
Year: 2016

Can All Students Succeed at Science and Tech High Schools?

No longer only for the elite, a new generation of science high schools could help low-income and minority students get better jobs.

Author(s): Kathleen Lucadamo
Year: 2016

Interactive mobile interface with augmented reality for learning digital control concepts

This paper presents the development of an immersive user interface on a tablet device that can be used by engineering students to interact with a motor test-bed as they examine the effects of discrete-time pole locations on the closed-loop dynamic response of the test-bed.

Author(s): Jared A. Frank , Anthony Brill , Vikram Kapila
Year: 2016

Moving Beyond One-Size-All PD: A Model for Differentiating Professional Learning for Teachers

This paper describes a model for differentiating professional development to address teachers’ varied knowledge, experiences, and interests.

Author(s): Amy R. Brodesky , Emily R. Fagan , Cheryl Rose Tobey , Linda Hirsch
Year: 2016

A Primer for Developing Measures of Science Content Knowledge for Small-Scale Research and Instructional Use

This essay, intended for faculty involved in small-scale projects, courses, or educational research, provides a step-by-step guide to the process of developing, scoring, and validating high-quality content knowledge assessments.

Author(s): Kristin M. Bass , Dina Drits-Esser , Louisa A. Stark
Year: 2016

If You Build It, Will They Reflect? Examining Teachers’ Use of an Online Video-based Learning Website

Many teachers use online professional development websites, but little is known about what teachers actually learn from them. This study explored teacher use of an online video-based learning website with over 37,000 members.

Author(s): Meg S. Bates , Lena Phalen , Cheryl Moran
Year: 2016

Understanding the Formation of Earth’s Moon

By evaluating alternative models, students can improve upon their scientific literacy and understanding of scientific practices. Suggestions from classroom use of the Moon MEL will help teachers use this activity in a productive manner.

Author(s): Janelle M. Bailey , Christine M. Girtain , Doug Lombardi
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Zero Pairs: Learning about Additive Inverses

Author(s): Kasandra Dickman , Laura Bofferding
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Monday's lesson: Students making models

This brief article provides an overview of how to use the SageModeler systems modeling tool with an ocean acidification model as an example.

Author(s): Dan Damelin
Year: 2016

Scientific argumentation for all? Comparing teacher beliefs about argumentation in high, mid and low SES schools

In this study we explored the scientific argumentation beliefs of teachers in low, mid, and high SES schools.

Author(s): Rebecca Katsh-Singer , Katherine L. McNeill , Suzanna Loper
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Science

Tool trouble: Challenges with using self-report data to evaluate long-term chemistry teacher professional development

The purpose of this study was to compare the ability of different instruments, independently developed and traditionally used for measuring science teachers’ beliefs in short-term interventions, to longitudinally measure teachers’ changing beliefs.

Author(s): Deborah G. Herrington , Ellen J. Yezierski , Senetta F. Bancroft
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Learning with Sprout Pro: Reimagine what you can make

This Sprout Pro in a classroom handbook is designed to give you a starting point for integrating Sprout Pro into your learning environment and igniting your students’ creativity.

Author(s): HP Development Company
Year: 2016

Towards teleoperation-based interactive learning of robot kinematics using a mobile augmented reality interface on a tablet

This paper outlines the development of a mobile application executing on a tablet device, which renders an immersive AR-based graphical user interface to enable users to monitor, interact with, and control a four link underactuated planar robot.

Author(s): Jared A. Frank , Vikram Kapila
Year: 2016

The math and science engagement scale: Development, validation, and psychometric properties

Author(s): Ming-Te Wang , Jennifer A. Fredricks , Feifei Ye , Tara L. Hofkens , Jacqueline Schall Linn
Year: 2016

Benefits of Analyzing Contrasting Integer Problems: The Case of Four Second Graders

In this study, we explore four, second graders’ performances on integer addition problems before and after analyzing contrasting cases involving integers.

Author(s): Mahtob Aqazade , Laura Bofferding , Sherri Farmer
Year: 2016

Types of and Purposes for Elementary Mathematical Writing: Task Force Recommendations

This white paper clarifies different purposes elementary students might write in math class and presents four types of mathematical writing. We define "mathematical writing" as writing that encourages students to engage in mathematical reasoning and communication. Each writing type is defined, samples of student work are provided, and additional instructional considerations are addressed.

Author(s): Tutita M. Casa , Janine M. Firmender , June Cahill , Fabiana Cardetti , Jeffrey M. Choppin , Jeremy Cohen , Shelbi Cole , et al.
Year: 2016

Wetlands: Good or bad? Evaluating competing models

This article describes how a Model-Evidence Link (MEL) lesson can effectively be used to assist learners in weighing the plausibility of different viewpoints of the uses of wetlands, a socio-scientific issue.

Author(s): Margaret A. Holzer , Doug Lombardi , Janelle M. Bailey
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Supporting secondary students in building external models to explain phenomena

Supporting Secondary Students in Building External Models is a collaborative project with Michigan State University and the Concord Consortium, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to examine how to support secondary school students in constructing and revising models to explain scientific phenomena and design solutions to problems. This article describes the project and research plans.

Author(s): Dan Damelin , Joe Krajcik
Year: 2016

EarSketch: A STEAM-Based Approach for Underrepresented Populations in High School Computer Science Education

This article presents EarSketch, a learning environment that combines computer programming with sample-based music production to create a computational remixing environment for learning introductory computing concepts.

Author(s): Brian Magerko , Jason Freeman , Tom Mcklin , Mike Reilly , Elise Livingston , Scott Mccoid , Andrea Crews-Brown
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Engineering

Kinematics card sort activity: Insight into students’ thinking for students and teacher

Author(s): Erin Berryhill , Deborah Herrington , Keith Oliver
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

No teacher is an island: Bridging the gap between teacher’s professional practice and research findings

This paper outlines some key considerations for developing productive teacher collaborations and provides examples of teacher PD programs that have successfully brought chemistry education research faculty and high school chemistry teachers together to build knowledge and transform teaching.

Author(s): Deborah Herrington , Patrick L. Daubenmire
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Impact of a large-scale science intervention focused on English language learners

Author(s): Lorena Llosa , Okhee Lee , Feng Jiang , Alison Haas , Corey O’Connor , Christopher D. Van Booven , Michael J. Kieffer
Year: 2016
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Responding to children’s mathematical thinking in the moment: An emerging framework of teaching moves

This case study contributes to efforts to characterize teaching that is responsive to children’s mathematical thinking.

Author(s): Victoria R. Jacobs , Susan B. Empson
Year: 2016

Supporting Sense-making with Mathematical Bet Lines

This article presents an instructional strategy called Mathematical Bet Lines that was designed to promote classroom discourse and sense-making for all students, in particular English Language Learners.

Author(s): Lara Dick , Tracy Foote White , Aaron Trocki , Paola Sztajn , Daniel Heck , Kate Herrema
Year: 2016

Using qualitative methods to develop a survey measure of math and science engagement

In this study, we conducted in-depth interviews with 106 students from sixth to twelfth grade and 34 middle and high school teachers about how they conceptualized math and science engagement and disengagement.

Author(s): Jennifer A. Fredricks , Ming-Te Wang , Jacqueline Schall Linn , Tara L. Hofkens , Hannah Sung , Alyssa Parr , Julia Allerton
Year: 2016

More and Less: Language Supports for Learning Negative Numbers

In this study, we explore whether instruction on mapping directed magnitudes to operations helps 88 second graders and 70 fourth graders solve addition and subtraction problems with negative numbers.

Author(s): Laura Bofferding , Sherri Farmer
Year: 2016

Evaluating the connections between fracking and earthquakes

The two models presented in the Fracking MEL allow students to engage in scientific discussions just as researchers also examine relations between fracking and earthquakes.

Author(s): Jenelle Hopkins , Petya Crones , Shondricka Burrell , Janelle M. Bailey , Doug Lombardi
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Iterative Composition, Coding, and Pedagogy: A Case Study in Live Coding With EarSketch

This article considers a role for live coding that does not focus on live performance but rather on educational contexts.

Author(s): Jason Freeman , Brian Magerko
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Engineering

Access is not enough: The impact of emotional costs on African American students’ ICT use patterns

This paper investigates the potential role of emotional costs and computer self-efficacy in the connection between computer use at home and students’ computer use patterns.

Author(s): Kuo-Ting Huang , Shelia R. Cotten , R.V. Rikard
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Food and energy for all: Turning a demonstration into an inquiry activity

Author(s): Bradley Stevens , Stephen Rybczynski , Deborah Herrington
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Science

Elementary teachers’ science knowledge and instructional practices: Impact of an intervention focused on English language learners

As part of a three-year curricular and professional development intervention focused on English language learners (ELLs), this study examined the intervention's effect on teachers' science knowledge and instructional practices after one year of implementation.

Author(s): Okhee Lee , Lorena Llosa , Feng Jiang , Alison Haas , Corey O'Connor , Christopher D. Van Booven
Year: 2016
Keywords: Elementary, Science

STEM-focused high schools as a strategy for enhancing readiness for postsecondary STEM programs

This study tests that logic model by comparing the high school experiences and achievement of students in ISHSs and comparison schools in North Carolina.

Author(s): Barbara Means , Haiwen Wang , Viki Young , Vanessa L. Peters , Sharon J. Lynch
Year: 2016

Computer Science, Coding, and Project-Based Learning for Engineering Instruction

Chapter 7 of the publication Engineering Instruction for High-Ability Learners in K-8 Classrooms, this chapter written by Irene Lee and April DeGennaro focuses on computer science, coding, and project-based learning for engineering instruction.

Author(s): Irene Lee , April DeGennaro
Year: 2016

Tracing the Development of a Haptically-enhanced Simulation for Teaching Phase Change

This paper traces the research-design-develop-test cycle of a haptically-enhanced science simulation designed to teach upper-elementary students core ideas about matter, phase change, and the role of intermolecular forces.

Author(s): James Minogue , David Borland , Marc Russo , Shengyen Tony Chen
Year: 2016

Assessing students’ evaluations on the model-evidence link diagram

In the Model- Evidence Link (MEL) diagram activities, students engage with Earth science content knowledge and evaluate the connections between evidence and alternative explanations. We have developed a rubric for assessing the quality of student evaluations when engaging in the MEL activity, specifically in the written explanations about the connections between evidence and explanations.

Author(s): Elliot S. Bickel , Doug Lombardi
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

EarSketch: An Authentic, STEAM-based Approach to Computing Education

In this paper, we present a description of the EarSketch environment and curriculum. We also present an overview of the classroom environments in which EarSketch has been implemented to date, including professional development feedback, student artifacts, student engagement data, and student achievement.

Author(s): Roxanne Moore , Douglas Edwards , Jason Freeman , Brian Magerko , Tom McKlin , Anna Xambo
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Engineering

Invaluable values: an expectancy-value theory analysis of youths’ academic motivations and intentions

In this study we seek to better understand some of the factors that might contribute to or potentially mitigate early STEM pipeline leaks, specifically, high school graduation and college entrance leaks.

Author(s): Christopher Ball , Kuo-Ting Huang , Shelia R. Cotten , R.V. Rikard , LaToya O. Coleman
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Connecting the visible world with the invisible

This report describes how particulate diagrams were incorporated in a high school chemistry course, provides a rubric developed for assessing students’ particulate drawings, and summarizes the impact of particulate-level instruction on student outcomes.

Author(s): Thomas Pentecost , Sarah Weber , Deborah Herrington
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

School Resources in Teaching Science to Diverse Student Groups: An Intervention’s Effect on Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions

Elementary school teachers’ perceptions of school resources (i.e., material, human, and social) for teaching science to diverse student groups were examined across three school districts from one state. As part of a 3-year curricular and professional development intervention, we examined the effect on teachers’ perceptions after their first year of participation. The study involved 103 fifth-grade teachers from 33 schools participating in the intervention and 116 teachers from 33 control schools. The teachers completed a survey at the beginning and end of the school year. As a result of the intervention, teachers in the treatment group reported more positive perceptions of school resources than teachers in the control group.

Author(s): Okhee Lee , Lorena Llosa , Feng Jiang , Corey O’Connor , Alison Haas
Year: 2016
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Challenges to Using the Regression Discontinuity Design in Educational Evaluations: Lessons from the Transition to Algebra Study

This article describes the use of RD design to evaluate the impact of a supplemental algebra-readiness curriculum, Transition to Algebra, on students’ mathematics outcomes.

Author(s): Josephine Louie , Christopher Rhoads , June Mark
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Evaluation

Computer Science, Coding, and Project-Based Learning for Engineering Instruction

Chapter 7 of the publication Engineering Instruction for High-Ability Learners in K-8 Classrooms, this chapter written by Irene Lee and April DeGennaro focuses on computer science, coding, and project-based learning for engineering instruction.

Author(s): Irene lee , April DeGennaro
Year: 2016

Informing Estimates of Program Effects for Studies of Mathematics Professional Development Using Teacher Content Knowledge Outcomes

This study presents empirical estimates of average program change in MKT and its variation with the goal of supporting the design of experimental trials that are adequately powered to detect a specified program effect.

Author(s): Geoffrey Phelps , Benjamin Kelcey , Nathan Jones , Shuangshuang Liu
Year: 2016

Evolution of Unit Fraction Conceptions in Two Fifth-Graders with a Learning Disability: An Exploratory Study

This exploratory study examines how a foundational scheme of unit fractions (1/n) may evolve through the mathematical activity of two fifth grade girls.

Author(s): Jessica Hunt , Ron Tzur , Arla Westenskow
Year: 2016

The eight essential elements of inclusive STEM high schools

This framework offers a clear picture of what exactly inclusive STEM schools are and common language for both researchers and practitioners.

Author(s): Melanie LaForce , Elizabeth Noble , Heather King , Jeanne Century , Courtney Blackwell , Sandra Holt , Ahmed Ibrahim , Stephanie Loo
Year: 2016

An exploration of teacher learning from an educative reform-oriented curriculum: Case studies of teacher curriculum use

This study raises questions and makes suggestions for future educative curriculum development and teacher preparation.

Author(s): Lisa M. Marco-Bujosa , Katherine L. McNeill , María González-Howard , Suzanna Loper
Year: 2016
Keywords: Middle, Science

Secondary Science Teaching for English Learners: Developing Supportive and Responsive Learning Contexts for Sense-Making and Language Development

This book focuses on the preparation of secondary science teachers to teach science to English Learners (EL) and is based on the SSTELLA (Secondary Science Education with English Language and Literacy Acquisition) project that has been implemented in four pre-service teacher education programs in Arizona, California and Texas, all states with large populations of EL.

Author(s): Edward G. Lyon , Sara Tolbert , Jorge Solis , Patricia Stoddart , George C. Bunch
Year: 2016

Elementary content specialization: Models, affordances, and constraints

This study investigates the models of elementary content specialization (ECS) in elementary mathematics and science and the affordances and constraints related to ECS—both generally and in relation to specific models.

Author(s): Kimberly A. Markworth , Joseph Brobst , Chris Ohana , Ruth Parker
Year: 2016

Constructing Assessment Tasks that Blend Disciplinary Core Ideas, Crosscutting Concepts, and Science Practices for Classroom Formative Applications

How do we measure knowledge in use? In this paper we describe how we use principles of evidence-centered design to develop classroom-based science assessments that integrate three dimensions of science proficiency—disciplinary core ideas, science practices, and crosscutting concepts.

Author(s): Christopher J. Harris , Joseph S. Krajcik , James W. Pellegrino , Kevin W. McElhaney
Year: 2016

If You Build It, Will They Reflect? Examining Teachers’ Use of an Online Video-based Learning Website

Many teachers use online professional development websites, but little is known about what teachers actually learn from them. This study explored teacher use of an online video-based learning website with over 37,000 members.

Author(s): Meg Schleppenbach Bates , Lena Phalen , Cheryl G. Moran
Year: 2016

Why a Digital Teacher Guide?

An electronic teacher guide (eTG) was developed to determine whether a digital guide could better support teachers in implementing an inquiry-based curriculum and in enhancing their practice. Developed as a proof-of-concept exemplar, features of the eTG support high school teachers in planning, implementing, and modifying innovative instructional materials and in developing more ambitious teaching practices.

Author(s): Jacqueline S. Miller , Katherine F. Paget
Year: 2016

Valuing student ideas morally, instrumentally, and intellectually

The importance of valuing student ideas in science education stands on firm empirical, theoretical, and moral grounds. However, the reasons for which one might value student ideas are often not explicitly distinguished, even if implicit distinctions are made in the literature. In this paper, I define and distinguish between three ways of valuing student ideas – moral, instrumental, and intellectual – and I suggest implications of these distinctions for teacher education and research.

Author(s): Amy D. Robertson
Year: 2016
Keywords: High, Science

Next Generation STEM Learning for All-envisioning advances based on NSF supported research

How can research-based findings and advances help society to re-envision STEM learning and education? This report captures key takeaways, strategies, and challenges identified during the November 2015 workshop, including: research-based advances for STEM learning; multiple stakeholder communities around STEM schools; social justice, equity, and excellence in STEM schools and communities; scale and sustainability

Author(s): Carrie Parker , Sarita Pillai , Jeremy Roschelle
Year: 2016

Online Professional Development: A primer

This article provides a framework for making sense of common online teacher learning opportunities. It also suggests situations where online professional development may be most useful and presents a challenge for educators to consider when engaging in online learning.

Author(s): Meg S. Bates , Lena Phalen , Cheryl Moran
Year: 2016

STEM-focused high schools as a strategy for enhancing readiness for postsecondary STEM programs

The logic underlying inclusive STEM high schools (ISHSs) posits that requiring all students to take advanced college preparatory STEM courses while providing student-centered, reform-oriented instruction, ample student supports, and real-world STEM experiences and role models will prepare and inspire students admitted on the basis of STEM interest rather than prior achievement for postsecondary STEM. This study tests that logic model by comparing the high school experiences and achievement of students in ISHSs and comparison schools in North Carolina. After identifying ISHS and non-STEM comparison high schools serving students who were similar in terms of socioeconomic status and academic achievement prior to high school entry, we employed propensity-score weighting and HLM modeling to estimate the impact of attending an ISHS on a set of outcome measures obtained from student surveys and from the state's longitudinal student data system. Analyses of student survey data found that attending an ISHS raises the likelihood that a student will complete pre-calculus or calculus and chemistry in high school, leads to increased involvement in STEM extracurricular and out-of-class activities, and enhances interest in science careers and aspirations to earn a master's or higher degree. Analyses of student outcome data from state administrative records revealed a positive impact of inclusive STEM high school attendance on grade point average (GPA) but not on ACT scores.

Author(s): Barbara Means , Haiwen Wang , Viki Young , Vanessa L. Peters , Sharon J. Lynch
Year: 2016

Engineering for Every K–12 Student

A Landscape Analysis of K–12 Engineering Education in the Greater Boston Region

Author(s): Darryl Williams , Catherine McCulloch
Year: 2016

Does Competency-based Professional Development have legs?

Does the promise of competency-based PD outweigh the challenges to implementing it? Do we really want competency-based PD or just more effective, sustained, job-embedded PD like instructional coaching, lesson study, and the like. Read this blog by Meg S. Bates as she ponders these questions and more.

Author(s): Meg S. Bates
Year: 2016

Adopting an International Innovation for Teacher Professional Development: State and District Approaches to Lesson Study in Florida

The state of Florida has taken an unprecedented approach to teacher professional development in its Race to the Top
(RTTT) Program application by proposing to promote an international innovation that originates in Japan, “lesson study,” as
a statewide teacher professional development model. Since winning the US$700 million RTTT funding in 2010, the Florida
Department of Education and districts have been promoting lesson study as one of the statewide vehicles to implement
the state standards aligned with the Common Core State Standards. This study analyzed the state and districts’ approaches
to promote lesson study using policy documents, statewide district survey data, and interviews. We found that a majority
of districts mandated lesson study implementation without securing or spending sufficient funding. In addition, the existing organizational structures and routines for professional development pose a major challenge in capacity building of district leaders and teachers to engage in lesson study.

Author(s): Motoko Akiba
Year: 2016

Elevating and Enhancing the “E” in STEM Education

Co-author of the "Engineering for Every K–12 Student" report, Catherine McCulloch reflects on the status of engineering education and shares a few key takeaways from the report.

Author(s): Catherine McCulloch
Year: 2016

Appendix 5 of the California Science Framework: Computer Science in Science

This appendix of the California Science Framework focuses on Computer Science in Science.

Author(s): Irene Lee
Year: 2016

Lesson Study District Survey Report

This report summarizes the 2013, 2014, and 2015 findings from a longitudinal survey of district professional development coordinators across the state of Florida. The results are presented with six sections: 1) District policy and practice, 2) Leadership, 3) Funding, 4) Lesson study schedule, 5) Professional development programs, and 6) Sustaining lesson study.

Author(s): Akiba, M., Wilkinson, B., Farfan, G., Howard, C., Kuleshova, A., Fryer, J., Murata, A., & Eichler, B.
Year: 2016

Future Research Priorities for DR K-12

DR K-12 project members' responses to the survey question: “What research questions or topics should be future priorities for the NSF’s DR K-12 program research agenda?”

Author(s): CADRE Team
Year: 2016
Keywords: Other, Research

Computer Science, Coding, and Project-Based Learning for Engineering Instruction

Chapter 7 of the publication Engineering Instruction for High-Ability Learners in K-8 Classrooms, this chapter written by Irene Lee and April DeGennaro focuses on computer science, coding, and project-based learning for engineering instruction.

Author(s): Irene Lee , April DeGennaro
Year: 2016

I Want to be the Inquiry Guy! How Research Experiences for Teachers Change Beliefs, Attitudes, and Values About Teaching Science as Inquiry

This qualitative study examined how and why research experiences for teachers (RETs) influenced middle and high school science teachers’ beliefs, attitudes, and values about teaching science as inquiry. Changes teachers reported after participating in the RET ranged from modifying a few lessons (belief change) to a comprehensive revision of what and how they taught to better reflect inquiry (attitude change). Some teachers who described comprehensively changing their instruction also described implementing actions meant to change science education within their respective schools, not just their own classrooms (value change). We present how and why teachers went about changes in their practices in relation to the researcher-created teacher inquiry beliefs system spectrum (TIBSS). The TIBSS conceptualizes the range of changes observed in participating teachers. We also describe the features of the RET and external factors, such as personal experiences and school contexts, that teachers cited as influential to these changes.

Author(s): Deborah G. Herrington , Senetta F. Bancroft , Molly M. Edwards , Caroline J. Schairer
Year: 2016

Facilitating Teacher Learning When Using Different Representations of Practice

Providing opportunities for learning through professional development requires the examination of facilitation of sessions with teachers. This study investigates facilitation of professional development to promote teacher learning when using animations and videos in a study group with five teachers.

Author(s): Gloriana Gonzalez Rivera , Jason Deal , Lisa Skultety
Year: 2016

CSTA Voice: The Voice of K–12 Computer Science Education and Its Educators

This article, Reclaiming the Roots of CT, is part of a CSTA Voice bi-monthly publication, where Lee argues for a focused definition of CT that clearly distinguishes it from other forms of thinking.

Author(s): Irene Lee
Year: 2016

STEM Smart Brief: Teaching and Learning Under the Next Generation Science Standards

This brief gives an overview—and by no means a comprehensive one—of several NGSS-aligned projects in the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2016

Re-imagining mathematics teacher education through undergraduate research

Author(s): Randall E. Groth , Jennifer A. Bergner , Claudia R. Burgess , Jathan W. Austin , Veera Holdai
Year: 2016

Invaluable values: an expectancy-value theory analysis of youths’ academic motivations and intentions

While Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields have increased in importance over the past decade, minorities have remained traditionally underrepresented in these fields. In this study we seek to better understand some of the factors that might contribute to or potentially mitigate early STEM pipeline leaks, specifically, high school graduation and college entrance leaks. Student interest formed in the early school years has an impact on future course selections and persistence in school. These choices can have long-term repercussions on the future career options and the financial security of students. We apply expectancy-value theory (EVT) in order to examine the factors that may influence students’ motivations and intentions to complete high school and attend college. Specifically, we investigate if EVT can help to explain change in students’ academic intentions and motivations after a computing intervention. We hypothesize that changes in students’ expectancies for success and subjective task values will be positively associated with changes in students’ intentions and motivations to persist in academia. Data were gathered from a sample of elementary students within an urban, high poverty, and predominately minority school district located in the southeastern USA. Changes in students’ expectancies for success and subjective task values over the course of the intervention played an important role in students’ academic motivations and intentions to both finish high school and attend college. These findings demonstrate that EVT is useful in explaining general academic motivations in young children, which could potentially increase the structural integrity of the STEM pipeline.

Author(s): Christopher Ball , Kuo-Ting Huang , Shelia R. Cotten , R.V. Rikard , LaToya O. Coleman
Year: 2016

Partnership Building as a Broadening-Participation Strategy: Helping Researchers and Developers Bridge the Gaps in STEM Education

This brief examines the continued underrepresentation of African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds in STEM fields; explains the benefits of collaboration around broadening participation; and offers guidance on building partnerships as a strategy for bridging the gaps in STEM education.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2016

Creating a Hybrid Immersive Mathematics Experience

This article describes design principles for creating or running a professional development model where teachers work with colleagues and experience a manner of teaching that embeds habits of mind.

Author(s): Miriam Gates , Tracy Cordner , Bowen Kerins , Al Cuoco , Eden Badertscher , Gail Burrill
Year: 2016

Levels of Participatory Conceptions of Fractional Quantity Along a Purposefully Sequenced Series of Equal Sharing Tasks: Stu's Trajectory

Current intervention research in special education focuses on children's responsiveness to teacher modeled strategies and not conceptual development within children's thinking. As a result, there is a need for research that provides a characterization of key understandings (KUs) of fractional quantity evidenced by children with learning disabilities (LD) and how growth of conceptual knowledge may occur within these children's mathematical activity. This case study extends current literature by presenting KUs of fractional quantity, evidenced through problem solving strategies, observable operations, and naming/quantification of one fifth grader with LD before, during, and after seven instructional sessions situated in equal sharing.

Author(s): Jessica Hunt , Arla Westenskow , Juanita Silva , Jasmine Welch-Ptak
Year: 2016

Analysis of the National Science Foundation’s Discovery Research K–12 ELL Projects

Educational and societal phenomena can converge to draw attention to a new focus, such as ELs and STEM, and then trigger new research interests. A funding program can play a critical role in shaping these new research interests by prioritizing specific research topics and designs or by requiring particular specializations of researchers. The study examined whether funding provided through the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Discovery Research K-12 (DR K-12) program has made a unique contribution to the research in the fields of science and mathematics education for ELs.

Author(s): Linda Caswell , Alina Martinez , Okhee Lee , Barbara Brauner Berns , Hilary Rhodes
Year: 2016

Teacher Agency and Professional Learning: Rethinking Fidelity of Implementation as Multiplicities of Enactment

In this paper we use practice theory, with its focus on the interplay of structure and agency, to theorize about teacher engagement in professional learning and teacher enactment of pedagogical practices as an alternative to framing implementation research in terms of program adherence and fidelity of implementation.

Author(s): Cory Buxton , Martha Allexsaht‐Snider , Shakhnoza Kayumova , Rouhollah Aghasaleh , Youn‐Jeng Choi , Allan Cohen
Year: 2015

Understanding the Difficulties African-American Middle School Girls Face While Enacting Computational Algorithmic Thinking in the Context of Game Design

This article introduces CAT as explored through the Supporting Computational Algorithmic Thinking (SCAT) project, an ongoing longitudinal between-subjects research project and enrichment program that guides African-American middle school girls (SCAT Scholars) through the iterative game design cycle resulting in a set of complex games around broad themes.

Author(s): Jakita O. Thomas , O. Carlette Odemwingie , Quimeka Saunders , Malika Watlerd
Year: 2015

Informal science institutions and learning to teach: An examination of identity, agency, and affordances

This article describes research from a clinical experience in a museum where teacher candidates engaged visitors in learning dialogs around objects on a moveable cart in an exhibit. We describe how working in informal settings and learning to use the affordances of that setting supports aspiring teachers to connect theory to practice in ways that developed Spielraum in that is student-centered, responsive to the needs of learners, and allows for the imagination future selves and classrooms that are conducive to maintaining these identities.

Author(s): Jennifer D. Adams , Preeti Gupta
Year: 2015

A balancing act in third space: Graduate-level earth science in an urban teacher-residency program

This article describes a museum-based urban teacher-residency (UTR) program's approach to building subject-specific content knowledge and research experience in Earth Science teacher candidates.

Author(s): N. Alex Zirakparvar
Year: 2015

Case Studies

Case Studies from the FAACT project.

Author(s): Jessica Hunt
Year: 2015

Practice What You Teach: A Video-Based Practicum Model of Professional Development for Elementary Science Teachers

This study examines an innovative professional development program that provides teachers with an opportunity to practice pedagogical strategies in a low stakes classroom context.

Author(s): Eric Berson , Hilda Borko , Susan Million , Edit Khachatryan , Kerri Glennon
Year: 2015
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Use of physics simulations in whole class and small group settings: Comparative case studies

This study investigates student interactions with simulations, and teacher support of those interactions, within naturalistic high school classroom settings.

Author(s): A. Lynn Stephens , John J. Clement
Year: 2015
Keywords: High, Science, Technology

Identifying multiple levels of discussion-based teaching strategies for constructing scientific models

This study sought to identify specific types of discussion-based strategies that two successful high school physics teachers using a model-based approach utilized in attempting to foster students’ construction of explanatory models for scientific concepts.

Author(s): Grant Williams , John Clement
Year: 2015
Keywords: High, Science

Pedagogical content knowledge of argumentation: Using classroom contexts to assess high quality PCK rather than pseudoargumentation

In this paper, we present lessons learned from a development process to conceptualize, design, and pilot a measure of teachers' PCK of argumentation.

Author(s): Katherine L. McNeill , María González-Howard , Rebecca Katsh-Singer , Suzanna Loper
Year: 2015
Keywords: Middle, Science

An Exploratory Analysis of Pre-service Middle School Teachers’ Mathematical Arguments

Calls for increased focus on mathematical argumentation in school mathematics are critical for teacher educators charged with preparing prospective K-8 teachers (PST) to foster mathematical argumentation in their future classrooms. This is because research suggests that middle school years are crucial for students to gain proficiency in creating and critiquing mathematical arguments. Supporting PSTs’ strong understanding of what it means to do mathematics necessitates that teacher preparation programs place an emphasis on mathematical and pedagogical preparation that facilitates PSTs’ strong understanding of mathematical argumentation and proving in school mathematics.

Author(s): Vecihi S. Zambak , Marta T. Magiera
Year: 2015

Launching a Discourse-rich Mathematics Lesson

This article discusses the use of the Think Aloud strategy at the beginning of a lesson to model to students both the type of thinking that develops conceptual understanding, as well as how to share one’s thinking.

Author(s): Aaron Trocki , Christine Taylor , Tina Starling , Paola Sztajn , Daniel Heck
Year: 2015

Assessment design patterns for computational thinking practices in secondary computer science: A first look

This report gives an overview of a principled approach to designing assessment tasks that can generate valid evidence of students’ abilities to think computationally.

Author(s): Marie Bienkowski , Eric Snow , Daisy Rutstein , Shuchi Grover
Year: 2015
Keywords: High, Technology

Family-school partnerships in a context of urgent engagement: Rethinking models, measurement, and meaningfulness

This commentary highlights key themes across the five chapters of this volume, as well as offers specific recommendations concerning future directions for inquiry on the issue of family–school connections.

Author(s): Christine M. McWayne
Year: 2015

Great Questions Make for Great Science Education

Author(s): Amy Pallant , Sarah J. Pryputniewicz
Year: 2015

Productivity of “collisions generate heat” for reconciling an energy model with mechanistic reasoning: A case study

We observe teachers in professional development courses about energy constructing mechanistic accounts of energy transformations. We analyze a case in which teachers investigating adiabatic compression develop a model of the transformation of kinetic energy to thermal energy. Among their ideas is the idea that thermal energy is generated as a byproduct of individual particle collisions, which is represented in science education research literature as an obstacle to learning. We demonstrate that in this instructional context, the idea that individual particle collisions generate thermal energy is not an obstacle to learning, but instead is productive: it initiates intellectual progress. Specifically, this idea initiates the reconciliation of the teachers’ energy model with mechanistic reasoning about adiabatic compression, and leads to a canonically correct model of the transformation of kinetic energy into thermal energy. We claim that the idea’s productivity is influenced by features of our particular instructional context, including the instructional goals of the course, the culture of collaborative sense making, and the use of certain representations of energy.

Author(s): Rachel E. Scherr , Amy D. Robertson
Year: 2015

Iteration: Unit Fraction Knowledge and the French Fry Tasks

Author(s): Ron Tzur , Jessica Hunt
Year: 2015

How Kids are Learning Math, Maps and Spatial Justice

Author(s): Laurie Rubel , Maren Hall-Wieckert
Year: 2015
Keywords: High, Mathematics

ScratchJr Demo: A coding language for Kindergarten

Author(s): Amanda Strawhacker , Melissa Lee , Claire Caine , Marina Bers
Year: 2015

Mathematics Curriculum, Teacher Professionalism, and Supporting Policies in Korea and the United States: Summary of a Workshop

On July 15-17, 2012 the United States National Commission on Mathematics Instruction and Seoul National University held a joint Korea-U.S. workshop on Mathematics Teaching and Curriculum. The workshop was organized to address questions and issues related to math teaching and curriculum that were generated by each country. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions at the workshop.

Author(s): Ana Ferreras , Cathy Kessel , Myong-Hi Kim
Year: 2015

Teachers’ support of students’ instrumentation in a collaborative, dynamic geometry environment

We report on a case study that seeks to understand how teachers’ pedagogical interventions influence students’ instrumentation and mathematical reasoning in a collaborative, dynamic geometry environment. A high school teacher engaged a class of students in the Virtual Math Teams with GeoGebra environment (VMTwG) to solve geometrical tasks. The VMTwG allows users to share both GeoGebra and chat windows to engage in joint problem solving. Our analysis of the teacher’s implementation and students’ interactions in VMTwG shows that his instrumental orchestration (Trouche, 2004, 2005) supported students’ instrumentation (Rabardel & Beguin, 2005) and shaped their movement between empirical explorations and deductive justifications. This study contributes to understanding the interplay between a teacher’s instrumental orchestration and students’ instrumentation and movement towards more deductive justifications.

Author(s): Muteb M. Alqahtani , Arthur B. Powell
Year: 2015

Tasks promoting productive mathematical discourse in collaborative digital environments

Rich tasks can be vehicles for productive mathematical discussions. How to support such discourse in collaborative digital environments is the focus of our theorization and empirical examination of task design that emerges from a larger research project. We present the theoretical foundations of our task design principles that developed through an iterative research design for a project that involves secondary teachers in online courses to learn discursively dynamic geometry by collaborating on construction and problem-solving tasks in a cyberlearning environment. In this study, we discuss a task and the collaborative work of a team of teachers to illustrate relationships between the task design, productive mathematical discourse, and the development of new mathematics knowledge for the teachers. Implications of this work suggest further investigations into interactions between characteristics of task design and learners mathematical activity.

Author(s): Arthur B. Powell , Muteb M. Alqahtani
Year: 2015

The Impact of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Usage on Psychological Well-Being among Urban Youth

Information and communication technology (ICT) usage is pervasive among present day youth, with about 95% of youth ages 12-17 years reporting use of the Internet. Due to the proliferation of ICT use among this generation, it is important to understand the impacts of ICT usage on well-being. The goal of this study was to determine the impact of ICT usage on psychological well-being among a sample of urban, predominately African American youth.

Author(s): LaToya O’Neal Coleman , Timothy M. Hale , Shelia R. Cotten , Philip Gibson
Year: 2015
Keywords: Middle, High, Technology

Connecting Research to Teaching: Focusing on Mathematical Arguments

Practitioner-focused article connecting research on argumentation to teachers' practice.

Author(s): Laura M. Singletary , AnnaMarie Conner
Year: 2015

The Learning Portal: Hundreds of Free Digital Activities Using Models and Probes

Author(s): Carolyn Staudt , Camden Hanzlick-Burton , Carol Williamson , Cynthia McIntyre
Year: 2015

Instrumental development of teachers’ reasoning in dynamic geometry

To contribute to understanding how teachers can develop geometrical understanding, we report on the discursive development of teachers’ geometrical reasoning through instrument appropriation while collaborating in an online dynamic geometry environment (DGE). Using the theory of instrument-mediated activity, we analysis the discourse and DGE actions of a group of middle and high school mathematics teachers who participated in a semester-long, professional development course. Working in small teams, they collaborated to solve geometric problems. Our results show that as teachers appropriate DGE artifacts and transform its components into instruments, they develop their geometrical knowledge and reasoning in dynamic geometry. Our study contributes to a broad understanding of how teachers develop mathematical knowledge for teaching.

Author(s): Muteb M. Alqahtani , Arthur B. Powell
Year: 2015

Threatened by Stereotype: An investigation of the effect of stereotype threat on female and minority students’ STEM learning in the context of a computer intervention

To contribute to the growing field of STEM education, we examined the presence of stereotype threat for
female and African American students during a large-scale computing intervention. Namely, this paper
examines whether gender and race have an effect on students’ self-perceived technology efficacy,
technology anxiety, STEM attitude, and college expectations. In total, 1,085 student survey responses
were analyzed in order to better understand the effects of stereotype threat on females’ and minorities’
STEM learning. The results suggest that gender was a consistent determinant of STEM attitude and
technology efficacy. Furthermore, race was found to be a predictor of technology anxiety. In regards to
college expectations, gender and race were not predictors. Instead, STEM attitude and self-efficacy were
found to be positively associated with students’ expectations to attend college.

Author(s): Kuo-Ting Huang , Shelia R. Cotten , Christopher Ball
Year: 2015

Examining Elementary School Science Achievement Gaps Using an Organizational and Leadership Perspective

Author(s): John Settlage , Malcolm B. Butler , Julianne Wenner , Lara K. Smetana , Betsy McCoach
Year: 2015

Promoting productive mathematical discourse: Tasks in collaborative digital environments

Tasks can be vehicles for productive mathematical discussions. How to support such discourse in collaborative digital environments is the focus of our theorization and empirical examination of task design that emerges from a larger research project. We present our task design principles that developed through an iterative research design for a project that involves secondary teachers in online courses to learn discursively dynamic geometry by collaborating on construction and problem-solving tasks in a cyber learning environment. In this study, we discuss a task and the collaborative work of a team of teachers to illustrate relationships between the task design and productive mathematical discourse. Implications suggest further investigations into interactions between characteristics of task design and learners mathematical activity.

Author(s): Arthur B. Powell , Muteb M. Alqahtani
Year: 2015

Mind the Emotional Gap: The Impact of Emotional Costs on Student Learning Outcomes

This paper makes a significant contribution to the growing field of digital inequality research by developing an operational definition of emotional costs. To examine this understudied aspect of digital inequalities, we build on Van Dijk’s concept of mental access. We define emotional costs as anxiety toward using information and communication technologies instigated by a lack of prior technology experience and limited computer access.

Author(s): Kuo-Ting Huang , Laura Robinson , Shelia R. Cotten
Year: 2015
Keywords: Other, Technology

A Novel Way to Teach Kids About Engineering

This project uses plots from books by Roald Dahl, Judy Blume, and others to teach STEM concepts.

Author(s): Chris Berdik
Year: 2015

Journey to Centers in the Core

Students travel through a series of lessons as they analyze data and unpack the meaning of measures of center.

Author(s): Randall E. Groth , Kristen D. Kent , Ebony D. Hitch
Year: 2015
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Integrating Computing Across the Curriculum: The Impact of Internal Barriers and Training Intensity on Computer Integration in the Elementary School Classroom

This study examines the relationship between internal barriers, professional development, and computer integration outcomes among a sample of fourth- and fifth-grade teachers in an urban, low-income school district in the Southeastern United States. Specifically, we examine the impact of teachers’ computer attitudes, computer anxiety, and computer training on the quality of computer integration in their classrooms. Using data from the Integrating Computing Across the Curriculum project, we utilize a mixed-methods approach to explore these relationships. Our results indicate that teacher attitudes and participation in an intensive computer-based training have a positive effect on computer integration practices. Findings from this study support providing teachers with more computer-based training which aims to improve the quality of classroom integration. This may lead to improvements in teacher attitudes toward computing and an increase in levels of computer integration in the elementary school classroom.

Author(s): LaToya O. Coleman , Philip Gibson , Shelia R. Cotten , Michael Howell-Moroney , Kristi Stringer
Year: 2015

Broadening Participation — Making STEM Learning Relevant and Rigorous for All Students

This brief explores factors that contribute to opportunity gaps in STEM education based on race, ethnicity, gender, ability, and socioeconomic status. It showcases the work of several DR K-12 projects and describes promising approaches for removing barriers for underrepresented groups and enhancing the STEM learning of all students.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2015

Pawnshops to Teach Percent and Percent to Teach Pawnshops

Author(s): Laurie H. Rubel , Vivian Lim
Year: 2015

The Power and Promise of a Digital Tool for Teaching Inquiry Science

To examine the value of the electronic teacher guide (eTG) as a curriculum planning and teaching tool,
it was important to study it in the contexts of teachers’ actual planning, teaching, and reflecting.
This paper described two descriptive case studies.

Author(s): Katherine F. Paget , Jacqueline S. Miller , William J. Tally
Year: 2015

Simulating teaching: New possibilities for assessing teaching practice

Author(s): Meghan Shaughnessy , Timothy Boerst , Deborah Loewenberg Ball
Year: 2015

Critical Pedagogy of Place in Mathematics: Texts, Tools and Talk

This paper explores the potential of integrating critical and place-based perspectives supported by mobile, digital technologies in secondary mathematics. The paper describes two curricular modules: Local Lotto, a mathematical investigation of the state lottery, and Cash City, a mathematical investigation about pawn shops, which were piloted in a high school in an underserved neighborhood in New York City.

Author(s): Laurie Rubel , Vivian Lim , Mary Candace Full , Maren Hall-Wieckert
Year: 2015

Constructing the ScratchJr programming language in the early childhood classroom

Author(s): Dylan J. Portelance , Amanda L. Strawhacker , Marina Umaschi Bers
Year: 2015

Using Web GIS to promote geospatial thinking and reasoning skills

This book examines visual data use with students (PK-16) as well as in pre-service in- service science teacher preparation. Each chapter includes discussion about the current state of the art with respect to science classroom application and utilization of the particular visual data targeted by the author(s), discussion and explanation about the targeted visual data as applied by the author in his/her classroom, use of visual data as a diagnostic tool, its use as an assessment tool, and discussion of implications for science teaching and/or science teacher preparation.

Author(s): Alec M. Bodzin , David Anastasio , Dork Sahagian
Year: 2015
Keywords: High, Technology

In Step with the New Science Standards

The Next Generation Science Standards can transform how teaching and learning unfold in the classroom. Here's what they look like —and how you can get started.

Author(s): Jeff C. Marshall
Year: 2015
Keywords: Other, Science, Standards

Examining the Enactment of Web GIS on Students' Geospatial Thinking and Reasoning and Tectonics Understandings

Author(s): Alec M. Bodzin , Qiong Fu , Denise Bressler , Farah L. Vallera
Year: 2015

A Pilot Meta-Analysis of Computer-Based Scaffolding in STEM Education

Author(s): Brian R. Belland , Andrew E. Walker , Megan Whitney Olsen , Heather Leary
Year: 2015

Investigating the development of mathematics leaders' capacity to support teachers' learning on a large scale

Author(s): Kara Jackson , Paul Cobb , Jonee Wilson , Megan Webster , Charlotte Dunlap , Mollie Appelgate
Year: 2015

Swimming Upstream in a Torrent of Assessment

Author(s): Anita A. Wager , M. Elizabeth Graue , Kelly Harrigan
Year: 2015

Scaffolding Argumentation about Water Quality: A Mixed-method Study in a Rural Middle School

In this mixed method study, we examined the use and impact of computer based scaffolding to support middle school students’ creation of evidence-based arguments during a 3-week problem-based learning unit focused on the water quality of a local river. We found a significant and substantial impact on the argument evaluation ability of lower-achieving students, and preliminary evidence of an impact on argument evaluation ability among low-SES students. We also found that students used the various available support—computer-based scaffolding, teacher scaffolding, and groupmate support—in different ways to counter differing challenges. We then formulated changes to the scaffolds on the basis of research results.

Author(s): Brian R. Belland , Jiangyue Gu , Sara Armbrust , Brant Cook
Year: 2015

ScratchJr: A Coding Language for Kindergarten

A paper on the prototype evolution of the ScratchJr programming environment.

Author(s): Amanda Strawhacker , Dylan Portelance , Marina Bers
Year: 2015

Turning Transfer Inside Out: The Affordances of Virtual Worlds and Mobile Devices in Real World Contexts for Teaching About Causality Across Time and Distance in Ecosystems

Author(s): Tina A. Grotzer , Megan M. Powell , Katarzyna M. Derbiszewska , Caroline J. Courter , Amy M. Kamarainen , Shari J. Metcalf , Christopher J. Dede
Year: 2015

Technology-enhanced inquiry learning

Author(s): Brian R. Belland
Year: 2015
Keywords: Other, Technology

Looking Through the Energy Lens

A strategy that helps students develop a fuller view of energy's role in a variety of phenomena.

Author(s): Sally Crissman , Sara Lacy , Jeffrey Nordine , Roger Tobin
Year: 2015
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Envisioning the Role of the Mathematics Teacher

Author(s): Charles Munter
Year: 2015
Keywords: Other, Mathematics

Re-imagining a curriculum guide for teachers in digital format: A collaboration crossing geographical, disciplinary and culture boundaries

The goal of the Electronic Teacher Guide project was to redesign the print teacher guide for the genetics unit of Foundation Science: Biology as an exemplar of a cybertool that would support the implementation of the curriculum and enhance its educative impact. The completion of this goal required collaborative interactions among curriculum developers, technology designers, software developers, researchers and evaluators.

Author(s): Kathleen Haynie , Katherine F. Paget , Jacqueline S. Miller
Year: 2015

EarSketch: Teaching Computational Music Remixing in an Online Web Audio Based Learning Environment

Author(s): Anand Mahadevan , Jason Freeman , Brian Magerko , Juan Carlos Martinez
Year: 2015

Mentoring for the Postdoctoral/Early Career Researcher: Key Elements and Broader Impacts

This CADRE brief looks at the key elements and broader impacts of mentoring a postdoctoral/early career researcher.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2015

Illuminating Coordinate Geometry with Algebraic Symmetry

A symmetric polynomial is a polynomial in one or more variables in which swapping any pair of variables leaves the polynomial unchanged. For example, f(x, y, z) = xy +xz + yz is a symmetric polynomial. If we interchange the variables x and y, we obtain yx + yz + xz, which is the same as f(x, y, z); likewise, swapping x and z (or y and z) returns the original polynomial. These polynomials arise in many areas of mathematics, including Galois theory and combinatorics, but they are rarely taught in a high school curriculum. In this article, we describe an application of symmetric polynomials to a familiar problem in coordinate geometry, thus introducing this powerful tool in a context that is accessible to high school students.

Author(s): Ryota Matsuura , Sarah Sword
Year: 2015

Thunder and Lightning: Understanding Equidistance

Lightning strikes, and two people hear thunder simultaneously. Where might the lightning have struck? Now consider a slightly different scenario: Lightning strikes, and three people hear thunder simultaneously. Where might the lightning have struck? These scenarios set the stage for an exploration of equidistance and lead students to develop properties of the perpendicular bisector.

Author(s): Carlos A. Mejía Colindres
Year: 2015
Keywords: Other, Mathematics

Imagining a Future in 4k: How Professional Identity Shapes Notions of Mathematics

Author(s): Elizabeth Graue , Anne Karabon , Katherine Kresin Delaney , Kristin Whyte , Jiwon Kim , Anita Wager
Year: 2015
Keywords: Other, Mathematics

Case studies of a robot-based game to shape interests and hone proportional reasoning skills

Author(s): Louis Alfieri , Ross Higashi , Robin Shoop , Christian D. Schunn
Year: 2015

In Praise of Messy Data

Lessons from the search for alien worlds.

Author(s): Roy Gould , Susan Sunbury , Mary Dussault
Year: 2014

Preparing new science teachers for high-need schools

In 2012, the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City launched the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Urban Residency Program. Developing a teacher preparation program from scratch is a tall order, and the museum is learning a tremendous amount from its pilot effort.

Author(s): Rosamond Kinzler , Maritza Macdonald
Year: 2014

How can museums help teachers with the NGSS?

This article describes the role of museums in supporting schools and teachers in addressing the demands of the NGSS.

Author(s): Jim Short
Year: 2014

Generating, evaluating, and modifying scientific models using projected computer simulations

Explore disciplinary core ideas with the help of computer simulations that can be projected to promote engagement.

Author(s): Norman Price , John Clement
Year: 2014
Keywords: High, Science

Staying Engaged: Knowledge and Research Needs in Student Engagement

In this article, we review knowledge about student engagement and look ahead to the future of study in this area.

Author(s): Ming-Te Wang , Jessica Degol
Year: 2014

Hands-on small group vs. whole class use of an interactive simulation: Qualitative comparisons

We conduct qualitative analyses of one of the lesson sequences, in which a popular simulation was used in eight high school physics class sections, half in whole class discussion and half in small groups.

Author(s): A. Lynn Stevens , John Clement
Year: 2014
Keywords: High, Science

Constructing Scientific Arguments Using Evidence from Dynamic Computational Climate Models

Modeling and argumentation are two important scientific practices students need to develop throughout school years. In this paper, we investigated how middle and high school students (N=512) construct a scientific argument based on evidence from computational models with which they simulated climate change. We designed scientific argumentation tasks with three increasingly complex dynamic climate models. Each scientific argumentation task consisted of four parts: multiple-choice claim, open ended explanation, five-point Likert scale uncertainty rating, and open-ended uncertainty rationale.
We coded 1,294 scientific arguments in terms of a claim’s consistency with current scientific consensus, whether explanations were model based or knowledge based and categorized the sources of uncertainty (personal vs. scientific). We used chi-square and ANOVA tests to identify significant patterns. Results indicate that (1) a majority of students incorporated models as evidence to support their claims, (2) most students used model output results shown on graphs to confirm their claim rather than to explain simulated molecular processes, (3) students’ dependence on model results and their uncertainty rating diminished as the dynamic climate models became more and more complex, (4) some students’ misconceptions interfered with observing and interpreting model results or simulated processes, and (5) students’ uncertainty sources reflected more frequently on their assessment of personal knowledge or abilities related to the tasks than on their critical examination of scientific evidence resulting from models. These findings have implications for teaching and research related to the integration of scientific argumentation and modeling practices to address complex Earth systems.

Author(s): Amy Pallant , Hee-Sun Lee
Year: 2014

City Digits: Developing Socially-Grounded Data Literacy Using Digital Tools

Author(s): Sarah Williams , Erica Deahl , Laurie Rubel , Vivian Lim
Year: 2014

Assessment of uncertainty-infused scientific argumentation

Though addressing sources of uncertainty is an important part of doing science, it has largely been neglected in assessing students' scientific argumentation. In this study, we initially defined a scientific argumentation construct in four structural elements consisting of claim, justification, uncertainty qualifier, and uncertainty rationale. We consulted literature to characterize and score different levels of student performances on each of these four argumentation elements. We designed a test comprised of nine scientific argumentation tasks addressing climate change, the search for life in space, and fresh water availability and administered it to 473 students from 9 high schools in the United States. After testing the local dependence and unidimensionality assumptions, we found that the uncertainty qualifier element was not aligned with the other three. After removing items related to uncertainty qualifier, we applied a Rasch analysis based on a Partial Credit Model. Results indicate that (1) claim, justification, and uncertainty rationale items form a unidimensional scale, (2) justification and uncertainty rationale items contribute the most on the unidimensional scientific argumentation scale as they cover much wider ranges of the scale than claim items, (3) average item difficulties increase in the order of claim, justification, and uncertainty rationale, (4) students' elaboration of uncertainty exhibits dual characteristics: self-assessment of their own knowledge and ability versus scientific assessment of conceptual and empirical errors embedded in investigations, and (5) students who can make warrants between theory and evidence are more likely to think about uncertainty from scientific sources than those who cannot. We identified limitations of this study in terms of science topic coverage and sample selection and made suggestions on how these limitations might have affected results and interpretations.

Author(s): Hee-Sun Lee , Lydia Liu , Amy Pallant , Katrina Crotts Roohr , Sarah Pryputniewicz , Zoë E. Buck
Year: 2014

Towards ITS Authoring Tool s for Domain Experts

This paper presents a set of authoring tool design principles such as leveraging UI workflows, collaboration, and automation.

Author(s): Robert Taylor , Andy Smith , Samuel Leeman-Munk , Bradford Mott , James Lester
Year: 2014

Examining Young Students’ Problem Scoping in Engineering Design

Exploring students' problem solving within an integrated engineering and literacy activity

Author(s): Jessica Watkins , Kathleen Spencer , David Hammer
Year: 2014

Design Practices of Preservice Elementary Teachers in an Integrated Engineering and Literature Experience

Examining discourse of a team of pre-service teachers within an IEL engineering design challenge

Author(s): Kristen Bethke Wendell
Year: 2014

Exploring iconic interpretation and mathematics teacher development through clinical simulations

Author(s): Benjamin Dotger , Joanna Masingila , Mary Bearkland , Sharon Dotger
Year: 2014

Implementing a Robotics Curriculum in an Early Childhood Montessori Classroom

This paper explores how robotics can be used as a new educational tool in a Montessori early education classroom.

Author(s): Mollie Elkin , Amanda Sullivan , Marina Umaschi Bers
Year: 2014

Assessing and Using Students’ Prior Knowledge in Problem-Based Instruction

Author(s): Gloriana González , Anna DeJarnette , Jason Deal
Year: 2014
Keywords: Other, Mathematics

The 8 Elements of Inclusive STEM High Schools: Findings from the STEM School Study

Author(s): Melanie LaForce , Elizabeth Noble , Heather King , Sandra Holt , Jeanne Century
Year: 2014

Use of Google Earth, Cyber Databases, and Geotagged Photos to Enhance Students’ Scientific Practices and Understanding

Using Google Earth, Cyber Databases, and Geotagged Photos to Enhance Students’ Scientific Practices and Understanding of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

Author(s): Shiang-Kwei Wang , Hui-Yin Hsu , Jean Posada
Year: 2014

‘‘I Want My Robot to Look for Food’’: Comparing Kindergartner’s Programming Comprehension Using Tangible, Graphic, and Hybrid User Interfaces

In recent years, educational robotics has become an increasingly popular research area. However, limited studies have focused on differentiated learning outcomes based on type of programming interface. This study aims to explore how successfully young children master foundational programming concepts based on the robotics user interface (tangible, graphical, hybrid) taught in their curriculum.

Author(s): Amanda Strawhacker , Marina U. Bers
Year: 2014

How games can engage students and improve learning

Understanding how games create a sense of flow and engagement can help teachers make better choices about their instructional use of games.

Author(s): Marilyn Ault
Year: 2014

Constructing and Role-Playing Student Avatars in a Simulation of Teaching Algebra for Diverse Learners

This study examines the design and implementation of a simulated teaching environment in Second Life for prospective teachers.

Author(s): Tingting Ma , Irving A. Brown , Gerald Kulm , Trina J. Davis , Chance W. Lewis , G. Donald Allen
Year: 2014

SketchMiner: Mining Learner-Generated Science Drawings with Topological Abstraction

This paper introduces SketchMiner, which uses drawing topologies to automatically interpret learner-generated sketches.

Author(s): Andy Smith , Eric Wiebe , Bradford Mott , James Lester
Year: 2014

Uncovering and Eliciting Mathematical Perceptions in Linguistically Diverse Classrooms

One of the many challenges that teachers face in mathematics classrooms is determining how much of the verbal and written explanations help students accomplish instructional goals. The challenge is greater in linguistically diverse classrooms because the explanations and multiple representations are not perceived uniformly by all students.

Author(s): M. Alejandra Sorto , Carlos A. Mejía Colindres , Aaron T. Wilson
Year: 2014
Keywords: Other, Mathematics

Assessing Elementary Students' Science Competency with Text Analytics

This paper presents WriteEval, a hybrid text analytics method for analyzing student-constructed responses.

Author(s): Samuel P. Leeman-Munk , Eric N. Wiebe , James C. Lester
Year: 2014

What’s happening in the Quantified Self movement?

Author(s): Victor Lee
Year: 2014
Keywords: Other, Technology

Engaging underrepresented groups in high school introductory computing through computational remixing with EarSketch

Author(s): Jason Freeman , Brian Magerko , Tom McKlin , Mike Reilly , Justin Permar , Cameron Summers , Eric Fruchter
Year: 2014

Towards Domain-Independent Assessment of Elementary Students’ Science Competency using Soft Cardinality

This paper presents a novel application of the soft cardinality text analytics method to support assessment of text.

Author(s): Samuel P. Leeman-Munk , Angela Shelton , Eric N. Wiebe , James C. Lester
Year: 2014

Early Career Researchers and Developers in the DR K–12 Program: Needs, Supports, and Recommendations

The future strength of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) K-12 education research and development efforts depends in part on the development of promising early career researchers and developers—including doctoral students, post-docs, and first time principal investigators (PIs)—who can grow into R&D leaders and form an impactful R&D workforce. This brief promotes deliberation on how to improve support and guidance for early career researchers and developers in the DR K-12 program, as well as in the broader field of STEM education R&D.

Author(s): Derek Riley , Alisha Butler
Year: 2014

A Targeted Study of Gaming and Simulation Projects in DR K-12

The NSF’s Discovery Research K-12 (DR K-12) program is one potential source of funding for the needed research on the educational effectiveness of gaming and simulations. The DR K-12 program seeks to enhance the teaching and learning of STEM in K-12 education by funding the “development, testing, deployment, effectiveness, and/or scale-up of innovative resources, models, and tools”4 in STEM areas. This work takes on many forms within the funding portfolio, including computer games and simulations. With the growing attention to these types of educational technologies, the Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education (CADRE) conducted a brief targeted study to better understand the gaming and simulation research and development work being funded within the NSF’s DR K-12 program and to highlight work that may help fill the gaps identified by the NRC.

Author(s): Barbara Brauner Berns , Amy Busey , Alina Martinez , Uma Natarajan , Sarah Sahni , Sally Wu
Year: 2014

Advice for Developing a Research Design that Employs Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR)

This brief provides guidance for how to design a research plan using DBIR. It can also serve as a resource for preparing a research proposal to a federal agency or foundation that employs a DBIR approach. This guidance is informed by the development of the approach in a range of settings, including projects of the Research+Practice Collaboratory.

Author(s): Bill Penuel
Year: 2014

Proposal and Award Policies and Procedures Guide (NSF 14-1)

Effective for Proposals Submitted or Due On or After February 24, 2014. For proposals submitted prior to February 24, 2014, the guidelines in NSF 13-1 apply.

Author(s): NSF
Year: 2014
Keywords: Other

English Language Learners’ Online Science Learning: A Case Study

Terrazas-Arellanes, F., Knox, C., Rivas, C., & Walden, E. (in press). English Language Learners’ Online Science Learning: A Case Study. In J. E. Aitken (Ed.), Cases on communication technology for second language acquisition and cultural learning. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

Author(s): Fatima Terrazas-Arellanes , Carolyn Knox , Carmen Rivas , Emily Walden
Year: 2014

NSF Award and Administration Guide(AAG)

The Award and Administration Guide(AAG) provides information regarding the NSF
award cycle from issuance and administration of an award through closeout.

Author(s): NSF
Year: 2014
Keywords: Graduate, Other

Charting the Impact of Federal Spending for Education Research

Impact evaluation plays a critical role in determining whether federally funded research programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics are wise investments. This paper develops quantitative methods for program evaluation and applies this approach to a flagship National Science Foundation–funded education research program, Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering (REESE).

Author(s): Carolina Milesi , Kevin L. Brown , Louise Hawkley , Eric Dropkin , Barbara L. Schneider
Year: 2014
Keywords: Other

STEM Smart Brief: CTE Pathways to STEM Occupations

“Workers in STEM fields play a direct role in driving economic growth. Yet, because of how the STEM economy has been defined, policymakers have mainly focused on supporting workers with at least a bachelor’s degree, overlooking a strong potential workforce of those with less than a BA.” Read this brief to explore CTE pathways to STEM occupations.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2014

Evidence for Effective uses of Dynamic Visualisations in Science Curriculum Materials

Dynamic visualisations capture aspects of scientific phenomena that are difficult to communicate in static materials and benefit from well-designed scaffolds to succeed in classrooms. We review research to clarify the impacts of dynamic visualisations and to identify instructional scaffolds that mediate their success.

Author(s): Kevin W. McElhaney , Hsin-Yi Chang , Jennifer L. Chiu , Marcia C. Linn
Year: 2014

The Missing Ingredient in Science Teacher Preparation: The Role of the Senior Specialist

This paper describes a residency model that includes faculty members who serve as Senior Specialists – mentors in school residency rotations, advisors in teaching as a profession, and co-instructors in academic courses and portfolio development. The Senior Specialist acts as the linchpin between the youth programs, science practicum, and courses as well as a support structure and anchor to the five high need, low achieving partner schools with the ultimate goal of strengthening the pre-service teachers’ experience.

Author(s): Julie Contino , Natasha Cooke-Nieves
Year: 2013

Model of Research-based Education (MORE) for Science Teacher Preparation

This article summarizes how a group of undergraduate regional university faculty built a program for rigorous and research-based science teacher preparation at the elementary level—namely, the “Model of Research-Based Education for Teachers” (MORE for Teachers).

Author(s): Matthew Miller , Chris Ohana , Daniel Hanley
Year: 2013
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Motivational pathways to STEM career choices: Using expectancy-value perspective to understand individual and gender differences in STEM fields

In this article, we conduct a literature review of the current knowledge surrounding individual and gender differences in STEM educational and career choices, using expectancy–value theory as a guiding framework.

Author(s): Ming-Te Wang , Jessica Degol
Year: 2013

Improving Science Assessments by Situating Them in a Virtual Environment

Current science assessments typically present a series of isolated fact-based questions, poorly representing the complexity of how real-world science is constructed. The National Research Council asserts that this needs to change to reflect a more authentic model of science practice. We strongly concur and suggest that good science assessments need to consist of several key factors: integration of science content with scientific inquiry, contextualization of questions, efficiency of grading and statistical validity and reliability.

Author(s): Diane Jass Ketelhut , Brian Nelson , Catherine Schifter , Younsu Kim
Year: 2013

STEM Smart Brief: Nurturing STEM Skills in Young Learners, PreK–3

Current data on school readiness and early math and science achievement indicate we are not giving young children the support they need to be “STEM Smart”. Read this brief on nurturing STEM skills in young learners.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2013

A Framework for Designing Scaffolds That Improve Motivation and Cognition

Author(s): Brian R. Belland , ChanMin Kim , Michael J. Hannafin
Year: 2013
Keywords: Elementary, Middle, High

Strategic Scaffolding for Scientific Inquiry

Though many national and international science organizations stress the importance of integrating scientific inquiry into classroom instruction, this is often difficult for teachers. Moreover, assessing and scaffolding inquiry skills for students can be even more of a challenge. This paper investigated the student performances in an inquiry-based, situated virtual environment assessment and their descriptions of the experience in a strategically scaffolded conversation that followed it. In the strategic scaffold, or “wraparound,” teachers elicited student’s inquiry pathways and problem solving abilities through a series of scripted and improvised questions. These wraparounds were transcribed and coded to determine students’ inquiry vocabulary usage. Students most frequently discussed using tools to gather data within the world. When coded results from wraparounds were compared with scores, paradoxically the only significant relationship was a negative one between the number of times students talked about using tools and the overall class performance on multiple-choice questions. Student vocabulary usage and the cause of the negative correlation are explored within this paper.

Author(s): Angela Shelton , Uma Natarajan , Catherine Willard , Tera Kane , Diane Jass Ketelhut , Catherine Schifter
Year: 2013

STEM Smart Brief: Preparing Students for College and Careers in STEM

"The majority of U.S. students, particularly low-income and minority youth, lacks foundational skills and knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics." Read the brief to learn more about preparing students for college and careers in STEM.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2013

Electronic Science Notebooks and Argumentation: Analysis of Student Writing

Author(s): Eric Wiebe , Mike Carter , Lindsay Patterson , Wayne Sheffield , Megan Hardy , Miles Smaxwell
Year: 2013
Keywords: Elementary, Science

Using Generic and Context--Specific Scaffolding to Support Authentic Science Inquiry

Author(s): Brian R. Belland , Jiangyue Gu , Sara Armbrust , Brant Cook
Year: 2013

The Future of Fracking: Exploring Human Energy Use

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) give equal importance to Earth and space science, physical science, life science and engineering. It’s likely that the 26 Lead State Partners that helped develop the standards will adopt them in their entirety, which could provide a significant motivation for incorporating more Earth and space science content into their required curriculum.

Author(s): Amy Pallant
Year: 2013
Keywords: High, Science, Standards

Opening the Door to Physics Through Formative Assessment

Author(s): Cary Sneider , Brenda Wojnowski
Year: 2013

Using order to reason about negative numbers: The case of Violet

Author(s): Jessica Pierson Bishop , Lisa L. Lamb , Randolph A. Philipp , Ian Whitacre , Bonnie P. Schappelle
Year: 2013

Collaborative Online Projects for English Language Learners in Science (Español)

This paper summarizes how Collaborative Online Projects (COPs) are used to facilitate science content-area learning for English Learners of Hispanic origin. This is a Mexico-USA partnership project funded by the National Science Foundation. A COP is a 10-week thematic science unit, completely online, and bilingual (Spanish and English) designed to provide collaborative learning experiences with culturally and linguistically relevant science instruction in an interactive and multimodal learning environment. Units are integrated with explicit instructional lessons that include: a) hands-on and laboratory activities, b) interactive materials and interactive games with immediate feedback, c) animated video tutorials, d) discussion forums where students exchange scientific learning across classrooms in the USA and in Mexico, and e) summative and formative assessments. Thematic units have been aligned to U.S. National Science Education Standards and are under current revisions for alignment to the Common Core State Standards. Training materials for the teachers have been integrated into the project website to facilitate self-paced and independent learning. Preliminary findings of our pre-experimental study with a sample of 53 students (81% ELs), distributed across three different groups, resulted in a 21% statistically significant points increase from pretest to posttest assessments of science content learning, t(52) = 11.07, p = .000.

Author(s): Fatima Terrazas-Arellanes , Carolyn Knox , Carmen Rivas
Year: 2013

STEM Smart Brief: Engineering: Emphasizing the “E” in STEM Education

“Engineering is taught only sporadically in K-12 schools, despite growing evidence that engaging in engineering education leads to improved student learning and achievement in mathematics and science, in part by connecting these subjects to real-world problems.” Read this brief to learn more about the increasing efforts to integrate engineering into the K-12 curriculum.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2013

Descriptive Overview of the DR K-12 Portfolio: Projects funded 2007-2012

This report, the fifth and final portfolio overview to be prepared by CADRE, describes important characteristics of the first six cohorts of DR K-12 projects that received their initial funding from 2007 to 2012. It characterizes the development and research in STEM education—on resources, models, and technologies—funded by the DR K-12 program.

Author(s): Alina Martinez , Brian Freeman , Daphne Minner , Laurie Bozzi , Caroline Callahan
Year: 2013

Preparing Students for College and Careers in STEM

“The majority of U.S. students, particularly low-income and minority youth, lacks foundational skills and knowledge in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.” Read this STEM Smart brief to find out more about the efforts that are making change across the nation.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2013

Moving STEM Education Forward: National Priorities and the National Science Foundation’s DR K-12 Program

What does the United States need to do to build future generations’ knowledge and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and what kinds of research and innovation can enable the needed changes in teaching and learning? This brief describes examples of research and development (R&D) sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that are designed to advance knowledge and practice in STEM education. It highlights just a few of the many R&D projects that have the potential to equip educators in pursuing national priorities for STEM education.

Author(s): Derek Riley , Colleen McCann , Yvonne Woods
Year: 2013
Keywords: Elementary, Middle, High

Teaching with Visualizations: A Comparison Study

Previous research suggests the value of technology-enhanced materials that guide learners to use dynamic, interactive visualizations of science phenomena. The power of these visualizations to improve student understanding depends on the teacher. In this chapter we contrast two professional development programs focused on teaching with visualizations.

Author(s): Libby Gerard , Ou Lydia Liu , Stephanie Corliss , Keisha Varma , Michele Spitulnik , Marcia C. Linn
Year: 2013

Using Virtual Environments to Motivate Students to Pursue STEM Careers: An Expectancy-Value Model

The purpose of this chapter is to bring a rigorous and well-studied theoretical framework of motivation to the study and design of virtual learning environments.

Author(s): Jason Chen , Nick Zap , Chris Dede
Year: 2013
Keywords: Other

Using online telescopes to explore exoplanets from the physics classroom

Authors present a suite of activities in which students apply basic physics concepts to their investigations of exoplanets. The activities were developed and successfully tested with physics and earth science teachers in secondary schools in 14 states.

Author(s): Roy R. Gould , Susan Sunbury , Ruth Krumhansl
Year: 2012

STEM Smart Brief: Improving STEM Curriculum and Instruction: Engaging Students and Raising Standards

“For effective K–12 STEM instruction to become the norm, schools and districts must be transformed.” Read this brief to learn more about curriculum and instructional methods that engage students in the learning process.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2012

Teachers as Editors, Editors as Teachers

In this study, we examine how a professional science news editor and high school teachers respond to student writing in order to understand the values and priorities each bring to bear on student work. These questions guided our work:

• How do teachers respond to authentic genres in content-area classes?
• How does teacher response compare to the responses of a professional editor?

Author(s): Angela M. Kohnen
Year: 2012
Keywords: High, Science

STEM Smart Brief: Raising the Bar: Increasing STEM Achievement for All Students

“When students from non-mainstream backgrounds receive equitable learning opportunities, they are capable of attaining science outcomes comparable to their mainstream peers. The same is true for mathematics and, presumably, for other STEM subjects, as well.” Read this brief to dive further into what can be done to improve the academic achievement of students from all backgrounds.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2012

Envisioning Scientifically Literate Students Fifteen Years after Graduation: The Promise of Educative Science Journalism

The “Science Literacy Through Science Journalism” (SciJourn) project explores how the practices of good science journalism can inform high school science education. As high school students report science news, they learn to gather and contextualize information and bring critical eyes to that which they read and write. This effort can be contrasted to the goal of making every student a “little scientist.”

Author(s): Joseph Polman , Alan Newman , Cathy Farrar , E. Wendy Saul
Year: 2012
Keywords: High, Science

STEM Smart Brief: Connecting Informal and Formal STEM Education

“Providing a richness of resources unavailable in any classroom, informal science institutions across the country have developed exemplary partnerships with public schools—and have room for more.” Read this brief to explore how out-of-school learning can complement and enhance what is being taught in the classroom.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2012

VISUALIZING OCEANS OF DATA Educational Interface Design

The Oceans of Data project has made an attempt to define and confront what is “hard” for students and teachers who attempt to use large, online professional data sets. We feel passionately that it’s important for us to do this to prepare today’s students for tomorrow’s world.

Author(s): Ruth Krumhansl , Cheryl Peach , June Foster , Amy Busey , Irene Baker , Jackie DeLisi
Year: 2012

Talk Science Primer

An essay detailing the purposes, functions and benefits of academically productive talk including the Talk Goals and Moves chart.

Author(s): Sarah Michaels , Cathy O’Connor
Year: 2012

Compendium of Research Instruments for STEM Education, PART II: Measuring Students' Content Knowledge, Reasoning Skills, and Psychological Attributes

The purpose of this compendium is to provide an overview on the current status of STEM instrumentation commonly used in the U.S and to provide resources for research and evaluation professionals. Part 2 of a two-part series, the goal to provide an overview of the measurement tools available for studying student outcomes within the DR-K12 portfolio.

Author(s): Daphne Minner , Elisabeth Ericson , Sally Wu , Alina Martinez
Year: 2012

Modeling Earth's Climate

This article describes an online climate change curriculum that incorporates dynamic computer models that enable students to visualize the complex interactions related to climate change science. Students learn how adjusting variables in a dynamic model affects the entire system.

Author(s): Amy Pallant , Hee-Sun Lee , Sara Pryputniewicz
Year: 2012

STEM Smart Brief: Preparing and Supporting STEM Educators

“Recent research emphasizes that teacher quality alone cannot improve student achievement at scale. School leadership, staff collaboration, and a positive climate are among essential organizational elements that contribute to meaningful change.” Read this brief to learn more about suggested methods for properly supporting STEM educators.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2012

Exploring the Unknown

This article describes The Concord Consortium's High-Adventure Science Project, which brings frontier science into the classroom, allowing students to explore questions in Earth and space science that scientists are currently investigating.

Author(s): Amy Pallant , Sarah Pryputniewicz , Hee-Sun Lee
Year: 2012

STEM Smart Brief: Specialized STEM Secondary Schools

“Specialized schools still represent a tiny fraction of U.S. public education. However, they may not only produce better results than traditional programs; they also can serve as models for schools seeking to improve.” Read this brief to investigate further into what we can learn from specialized STEM-focused learning institutions.

Author(s): CADRE
Year: 2012

Front-Page Science: Engaging Teens in Science Literacy

Like citizen journalists, your students can get to the heart of science literacy—and challenging questions like these—with the “learn by doing” methodology in this innovative book. Front-Page Science uses science journalism techniques to help students become better consumers of, and contributors to, a scientifically literate community.

Author(s): Wendy Saul , Angela Kohnen , Alan Newman , Laura Pearce
Year: 2012
Keywords: High, Science

The Role of Criticism in Understanding Problem Solving

The concept of criticism as a tool for research, although well established in other educational research traditions, is not well established in the domain of Educational Technology. This book changes all that by substantiating criticism as a way to step back and critically evaluate an educational intervention within educational technology. Doing so provides an valuable approach for researchers in terms of guiding meta analyses and theoretical studies, preventing the proverbial "spinning of the wheels" that often happens in educational research.

Author(s): Samuel B. Fee , Brian Belland
Year: 2012

Representing Energy. I. Representing a Substance Ontology for Energy

The nature of energy is not typically an explicit topic of physics instruction. Nonetheless, verbal and graphical representations of energy articulate models in which energy is conceptualized as a quasimaterial substance, a stimulus, or a vertical location. We argue that a substance ontology for energy is particularly productive in developing understanding of energy transfers and transformations. We analyze classic representations of energy—bar charts, pie charts, and others—to determine the energy ontologies that are implicit in those representations, and thus their affordances for energy learning. We find that while existing representations partially support a substance ontology for energy and thus the learning goal of energy conservation, they have limited utility for tracking the flow of energy among objects.

Author(s): Rachel E. Scherr , Hunter G. Close , Sarah B. McKagan , Stamatis Vokos
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other, Physics

A Symmetry POGIL Activity for Inorganic Chemistry

The goal of this project was to create an inquiry activity to teach symmetry elements and symmetry operations in an inorganic chemistry course. Many students experience difficulty when building and mentally manipulating three-dimensional mental models from two-dimensional images, causing difficulty when learning symmetry. Process-oriented, guided-inquiry learning (POGIL) was used to structure the activity using a learning cycle paradigm consistent with research on how students learn as described by Novak’s human constructivism theory. The activity familiarized students with symmetry terms as students actively engaged in finding symmetry operations in a variety of molecules. The symmetry activity was classroom tested and student and POGIL expert feedback were used to improve the activity.

Author(s): Cynthia J. Luxford , Michael W. Crowder , Stacey Lowery Bretz
Year: 2012
Keywords: Chemistry, Other

A Drake's Tale: Genetics Software Gets a Lift from Gaming

Many of us learned about dominant and recessive genes in a humdrum high school biology class. Some of us may still recognize the terms and symbols twenty or thirty years later—are your eyes bb or Bb? But, as it turns out, a very small number of traits in humans and other animals, plants, amoeba … you name it … involve the dominance mechanism of a single gene with just two alleles. (An allele is a variation of a gene, like the B or b in the above example.) The more biologists discover about the mechanisms of inheritance, the fewer traits we can point to that involve only one gene or can be illustrated using a simple Punnett square. In fact, biologists are compiling information about our genes at an astounding rate. As the process of sequencing DNA improves, the science of biology is dramatically changing.

Author(s): Frieda Reichsman , Trudi Lord
Year: 2012

Habitus, Scaffolding, and Problem-Based Learning: Why Teachers’ Experiences as Students Matter

Despite evidence that it can help students learn higher-order thinking skills and gain deep content knowledge, problem-based learning (PBL) is not deployed on a large scale in K-12 classrooms. This conceptual chapter explores teacher’s past experiences, and resulting habitus, to explain the minimal extent of PBL in K-12 schools. Central to teachers’ abilities to implement PBL is their ability to provide scaffolding, and their habitus may interfere with this process. Implications for teacher education and teacher change are discussed.

Author(s): Brian Belland
Year: 2012

Representing Energy. II. Energy tracking representations

The Energy Project at Seattle Pacific University has developed representations that embody the substance metaphor and support learners in conserving and tracking energy as it flows from object to object and changes form. Such representations enable detailed modeling of energy dynamics in complex physical processes. We assess student learning by means of representations that learners invent to explain energy dynamics in specific real-world scenarios. Refined versions of these learner-generated representations have proven valuable for our own teaching, physics understanding, and research.

Author(s): Rachel E. Scherr , Hunter G. Close , Eleanor W. Close , Stamatis Vokos
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other, Physics

Generating Cognitive Dissonance in Student Interviews through Multiple Representations

This study explores what students understand about enzyme–substrate interactions, using multiple representations of the phenomenon. In this paper we describe our use of the 3 Phase-Single Interview Technique with multiple representations to generate cognitive dissonance within students in order to uncover misconceptions of enzyme–substrate interactions. Findings from 25 student interviews are interpreted through the lens of multiple theoretical frameworks, including personal constructivism and coherence formation. The importance of classroom teachers engaging students in dialogue about representations is discussed.

Author(s): Kimberly J. Linenberger , Stacey Lowery Bretz
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other, Science

Exploring the Effects of Teacher Research Experiences (RET's) on Classroom Inquiry

Science education reforms, such as the introduction of inquiry into the classroom, represent second order educational changes (12,13). Although first order changes require small alterations of existing practices, second order changes challenge the structures and rules of schooling. Research on second order change has shown that, despite best efforts, most reforms are “either adapted to fit what existed or sloughed off, allowing the system to remain essentially untouched” (12, p. 343). RET’s seem to hold the most promise for supporting second order changes as represented by inquiry; however, given the difficulty in achieving and sustaining second order changes, the need for research into their influence is clear. This research project will focus on analyzing RET programs through description of their essential features, their efficacy in fostering teachers’ understanding and enactment of inquiry, their interaction with the personal characteristics of participating teachers, and an examination of the influence of teaching through inquiry on student learning in science.

Author(s): D. Ellen Granger , Sherry Southerland , Patricia Dixon
Year: 2012

High school students’ conceptions of the minus sign

The minus sign is a mathematical symbol that is multi-functional. Yet, how often is its use explicit to the non-mathematician, or more importantly the learner, who is expected to interpret the symbolism appropriately, when often the "meaning" stems from context of its use. From the perspective of the learner, such nuances of use simply lead to confusion which has the potential for lifelong misconceptions within their personal mathematics. This commentary is based on working with children on their journey through mathematics, it provides insights into the complexity of mathematical communication for those "learning the language".

Author(s): Lamb, Lisa , Bishop, Jessica , Schappelle, Bonnie , Philipp, Randy , Whitacre, Ian , Lewis, Mindy
Year: 2012
Keywords: High, Mathematics

Conserving Energy in Physics and Society: Creating an Integrated Model of Energy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics

The second law of thermodynamics is typically not a central focus either in introductory university physics textbooks or in national standards for secondary education. However, the second law is a key part of a strong conceptual model of energy, especially for connecting energy conservation to energy degradation and the irreversibility of processes. We are developing a conceptual model of the second law as it relates to energy, with the goal of creating models and representations that link energy, the second law, and entropy in a meaningful way for learners analyzing real-life energy scenarios. We expect this model to help learners better understand how their everyday experiences relate to formal physics analyses. Our goal is to develop tools for use with elementary and secondary teachers and secondary and university students.

Author(s): Abigail R. Daane , Stamatis Vokos , Rachel E. Scherr
Year: 2012

A Symmetry POGIL Activity for Inorganic Chemistry

Author(s): Luxford, Cynthia , Crowder, Michael , Bretz, Stacey Lowery
Year: 2012

Multiple Proof Approaches and Mathematical Connections

One of the most rewarding accomplishments of working with preservice secondary school mathematics teachers is helping them develop conceptually connected knowledge and see mathematics as an integrated whole rather than isolated pieces. The NCTM Connections Standard (2000) states: “Problem selection is especially important because students are unlikely to learn to make connections unless they are working on problems or situations that have the potential for suggesting such linkages” (p. 359).
To help students see and use the connections among various mathematical between this problem situation and various mathematical topics. In addition, their explorations
of multiple approaches to proofs led beyond proof as verification to more of illumination and systematization in understandable yet deep ways (de Villiers
1999); expanded their repertoire of problemsolving strategies; and developed their confidence, interest, ability, and flexibility in solving various types of new problems. These benefits, in turn, will be passed on to their own students.

Author(s): Zhonghong Jiang , George E. O’Brien
Year: 2012
Keywords: Middle, High, Mathematics

New Measurement Paradigms

This paper represents measurement methods of projects developing and testing intelligent learning environments.

Author(s): Timms, Michael , Clements, Douglas , Gobert, Janice , Jass Ketelhut, Diane , Lester, James , Reese, Debbie Denise , Wiebe, Eric
Year: 2012
Keywords: Assessment, Other

The Role of Self-Monitoring in Learning Chemistry with Dynamic Visualization

Author(s): Jennifer Chiu , Marcia Linn
Year: 2012
Keywords: Chemistry, Other

Compendium of Research Instruments for STEM Education, PART I: Teacher Practices, PCK, and Content Knowledge

The purpose of this compendium is to provide an overview on the current status of STEM instrumentation commonly used in the U.S and to provide resources for research and evaluation professionals. Part 1 of a two-part series, the goal to provide insight into the measurement tools available to generate efficacy and effectiveness evidence, as well as understand processes relevant to teaching and learning. It is focused on instruments designed to assess teacher practices, pedagogical content knowledge, and content knowledge.

Author(s): Daphne Minner , Alina Martinez , Brian Freeman
Year: 2012

A Conceptual Framework for Organizing Active Learning Experiences in Biology Instruction

Introductory biology courses form a cornerstone of undergraduate instruction. However, the predominantly used lecture approach fails to produce higher-order biology learning. Research shows that active learning strategies can increase student learning, yet few biology instructors use all identified active learning strategies. In this paper, we present a framework to design biology instruction that incorporates all active learning strategies. We review active learning research in undergraduate biology courses, present a framework for organizing active learning strategies, and provide clear implications and future research for designing instruction in introductory undergraduate biology courses.

Author(s): Joel Gardner , Brian R. Belland
Year: 2012

Interactional Processes for Stabilizing Conceptual Coherences in Physics

Research in student knowledge and learning of science has typically focused on explaining conceptual change. Recent research, however, documents the great degree to which student thinking is dynamic and context-sensitive, implicitly calling for explanations not only of change but also of stability. In other words, when a pattern of student reasoning is sustained in specific moments and settings, what mechanisms contribute to sustaining it? We characterize student understanding and behavior in terms of multiple local coherences in that they may be variable yet still exhibit local stabilities. We attribute stability in local conceptual coherences to real-time activities that sustain these coherences. For example, particular conceptual understandings may be stabilized by the linguistic features of a worksheet question or by feedback from the students’ spatial arrangement and orientation. We document a group of university students who engage in multiple local conceptual coherences while thinking about motion during a collaborative learning activity. As the students shift their thinking several times, we describe mechanisms that may contribute to local stability of their reasoning and behavior.

Author(s): Rachel E. Scherr
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other, Physics, Science

Decennial Redistricting: Rich Mathematics in Context

Redistricting can provide a real-world application for use in a wide range of mathematics classrooms.

Author(s): Laurie H. Rubel , Michael Driskill , Lawrence M. Lesser
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other, Mathematics

An Efficacy Study on the Use of Dynamic Geometry Software

A four-year research project funded by NSF examines the efficacy of an approach to high school geometry that utilizes dynamic geometry (DG) software and supporting instructional materials to supplement ordinary instructional practices. It compares effects of that intervention (the DG approach) with standard instruction that does not make use of computer tools. This paper reports a study conducted during the second year of the project. Student learning is assessed by a geometry test and other tests. Data for answering the research questions of the study are analyzed mainly by appropriate HLM methods. The analysis on the geometry test data is discussed in detail. The experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in geometry performance.

Author(s): Zhonghong Jiang , Alexander White
Year: 2012

Overview of the Chemistry Education Research Doctoral Scholars Program

The Chemistry Education Research (CER) Doctoral Scholars Program trains a diverse group of graduate students how to develop assessments of secondary and tertiary students’ understandings of core concepts in chemistry. 

Author(s): McClary, LaKeisha , Bretz, Stacey Lowery
Year: 2012

Orchestrating Inquiry Instruction Using the Knowledge Integration Framework

Author(s): Kevin McElhaney , Marcia Linn
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other

Partnering with Users to Develop STEM Education Materials: Insights from Discovery Research K-12 Projects

This brief suggests practical ways of engaging teachers and other “end-users” in projects that develop materials for education in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Projects described in this brief have benefited from school, district, and state users serving as Co-PIs, advisory board members, co-developers, implementation managers, data collectors, professional developers, and project emissaries to the broader field. The brief describes how K-12 end-users and decision-makers are instrumental for developing materials that will be adopted, implemented with essential fidelity, sustained at classroom and organizational levels, and scaled within and to new organizations.

Author(s): Derek Riley
Year: 2012

Conclusion: Building on the Strengths of Interdisciplinarity

This chapter concludes The role of criticism in understanding problem solving. In it, the overall message of the book—that criticism and critical theories can serve to aid critical reading and synthesis of the educational technology research literature—is summarized. One of the strengths of the educational technology field is its interdisciplinarity. As students enter the field from many different academic disciplines, they should be encouraged to apply not just the content of their former disciplines but also the strategies of and frameworks for thinking about problems.

Author(s): Brian R. Belland , Samuel B. Fee
Year: 2012

Reinscribing Urban: Teaching High School Mathematics in Low Income, Urban Communities of Color

This article reports findings from a research and professional development project at two high schools located in low-income, urban communities of color. The project collaborates with teachers on improving their instructional practices, using a framework of culturally relevant mathematics pedagogy, which is described in detail here. We present results from a qualitative and quantitative analysis of mathematics instruction in 68 classroom observations of seven teachers. In particular, we use culturally relevant mathematics pedagogy as a lens through which to analyze instruction and the associated opportunities to learn mathematics provided to students.

Author(s): Laurie Rubel , Haiwen Chu
Year: 2012
Keywords: High, Mathematics

Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and Pedagogical Practice of New Literacies

Due to the rapid advancements of information and communication technologies (ICTs), educational researchers argue that multimodal and new literacies should become common practices in schools. As new ICTs emerge and evolve, students need the new literacies skills and practices to successfully participate fully in the civic life of a global community. Are teachers prepared to integrate ICTs in the classroom to develop students’ new literacies skills? The purpose of this study is to suggest a new literacies framework that guides ICTs integration and supports scientific inquiry, as well as investigate middle school teachers’ confidence to practice new literacies in science classrooms. The study adopted mixed-methodology design, surveyed 32 middle school science teachers’ ICTs and new literacies skills, and randomly observed 15 teachers’ new literacies practices in the classrooms. The results revealed that even though teachers have high confidence in using ICTs, the meaningful technology integration and new literacies practices were scarcely observed in their classroom practices.

Author(s): Hui-Yin Hsu , Shiang-Kwei Wang , Lisa Runco
Year: 2012

Supporting the Next Generation of “Stewards” in Mathematics Education

This paper describes Supporting Research, Service and Teaching in Mathematics Education, or STaR, is a program designed to support new faculty who have taken a tenure-track mathematics education position in a U.S. institution of higher education.

Author(s): Reys, Barbara , Reys, Robert
Year: 2012

From Dissemination to Knowledge Use: Options for DR K-12

To foster knowledge use among policy makers or practitioners requires a substantial effort that invests in sustained interaction and enlists a range of supports for the prospective knowledge users. This paper discusses some options for more effective dissemination efforts that could lead to knowledge use. Read the full paper for a description of these options.

Author(s): Brenda Turnbull
Year: 2012

Discovery Research K-12 (DR K-12): Descriptive Overview of Portfolio in Year Four

This overview is intended to describe the scope and depth of research and development DR K-12 has funded and to identify areas that could be advanced by further investigations by CADRE. The overview summarizes the 248 projects that met the criteria for inclusion and analysis.

Author(s): Alina Martinez , Laurie Bozzi , Brian Freeman , Caroline Callahan , Morgan Sharoff
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other

Understanding Criticism and Problem-Based Learning: An Introduction

This volume reflects upon how learners engage in the processes of problem solving and critical thinking by exploring the critical theories that undergird these processes; and this chapter introduces practitioners of educational technology to the contents of the book. The discourse of this text relates criticism and PBL to current trends in educational research. In addition to the broader context of the volume, this first chapter quickly summarizes the content of each remaining chapter. This text puts forward criticism as a lens for viewing the work that educators do, in terms of instructional design as well as the assessment of those activities. The result is learning that reflects more successfully the needs of our society: critical-thinking abilities and problem-solving skills.

Author(s): Samuel B. Fee , Brian R. Belland
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other

Designing Math Lessons for English Language Learners

A middle school mathematics teacher taught native English speakers for the first fifteen years of her career. As immigrants from other countries moved into the community and student demographics began to change, she realized that she was not prepared to teach mathematics to students who were English language learners (ELLs).
The demands that she faced are not unique. The recent growth of the ELL population in the United States has challenged teachers to identify effective strategies to meet the needs of ELL students and their families.

Author(s): Kathryn B. Chval , Oscar Chavez
Year: 2012

Centering the Teaching of Mathematics on Urban Youth: Learning Together About Our Students and Their Communities

Laurie H. Rubel (Brooklyn College) discusses a teacher learning community for high school teachers in New York City organized to develop practices of culturally relevant mathematics pedagogy. This project, named CureMap, emphasizes the connections between mathematical concepts, procedures, and facts; focuses mathematics instruction on students’ experiences; and strives to develop students' critical consciousness about and with mathematics.

Author(s): Laurie Rubel
Year: 2012
Keywords: High, Mathematics

Evaluation in DR K-12 Projects: Options

Each DR K-12 project has formative and summative evaluation, which are different from the project’s own R&D activities and instead should support and measure the effectiveness of those activities. This paper discusses evaluation options for investigators and evaluators to consider. Read the full paper for a description of these options.

Author(s): Brenda Turnbull
Year: 2012

A Novel Technology to Investigate Students’ Understandings of Enzyme Representations

Digital pen-and-paper technology, although marketed commercially as a bridge between old and new notetaking capabilities, synchronizes the collection of both written and audio data. This manuscript describes how this technology was used to improve data collection in research regarding students’ learning, specifically their understanding of enzyme-substrate interactions as depicted in textbook representations. Students were
provided this technology during individual interviews and were permitted to annotate multiple representations of enzymes and substrates, as well as to generate their own representations. The ability to digitally revisit the sequential student drawings was
valuable in analysis of the research findings. Innovative and novel uses for this technology are discussed for both discipline-based education research and classroom practice.

Author(s): Kimberly J. Linenberger , Stacey Lowery Bretz
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other, Technology

Mathematics for All: Facilitator

Developed by Bank Street College of Education and the Education Development Center, this comprehensive professional development resource contains all the materials you need to conduct workshops that will show general and special education teachers how to collaborate to provide a high-quality, standards-based mathematics education to all students, including those with disabilities. The materials will deepen the understanding of both the facilitators and of the participants in these workshops. This resource will enable schools and school districts to increase the expertise of their math and special education leaders and provide their own workshops for teachers rather than hire outside consultants to do so.

The Math for All learning experiences detailed in the enclosed books and DVDs help teachers
•Assess students' strengths and needs
•Use multiple instructional strategies to teach specific math concepts
•Tailor lessons based on individual students' strengths and needs to help them achieve high-quality learning outcomes in mathematics

The authors emphasize how the neurodevelopmental demands of a math lesson interact with individual students' strengths and needs. They also provide step-by-step guidance for adapting materials, activities, and instructional strategies to make lessons accessible to all students.

This comprehensive resource includes two DVDs: one with PowerPoint presentations and embedded classroom videos, and a second DVD with just the video portion that shows examples of how teachers in Grades 3-5 have made math lessons accessible to students—including those with physical, learning, and language challenges. Also enclosed is the Math for All Participant Book, which includes the corresponding handouts and reproducibles for the program.

Author(s): Babette Moeller , Barbara Dubitsky , Marvin Cohen , Karen Marschke-Tobier , Hal Melnick , Linda Metnetsky , Andrea Brothman , Randi Cecchine
Year: 2012

Evaluating and Improving a Learning Trajectory for Linear Measurement in Elementary Grades 2 and 3: A Longitudinal Study

Author(s): Clements, Douglas , Barrett, Jeffrey , Sarama, Julie , Cullen, Craig , McCool, Jenni , Witkowski-Rumsey, Chepina , Klanderman, David
Year: 2012

Development of the Enzyme-Substrate Interactions Concept Inventory

Enzyme function is central to student understanding of multiple topics within the biochemistry curriculum. In particular, students must understand how enzymes and substrates interact with one another. This manuscript describes the development of a 15-item Enzyme–Substrate Interactions Concept Inventory(ESICI) that measures student understanding of enzyme–substrate interactions. The validity and reliability of ESICI data were established through multiple methods. Results from the administration of the ESICI to biochemistry students across the United States (N = 707) are discussed in terms of instrument quality. The manuscript concludes with suggestions for how to use the ESICI for both teaching and biochemistry education research.

Author(s): Stacey Lowery Bretz , Kimberly J. Linenberger
Year: 2012
Keywords: Other

Knowledge for Algebra Teaching for Equity (KATE) Project: An Examination of Virtual Classroom Simulation Approaches

In this paper, we present an overview of the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Knowledge for Algebra Teaching for Equity (KATE) Project and experiences from preservice teachers who are preparing for teaching middle grades mathematics. We highlight findings from a preliminary analysis of the effectiveness of virtual simulations of problem-based teaching of algebra concepts in enhancing preservice teachers' knowledge and skill in teaching diverse students.

Author(s): Trina Davis , Irving Brown , Gerald Kulm , Chih-Feng Chien , Glenn Phillips
Year: 2012

Development and Assessment of A Diagnostic Tool to Identify Organic Chemistry Students’ Alternative Conceptions Related to Acid Strength

The central goal of this study was to create a new diagnostic tool to identify organic chemistry students’ alternative conceptions related to acid strength. Twenty years of research on secondary and college students’ conceptions about acids and bases has shown that these important concepts are difficult for students to apply to qualitative problem solving. Yet, few published studies document how students’ prior knowledge of acids influences their understanding of acid strength in organic chemistry contexts. We developed a nine-item multiple-tier, multiple-choice concept inventory to identify alternative conceptions that organic chemistry students hold about acid strength, to determine the prevalence of these conceptions, and to determine how strongly these conceptions bias student reasoning. We identified two significant alternative conceptions that organic chemistry students hold about acid strength. Students who answered items incorrectly were more confident about their answers than peers who answered items correctly, suggesting that after one semester of organic chemistry, students do not know what they do not know. Implications for the teaching of acid strength are discussed.

Author(s): LaKeisha M. McClary , Stacey Lowery Bretz
Year: 2012

Facilitating the Participation of Latino English language Learners: Learning from an Effective Teacher

Throughout my career, I have collaborated with dedicated and hard-working teachers who have opened their classrooms so that others could learn from them. Yet, one teacher, Sara, stood out from all the others. From the first time I visited Sara's classroom in 1992, I knew she was extraordinary--a teacher who could inspire a Hollywood production. Sara taught Latino English language learners (ELLs) in a low-income urban neighborhood in ways that I had not observed or read about in the literature. She did not reduce the curriculum's level of complexity, especially its language, even though the students were ELLs. Instead, Sara engineered a mathematics learning environment where students actively engaged in collaborative problem solving, oral and written communication and justification, and independent thinking. To give other practitioners insight into how Sara facilitated the participation of ELLs during mathematics, I share my experiences of researching Sara's fifth-grade classroom and provide images of her teaching.

Author(s): Kathryn Chval
Year: 2012

Math for All Participant Book

Developed by the Education Development Center and Bank Street College of Education, this professional development program will show general and special education teachers how to collaborate to provide a high-quality, standards-based mathematics education to all students, including those with disabilities. The Math for All learning experiences detailed in the corresponding facilitator’s kit will help teachers:
•Assess students’ strengths and needs
•Use multiple instructional strategies to teach specific math concepts
•Tailor lessons based on individual students' strengths and needs to help them achieve high-quality learning outcomes in mathematics

This program will emphasize how the neurodevelopmental demands of a math lesson interact with individual students' strengths and needs. The authors will provide step-by-step guidance for adapting materials, activities, and instructional strategies to make lessons accessible to all students. This participant book includes the handouts and reproducibles for the program. The forthcoming kit will include a facilitator’s guide and a corresponding DVD.

Author(s): Babette Moeller , Barbara Dubitsky , Marvin Cohen , Karen Marschke-Tobier , Hal Melnick , Linda Metnetsky
Year: 2012

MoDeLS: Would you drink the liquid that came from this dirty water? A 5th grade unit on evaporation and condensation investigating the phenomenon of a solar still

A curriculum unit developed through a collaboration between Michigan State University, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan, Wright State University and 5th grade teachers from Kinawa 5th-6th public school that enables students to develop and revise models for how water moves (evaporation and condensation) in a solar still.

Author(s): Hamin Baek , Christina Schwarz , Carrie Beyer , Lisa Kenyon , Paul Hinze , Jocelyn Mankowski
Year: 2011
Keywords: Middle, Science

Intuitive Ontologies for Energy in Physics

Author(s): Rachel Scherr , Hunter Close , Sarah McKagan
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

Measuring Knowledge Integration: Validation of Four-Year Assessments

Author(s): Ou Lydia Liu , Hee-Sun Lee , Marcia Linn
Year: 2011

Can Generating Representations Enhance Learning With Dynamic Visualizations?

Author(s): Zhihui Helen Zhang , Marcia Linn
Year: 2011
Keywords: Middle, Science

Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge for Teaching Algebra for Equity in the Middle Grades: A Preliminary Report

This article presents our plans and initial work to explore how mathematics teacher education programs can prepare teachers for diverse middle grades classrooms. It describes the start-up of a five-year National Science Foundation project to design, develop, and test technology-enriched teacher preparation strategies to address equity in algebra learning. The participants in this pilot group demonstrated a need to develop their mathematical problem-solving skills, but they also exhibited strong beliefs about their own potential to be successful in the mathematics classroom. Preliminary results appear to indicate that Second Life (software) simulations can provide rich settings for teacher development on specific mathematics teaching skills and challenge them to apply their ideas about diversity. (Contains 5 tables and 4 figures.)

Author(s): Irving Brown , Trina Davis , Gerald Kulm
Year: 2011

Promoting Proximal Formative Assessment with Relational Discourse

Author(s): Rachel Scherr , Hunter Close , Sarah McKagan
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

Professional Development for Technology- Enhanced Inquiry Science

Author(s): Libby Gerard , Keisha Varma , Stephanie Corliss , Marcia Linn
Year: 2011

Videobased lesson analysis: Effective science PD for teacher and student learning

The Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis (STeLLA) project is a videobased analysis-of-practice PD program aimed at improving teacher and student learning at the upper elementary level. The PD program developed and utilized two “lenses,” a Science Content Storyline Lens and a Student Thinking Lens, to help teachers analyze science teaching and learning and to improve teaching practices in this year-long program. Participants included 48 teachers (n = 32 experimental, n = 16 control) and 1,490 students. The STeLLA program significantly improved teachers' science content knowledge and their ability to analyze science teaching. Notably, the STeLLA teachers further increased their classroom use of science teaching strategies associated with both lenses while their students increased their science content knowledge. Multi-level HLM analyses linked higher average gains in student learning with teachers' science content knowledge, teachers' pedagogical content knowledge about student thinking, and teaching practices aimed at improving the coherence of the science content storyline. This paper highlights the importance of the science content storyline in the STeLLA program and discusses its potential significance in science teaching and professional development more broadly. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., J Res Sci Teach 48: 117–148, 2011

Author(s): Roth, Kathleen , Garnier, Helen , Chen, Catherine , Lemmens, Meike , Schwille, Kathleen , Wickler, Nicole
Year: 2011

Agreeing to Disagree: Challenges with Ambiguity in Visual Evidence

Author(s): Camillia Matuk , Elissa Sato , Marcia Linn
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

The Role of Language in the Teaching of Energy: The Case of ‘Heat Energy’

Author(s): Pamela Kraus , Stamatis Vokos
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

Randomized Control Trials on the Dynamic Geometry Approach

Author(s): Zhonghong Jiang , Alexander White , Alana Rosenwasser
Year: 2011

Distributed Cognition as a Lens to Understand the Effects of Scaffolds: The Role of Transfer of Responsibility

Problem solving is an important skill in the knowledge economy. Research indicates that the development of problem solving skills works better in the context of instructional approaches centered on real-world problems. But students need scaffolding to be successful in such instruction. In this paper I present a conceptual framework for understanding the effects of scaffolding. First, I discuss the ultimate goal of scaffolding—the transfer of responsibility—and one way that scholars have conceptualized promoting this outcome (fading). Next, I describe an alternative way to conceptualize transfer of responsibility through the lens of distributed cognition and discuss how this lens informs how to promote transfer of responsibility. Then I propose guidelines for the creation of problem solving scaffolds to support transfer of responsibility and discuss them in light of the literature.

Author(s): Brian Belland
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

Preparation and Characterization of a Polymeric Monolithic Column for Use in High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)

The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) experiment, most often done in the undergraduate analytical instrumentation laboratory course, generally illustrates reversed-phase chromatography using a commercial C18 silica column. To avoid the expense of periodic column replacement and introduce a choice of columns with different stationary phases, we have developed an experiment in which students prepare and test a polymer-based monolithic column. The 10 or 15 cm monolithic column is prepared using 1/8 in. o.d. × 2.3 mm i.d. poly(ether ether ketone) or PEEK tubing. The reaction is accomplished thermally at 60 °C for several hours by polymerization of butyl methacrylate cross-linked with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate in a porogen system consisting of 1,4-butanediol, 1-propanol, and water. Using toluene and naphthalene as analytes, profiles of retention factor as a function of methanol have been shown. A study of essential nutrients can be accomplished by using an ion-pairing reagent to separate thiamine from riboflavin. In addition, plate count and van Deemter plots can be done to determine column efficiency. The experiment can be designed to be completed over a 1 to 3 week period of time. Exposure to polymer chemistry, often not a part of the undergraduate laboratory curriculum, is an additional important aspect of this experiment.

Author(s): Michael P. Bindis , Stacey Lowery Bretz , Neil D. Danielson
Year: 2011

Developing symbol sense for the minus sign

Research on how students make sense of and use the minus sign indicates that students struggle to understand the multiple meanings of the minus sign. Teachers can support students in developing robust understanding of each interpretation of the minus sign, and associated symbol sense, so that they can move among the meanings and can recognize and use each meaning seamlessly.

Author(s): Bishop, Jessica , Lamb, Lisa
Year: 2011

Research on Technology in Mathematics Education: Theoretical Frameworks and Practical Examples

This was a Keynote Address to be presented at the Korea Society of Educational Studies in Mathematics Conference in Seoul, South Korea on November 12th, 2011.

Author(s): John Olive
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

Connecting Class Talk with Individual Student Writing

Author(s): Madelyn Williams , Tutita Casa
Year: 2011

Bridging Multiple Expertise in Collaborative Design for Technology-Enhanced Learning

Author(s): Yael Kali , Lina Markauskaite , Peter Goodyear , Mary-Helen Ward
Year: 2011

Collaboration as Scaffolding to Learn from Dynamic, Interactive Scientific Visualizations

Author(s): Marcia Linn , Hsin-Yi Chang , Ji Shen , Hsin-Kai Wu
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other, Science

Practicing versus inventing with contrasting cases: The effects of telling first on learning and transfer

Author(s): Daniel Schwartz , Catherine Chase , Marily Oppezzo , Doris Chin
Year: 2011
Keywords: Middle, High

Development of Proximal Formative Assessment Skills in Video-based Teacher Professional Development

Author(s): Eleanor Close , Rachel Scherr , Hunter Close , Sarah McKagan
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

Investigating How Setting Up Cognitively Demanding Tasks is Related to Opportunities to Learn in Middle-­Grades Mathematics Classrooms

In this paper we focus on what happens when a task is first introduced to students as a crucial phase of instruction. We report on an empirical study of 132 middle grades mathematics teachers' instruction—in particular, the nature of the ways in which they introduced tasks, and the relationship between how they introduced tasks and the nature of students' opportunities to learn mathematics in the concluding whole class discussion. 

Author(s): Jackson, Kara , Garrison, Anne , Wilson, Jonee , Gibbons, Lynsey , Shahan, Emily
Year: 2011

Teaching to design educational technologies

Author(s): Yael Kali , Tamar Ronen-Fuhrmann
Year: 2011

Foregrounding Equity in Mathematics Teacher Education

Equity in mathematics education should be one of the most important concerns of
teachers, administrators, policy makers, mathematicians, and mathematics educators. In fact, the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educator (AMTE), the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (NCSM), and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics NCTM), three national organizations that support teacher educators, mathematics teachers, and teacher leaders, have made equity a priority for their organizations (Gutierrez et al. 2008). Position statements, standards documents, and various books identify key equity issues and recommend directions compelling all involved in the mathematics education of students to become aware of equity issues and to take steps toward eliminating the inequities that plague K-16 education.

Author(s): Marilyn Strutchens , Jennifer Bay-Williams , Marta Civil , Kathryn Chval , Carol E. Malloy , Dorothy Y. White , Beatriz D’Ambrosio , Robert Q. Berry III
Year: 2011

Differentiation of Energy Concepts Through Speech and Gesture in Interaction

Author(s): Hunter Close , Rachel Scherr
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

Learning to map and mapping to learn

Maps at four levels of scale—global, national, regional, and local—provide a context for mathematical investigations that help teachers learn about their students.

Author(s): Rubel, Laurie , Chu, Haiwen , Shookhoff, Lauren
Year: 2011
Keywords: High, Equity

College Students’ Temporal-Magnitude Recognition Ability Associated With Durations of Scientific Changes

Author(s): Hee-Sun Lee , Ou Lydia Liu , C. Aaron Price , Amber Kendall1
Year: 2011

Elements of Proximal Formative Assessment in Learners’ Discourse about Energy

Author(s): Benedikt Harrer , Rachel Scherr , Michael Wittmann , Hunter Close , Brian Frank
Year: 2011
Keywords: High

Practice-Engaged Research and Development in Education

Author(s): Turnbull, Brenda
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

Knowledge Integration and WISE Engineering

Author(s): Jennifer Chiu , Marcia Linn
Year: 2011

Combining Learning and Assessment to Improve Science Education

High-stakes tests take time away from valuable learning activities, narrow the focus of instruction, and imply that science involves memorizing details rather than understanding the natural world. Current tests lead precollege instructors to postpone science inquiry activities until after the last standardized test is completed—often during the last week of school. Students spend countless hours practicing and taking multiple-choice tests that have little educational value. Even college courses now devote class time to multiple choice clicker questions and often rely on similar items for course grades. Instead we need learning tests that help students understand science while at the same time measure progress.

Author(s): Marcia Linn , Jennifer Chiu
Year: 2011

Synthesis and Characterization of Self-Assembled Liquid Crystals: p-Alokxybenzoic Acids

Author(s): Jensen, Jana , Grundy, Stephan , Bretz, Stacey Lowery , Hartley, C. Scott
Year: 2011

Enhancing the Authenticity of a Web-Based Module for Teaching Simple Inheritance

Author(s): Tali Tal , Yael Kali , Stella Magid , Jacqueline J. Madhok
Year: 2011

Re-Mediating Second Language Acquisition: A Sociocultural Perspective for Language Development

This article provides a cultural-historical (CHAT) analysis of the practices used by an effective teacher of Latino/a children previously classified as “underachieving” and “beginning/novice” English Language Learners. Although the teacher would not describe her practices in strict CHAT, or sociocultural theory (SCT) terms, our analysis shows that teaching practices in this classroom are better understood using a SCT model rather than more prevalent second language acquisition (SLA) models that dominate the field of bilingual/English as a Second Language education. We describe the fundamental limitations of SLA assumptions about learners vis-à-vis a SCT perspective and use classroom and case study data to illustrate how a CHAT perspective illuminates this teacher’s practices. From a CHAT perspective, teaching and learning are socially reorganized around the mediation of dynamic learner identities and include shifts in expert–novice status, dialogic interactions, and the use of innovative mediational tools (e.g., keystrokes on a calculator) to promote academic writing and oral communication. The mediational reorganization described in the classroom opened up access to students who might have been dismissed by a SLA model as “incapable” of engaging in such tasks. We draw on classroom-level data (i.e., standardized scores in reading and math) as well as the work of selected focal students to illustrate our case.

Author(s): Aria Razfar , Lena Licón Khisty , Kathryn Chval
Year: 2011

Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy

Author(s): Sarah McKagan , Rachel Scherr , Eleanor Close , Hunter Close
Year: 2011
Keywords: Other

Math and Science Education with English Language Learners: Contributions of the DR K-12 Program

Author(s): Martinez, Alina , Rhodes, Hilary , Copson, Elizabeth , Tiano, Megan , DellaRocco, Nicole , Donoghue, Nathaniel
Year: 2011

An Investigation of Explanation Multiple-Choice Items in Science Assessment

Author(s): Ou Lydia Liu , Hee-Sun Lee , Marcia Linn
Year: 2011

Preparing Middle School Mathematics Teachers: Rethinking Engagement and Learning

In this theoretical research paper we describe a collaborative effort between researchers and university faculty to improve how teachers are prepared to teach middle school mathematics.

Author(s): Susan Courey , Pam LePage , Jody Siker , Jeremy Roschelle , Jose Blackorby
Year: 2010
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

A Design Pattern for Experimental Investigation (Large-Scale Assessment Technical Report 8)

Author(s): Colker, Alexis , Liu, Min , Mislevy, Robert , Haertel, Geneva , Fried, Ron , Zalles, Dan
Year: 2010

Professional Noticing of Children’s Mathematical Thinking

Author(s): Jacobs, V.R. , Lamb, L.L.C. , Philipp, R.A.
Year: 2010

SciJourner Volume 2, Issue 2

The second print edition from academic year 2010-11 of our student written science news publication, in pdf format. This is meant to be printed on large format paper, and folded, but it can be viewed online.

Author(s): SciJourners
Year: 2010

Strategy use indicative of an understanding of units of length (Cullen, Barrett)

Cullen, C. J., & Barrett, J. E., (2010) Strategy use indicative of an understanding of units of length. In M. Pinto & T. Kawasaki (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 281-288. Belo Horizonte, Brazil: International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education.

Author(s): Cullen, C. , Barrett, J.
Year: 2010

Acquisition of mathematical language: Suggestions and activities for English language learners

In this article, we describe aspects of mathematical language that could be problematic to English-language learners, provide recommendations for teaching English-language learners, and suggest activities intended to foster language development in mathematics.

Author(s): Cirillo, M. , Richardson Bruna, K. , Herbel-Eisenmann, B.
Year: 2010

Supporting Children's Problem Solving

“Help! I’m stuck!” How many times have you heard a student make a similar plea? What do you consider when deciding how to respond? What reasoning is most productive? As part of a large research project, we explored these questions with 131 prospective and practicing teachers and found patterns in their reasoning. Consider how teachers and professional developers can use these patterns to better support children during problem solving.

Author(s): Jacobs, V.R. , Philipp, R.A.
Year: 2010

Planning Evaluations for DRK-12 Design Projects: An Evaluative Framework Using Evidence-Centered Design (Large-Scale Assessment Technical Report 5)

Evaluation work is presented and discussed in terms of evaluative requirements from the National Science Foundation, and in terms of five fundamental issues that undergird practical program evaluation: social programming, knowledge construction, valuing, knowledge use, and evaluation practice. The report moves through six phases of evaluative work: (1) a logic modeling process, (2) definition of evaluative focus areas, (3) clarification of evaluative questions, (4) design of the evaluation plan, (5) collection and analysis of data, and (6) provision of evaluative information to stakeholders. Rationales for design decisions made in the context of this evaluation are provided and discussed, and process options are laid out for designers of similar evaluations.

Author(s): Haynie, Kathleen
Year: 2010
Keywords: Other

Appraising lexical bundles in mathematics classroom discourse: Obligation and choice

Author(s): Herbel-Eisenmann, Beth , Wagner, D
Year: 2010
Keywords: High, Mathematics

DR K-12 Projects Overview

This report is an overview of the projects in the DR K-12 portfolio.

Author(s): Martinez, Alina , Bozzi, Laurie , Shlager, Caroline , Velez, Melissa , DellaRocco, Nicole
Year: 2010

Learning to teach mathematics in urban high schools: untangling the threads of interwoven narratives

 In this article, the authors explore learning about equity pedagogy in mathematics by focusing on the experiences of a teacher and teacher educator within the Centering the Teaching of Mathematics on Urban Youth project. One teacher’s story is interwoven as a counterpoint and specific trajectory within the broader narrative provided by the teacher educator. Key themes addressed include the nature of teaching mathematics, identity and position, and developing culturally relevant mathematics pedagogy. The authors’ goal is not to report on the effects of a mathematics teacher professional development program per se, but rather to open the conversation, between teacher and teacher educator, to a broader audience.

Author(s): Chu, Haiwen , Rubel, Laurie
Year: 2010
Keywords: High, Equity, Mathematics

A cognitive apprenticeship for science literacy based on journalism

Author(s): Polman, Joseph L. , Saul, E. Wendy , Newman, Alan , Farrar, Cathy , Singer, Nancy , Turley, Eric , Pearce, Laura , Hope, Jennifer , McCarty, Glenda , Graville, Cynthia
Year: 2010
Keywords: High, Science

Fostering Knowledge Use in STEM Education: A Brief on R&D Partnerships with Districts and Schools

This practice brief makes a case for substantive partnerships between STEM education R&D projects and districts and schools.

Author(s): Barnes, David , Benenson, Gary , Heuer, Loretta , Hobbs, Mary , King, Karen , Kinzer, Cathy , Recker, Mimi , Riley, Derek , Schifter, Catherine , Turnbull, Brenda , Wiburg, Karin
Year: 2010

Mathematics teachers at work: Connecting curriculum materials and classroom instruction

Author(s): Remillard, J. , Herbel-Eisenmann, B. , Lloyd, G.
Year: 2009

SciJourner Volume 1, Issue 4

The fourth print edition from summer 2009 of our science news publication, in pdf format. The articles in this edition, unlike the others, are written by high school teachers who participated in our summer PD.

Author(s): SciJourners
Year: 2009

Using communication to motivate measurement precision and the use of standard units

Author(s): Cullen, C , Witkowski, C , Wilder, R , Maubach, R
Year: 2009
Keywords: Elementary

Design Patterns for Assessing Model-Based Reasoning (Large-Scale Assessment Technical Report 6)

Author(s): Mislevey, Robert , Riconscente, Michelle , Rutstein, Daisy
Year: 2009

Geniverse/NextBio Proposal

The proposal for the Geniverse project. This project was proposed as NextBio; the name was subsequently changed to Geniverse.

Author(s): Dorsey, Chad , Reichsman, Frieda
Year: 2009

SciJourner Volume 2, Issue 1

The first print edition from academic year 2010-11 of our student written science news publication, in pdf format. This is meant to be printed on large format paper, and folded, but it can be viewed online.

Author(s): SciJourners
Year: 2009

A Design Pattern for Observational Investigation Assessment Tasks (Large Scale Assessment Technical Report 2)

Author(s): Mislevy, Robert , Liu, Min , Cho, Y. , Fulkerson, Dennis , Nichols, Paul , Zalles, Dan , Fried, Ron , Haertel, Geneva , Cheng, Britte , DeBarger, Angela , Villalba, Serena , Colker, Alexis , Haynie, Kathleen , Hamel, Larry
Year: 2009

Highlights from Dissemination in STEM Education R&D: Perspectives on Knowledge Use

DRK–12 projects at all stages, from early design work through completion, can benefit from an awareness and understanding of the challenges of knowledge use, so that what is designed can be suitably adapted and scaled.

Author(s): Brenda J. Turnbull
Year: 2009

Negotiation of the "presence of the text": How might teachers' language choices influence the positioning of the textbook?

Chapter in Mathematics Teachers at Work: Connecting Curriculum Materials and Classroom Instruction.

Author(s): Herbel-Eisenmann, B.
Year: 2009
Keywords: Other, Mathematics

Promoting Purposeful Discourse: Teacher Research in Mathematics Classrooms

How important is discourse in the mathematics classroom? Interest in this question has grown dramatically as mathematics education has recognized the role of communication in understanding. This book presents portraits of teaching by secondary school teachers who have closely observed classroom communication, conversation, and discourse and have sought to use them to improve the quality of their teaching and their students' learning.

Author(s): Herbel-Eisenmann, Beth
Year: 2009

Re-mythologizing mathematics through attention to classroom positioning

With our conceptualization of Harré and van Langenhove’s (1999) positioning theory, we draw attention to immanent experience and read transcendent discursive practices through the moment of interaction. We use a series of spatial images as metaphors to analyze the way positioning is conceptualized in current mathematics education literature and the way it may be alternatively conceptualized. This leads us to claim that changing the way mathematics is talked about and changing the stories (or myths) told about mathematics is necessary for efforts to change the way mathematics is done and the way it is taught.

Author(s): Wagner, D , Herbel-Eisenmann, B
Year: 2009
Keywords: Other, Mathematics

Why discourse deserves our attention!

In A. Florio (Editor) Mathematics for every student: Responding to diversity, Grades 9-12 (pp. 103-115). Reston, Va: NCTM.

Author(s): Herbel-Eisenmann, B. , Cirillo, M. , Skowronski, K.
Year: 2009
Keywords: High, Mathematics

SciJourner Volume 1, Issue 1

The first print edition from summer 2009 of the student science news publication, in pdf format.

Author(s): SciJourners
Year: 2009

SciJourner Volume 1, Issue 2

The second print issue from summer 2009 of the student science news publication, in pdf format.

Author(s): SciJourners
Year: 2009

"Muddying the clear waters": Teacher's take-up of the linguistic idea of revoicing

Author(s): Herbel-Eisenmann, Beth , Drake, C , Cirillo, M
Year: 2009
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

SciJourner Volume 1, Issue 3

The third print edition from summer 2009 of the student science news publication, in pdf format.

Author(s): SciJourners
Year: 2009

What question would I be asking myself in my head? Helping all students reason mathematically

Chapter to appear in C. Malloy (Series Editor) Mathematics for all: Instructional strategies for diverse classrooms, Grades 6-8. Reston, VA: NCTM.

Author(s): Herbel-Eisenmann, Beth , Schleppegrell, Mary
Year: 2008
Keywords: Middle, Mathematics

Blogs: Enhancing links in a professional learning community of science and mathematics teachers

Loving, C. C., Schroeder, C., Kang, R., Shimek, C., & Herbert, B. (2007). Blogs: Enhancing links in a professional learning community of science and mathematics teachers. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 7(3). Available: http://www.citejournal.org/vol7/iss3/maintoc.cfm.

Author(s): Loving, C. C. , Schroeder, C. , Kang, R. , Shimek, C. , Herbert, B.
Year: 2007

Classroom Orchestration of Computer Simulations for Science and Engineering Learning: A Multiple-Case Study Approach

This multiple case study focused on the implementation of a computer-aided design (CAD) simulation to help students engage in engineering design to learn science concepts. Our findings describe three case studies that adopted the same learning design and adapted it to three different populations, settings, and classroom contexts: at the middle-school, high-school, and pre-service teaching levels.

Author(s): Alejandra J. Magana , Jennifer Chiu , Ying Ying Seah , James P. Bywater , Corey Schimpf , Tugba Karabiyik , Sanjay Rebello , Charles Xie

STEM Student Reporting Labs: Youth Engagement Through Journalism

This document is the final evaluation report of the STEM Student Reporting Labs.

Keywords: Evaluation, Middle, High

Broadening Participation in STEM College Majors: Effects of Attending a STEM-focused High School

To increase participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) studies and careers, some states have
promoted inclusive STEM high schools. This study addressed the question of whether these high schools improve the odds
that their graduates will pursue a STEM major in college.

Author(s): Barbara Means , Emi Iwatani
Keywords: High

Development and Validation of the Engineering Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument

In response to Bandura’s proposal that self-efficacy is a situation-specific construct, the authors developed a valid and reliable engineering teaching self-efficacy
instrument for elementary teachers through modifying Riggs and Enochs’s STEBI.

Author(s): Hasan Deniz , Erdogan Kaya , Ezgi Yesilyurt

A Framework for Measuring Fidelity of Implementation: A Foundation for Shared Language and Accumulation of Knowledge

This article describes a project that holds the development of Fidelity of Implementation (FOI) measures as its primary goal and has developed a suite of data collection tools designed to be used across multiple programs. It describes the foundation of the suite—a conceptual framework for clearly and specifically describing FOI and the need for the framework. It also describes where the framework resides in existing literature and how it can be used to support measurement of interventions in education and other fields.

Author(s): Jeanne Century , Mollie Rudnick , Cassie Freeman
Keywords: Other

Diagnosing Teachers’ Multiplicative Reasoning (DTMR) assessments

The Diagnosing Teachers’ Multiplicative Reasoning (DTMR) tests are designed for in-service middle grades teachers and emphasize knowledge needed (a) to think about fractions and proportional relationships as quantities and (b) to use drawn models (e.g., number line and area models) as the basis for solving problems.

Author(s): Andrew Izsak
Keywords: Middle