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Compendium of Research Instruments for STEM Education, PART II: Measuring Students' Content Knowledge, Reasoning Skills, and Psychological Attributes

Addendum added 2013

Author/Presenter

Daphne Minner

Elisabeth Ericson

Sally Wu

Alina Martinez

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2012
Short Description

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.

STEM Smart Brief: Engineering: Emphasizing the “E” in STEM Education

Author/Presenter

CADRE

Year
2013
Short Description

“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.

STEM Smart Brief: Raising the Bar: Increasing STEM Achievement for All Students

Author/Presenter

CADRE

Year
2012
Short Description

“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.

STEM Smart Brief: Improving STEM Curriculum and Instruction: Engaging Students and Raising Standards

Author/Presenter

CADRE

Year
2012
Short Description

“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.

STEM Smart Brief: Preparing and Supporting STEM Educators

Author/Presenter

CADRE

Year
2012
Short Description

“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.

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/Presenter

CADRE

Year
2013
Short Description

“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.

Descriptive Overview of the DR K-12 Portfolio: Projects funded 2007-2012

The Discovery Research K-12 (DR K-12) program, funded by the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL), supports research and development in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. Specifically, the program seeks to enhance the learning and teaching of STEM by funding “research projects that study the development, testing, deployment, effectiveness, and/or scale-up of innovative resources, models and tools.”

Author/Presenter

Alina Martinez

Brian Freeman

Daphne Minner

Laurie Bozzi

Caroline Callahan

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2013
Short Description

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.

Helpful Links

Organizations
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) - http://www.aaas.org/

American Educational Research Association (AERA) - http://aera.net/

American Evaluation Association (AEA) - http://www.eval.org/

American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) - http://www.asee.org/

Author/Presenter

CADRE

Short Description

What else is happening in STEM education? Explore funding, dissemination, and networking opportunities outside of DR K-12 through other organizations devoted to advancing research, development, evaluation, or practice in K-12 STEM education.

Essential Support Video: Peer-to-Peer Discussion

Author/Presenter

eTG Project Team

Year
2013
Short Description

In this discussion, students try to clarify areas of confusion among themselves. They puzzle through complicated scientific ideas and ask their peers for help. They wrestle with questions ranging from the definitional -- what is organic -- to the societal -- how does policy get created. In this discussion, students mention cisgenic organisms, which are organisms that contain a mixture of genes from within the species. Transgenic organisms contain a mixture of genes that come from other species.

Essential Support Video: Digging Deeper into the Complexity of the Question

Author/Presenter

eTG Project Team

Year
2013
Short Description

As the students grapple with the question of whether to serve genetically modified potatoes in the school cafeteria, the teacher uses strategies that encourage all students to voice their ideas and questions, to distinguish scientific evidence from opinion, and to critique their own and others' ideas.