DRK-12 Research and Products
Product for Educators | Free, standards-aligned, and research-based inquiry curricula that address NGSS 3D proficiency. Includes Interactive scientific models plus hands-on activities, personalized guidance, and rich embedded assessments. For…
Publication | 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…
Decomposing Practice in Teacher Professional Development: Examining Sequences of Learning Activities
Publication | In this paper, authors analyze a PD design, examining its activities and the sequencing of professional learning tasks.
Presentation | Building on the work of Ball and Cohen and that of Davis and Krajcik, as well as more recent research related to K12 teacher learning from and about curriculum materials, we seek to answer the question, How can educative curriculum materials be…
Publication | 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…
Publication | 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…
Publication | 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…
Tool | A collection shares resources to help researchers, parents, and teachers navigate changes to education and education research brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tool | How can we align activities with instructional goals to support student understanding of matter and materials? The Building a Tower Task is intended to elicit preservice teachers’ CKT about descriptions and appropriate uses of materials based on their…
Publication | 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.
Publication | 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.
Presentation | The context for this study was an intervention that provided professional development (PD) for preschool (pre-K) and kindergarten (K) teachers and science engagement activities for families. The research sought to determine the impact of the…
Presentation | On May 19, 2020, Beth Herbel-Eisenmann, Rob Ochsendorf, Laura O'Dwyer, and Alan Stockdale led online discussion about the implications of COVID-19 on DRK-12 research, including approaches to adapting your current projects and…
Publication | 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.
Product for Educators | SOLID Start (Science Oral Language and Literacy Development from the Start of School) curricula are guided by a driving question and puzzling phenomena that engage young students and elicit their natural curiosities. The units are…
Tool | What investigations can help students best understand conservation of matter? The Investigating Matter tasks are intended to elicit preservice teachers’ CKT related to the conservation of matter.
Presentation | This poster shares data from a Grades K–2 cross sectional study that examined how students' thinking about equations and the meaning of the equal sign were shaped by their experiences exploring equations with pan balances and number balances.…
Presentation | A workshop to be presented at the Association of Science Teacher Educators International Conference.
Tool | Find general guidelines and information on preparing and justifying your proposal budget.
Publication | This article focuses on investigating the phenomenon of increasing surface air temperatures using a global climate modeling approach.
Presentation | NSF program directors Rob Ochsendorf and Mike Steele presented on the revised DRK-12 Solicitation (20-572), giving an overview of the revisions and sharing important information and key takeaways from the solicitation.
Publication | 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.
| The purpose of this study is to characterize teachers’ orientations toward using student mathematical thinking as a resource during whole-class instruction.
Publication | 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.
Tool | What is a scientific explanation and how can we support students in explaining changes in matter? The Fizzy Antacid task is intended to elicit and develop preservice teachers’ CKT related to students’ scientific explanations of changes in matter.