Science

Improving Ecological Education through a Four‐Dimensional Framework

At its November 2018 meeting, the Ecological Society of America's Governing Board made the important decision to endorse the 4‐Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) framework. Developed over the past 3 years 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/Presenter

Kenneth Klemow

Alan Berkowitz

Carmen Cid

George Middendorf

Year
2019
Short Description

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.

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, a Historically Black College and University located in Southwest Atlanta, Georgia. Many studies articulate the importance of cultural alignment between students and their instructors’ influence on STEM participation and persistence.

Author/Presenter

Cynthia Trawick

Thema Monroe-White

Jigsa A. Tola

Jamie P. Clayton

J. K. Haynes

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2020
Short Description

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

The Re-Novicing of Elementary Teachers in Science? Grade Level Reassignment and Teacher PCK

There is growing recognition of the prevalence of “within school churn”, a phenomenon in which teachers remain within a school but are assigned a new grade level or course. In this study we examine the consequences of within-school churn for the pedagogical content knowledge of elementary teacher participants in an NSF-funded science PD program. We argue grade-level reassignment is akin to out-of-field science teaching for elementary teachers, as they encounter a new set of grade-specific standards, new subject matter topics, and new curricula.

Author/Presenter

Deborah L. Hanuscin

Zandra de Araujo

Dante Cisterna

Kelsey Lipsitz

Delinda van Garderen

Year
2020
Short Description

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.

SOLID Start K-2 Curriculum Materials

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 designed to support young students’ science learning and oral language and literacy development.

Author/Presenter

Tanya Wright

Amelia Gotwals

Amanda Bismack

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2020
Short Description

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 designed to support young students’ science learning and oral language and literacy development.

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. Twenty-four DRK-12 CAREER awardees responded to the questions:

Author/Presenter

CADRE

Year
2021
Short Description

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.

Designing ‘Productive Uncertainty’ into Investigations to Support Meaningful Engagement in Science Practices

We want students to engage from the earliest ages in science and engineering practices with sincere curiosity and purpose. Science investigations can be viewed as “working through uncertainty.” However, 3D instructional materials often try to support engagement in science practices by making them very explicit and scaffolding the process to make it easy to accomplish—arguably, too easy.

Author/Presenter

Eve Manz

Sarah Arnold

Colleen Bazinet

Betsy Beckert

Diana Garity

Griselda George

Pat O'Brien

Lauren Reilly

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2019
Short Description

This teaching tool focused on an alternative approach to science investigation that emphasizes productive uncertainty.

Getting a Grip: A Framework for Designing and Adapting Elementary School Science Investigations

This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. This issue describes a framework for designing and adapting elementary school science investigations.

Manz, E. (2019). Getting a Grip: A Framework for Designing and Adapting Elementary School Science Investigations. Science & Children.

Author/Presenter

Eve Manz

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2019
Short Description

This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching.

Designing Educative Curriculum Materials for Teacher Educators: Supporting Elementary Teachers' Content Knowledge for Teaching about Matter

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 developed to support teacher educators in acquiring the knowledge needed for teaching science teachers?

Author/Presenter

Deborah Hanuscin

Emily J. Borda

Josie Melton

Jamie N. Mikeska

Year
2020
Short Description

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 developed to support teacher educators in acquiring the knowledge needed for teaching science teachers? We present a set of theoretically and empirically based design principles and conceptual examples of ways in which educative curriculum materials might be used to support teacher educators in developing the knowledge needed for teaching elementary pre-service teachers. Specifically, we focus on helping teacher educators develop prospective teachers’ content knowledge for teaching about the structure and properties of matter.We follow these examples with consideration of unanswered questions related to the use of educative curriculum materials by teacher educators. This poster was prepared for the 2020 Annual International NARST Conference.

Designing Educative Curriculum Materials for Teacher Educators: Supporting Elementary Teachers' Content Knowledge for Teaching about Matter

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 developed to support teacher educators in acquiring the knowledge needed for teaching science teachers?

Author/Presenter

Deborah Hanuscin

Emily J. Borda

Josie Melton

Jamie N. Mikeska

Year
2020
Short Description

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 developed to support teacher educators in acquiring the knowledge needed for teaching science teachers? We present a set of theoretically and empirically based design principles and conceptual examples of ways in which educative curriculum materials might be used to support teacher educators in developing the knowledge needed for teaching elementary pre-service teachers. Specifically, we focus on helping teacher educators develop prospective teachers’ content knowledge for teaching about the structure and properties of matter.We follow these examples with consideration of unanswered questions related to the use of educative curriculum materials by teacher educators. This poster was prepared for the 2020 Annual International NARST Conference.

Elementary Pre-service Teachers' Perceptions of Assessment Tasks to Measure Content Knowledge for Teaching about Matter

This study explores how 79 elementary pre-service teachers evaluate the importance and pertinence of assessment tasks, designed to elicit information about content knowledge for teaching (CKT) about matter—a foundational topic for physical science. Drawing on a cognitive perspective and using think-aloud procedures, we had the participants answer different assessment items that described teaching scenarios related to elementary science instruction for topics such as properties of matter, changes in matter, the model of matter, and conservation of matter.

Author/Presenter

Dante Cisterna

Jamie N. Mikeska

Allison Bookbinder

David L. Myers

Heena R. Lakhani

Luronne Vaval

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2020
Short Description

This study explores how 79 elementary pre-service teachers evaluate the importance and pertinence of assessment tasks, designed to elicit information about content knowledge for teaching (CKT) about matter—a foundational topic for physical science. Drawing on a cognitive perspective and using think-aloud procedures, we had the participants answer different assessment items that described teaching scenarios related to elementary science instruction for topics such as properties of matter, changes in matter, the model of matter, and conservation of matter. We aimed to explore (1) how familiar pre-service teachers felt these task scenarios were in regards to their (pre-service) teaching experience and (2) how important they considered these task scenarios for the work of elementary teachers. This poster was prepared for the 2020 Annual International NARST Conference.