Elementary

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

Cohen, J., Wong, V., Krishnamachari, A., & Jones, N. (2021). Simulations as a platform for understanding and improving teachers' classroom skills. AAAS Arise Blog.

Author/Presenter

Julie Cohen

Vivian Wong

Anandita Krishnamachari

Nathan Jones

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

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

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

Developing knowledge about science instruction is critical for preservice teachers. 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/Presenter

Allison K. Bookbinder

Jamie N. Mikeska

Heena R. Lakhani

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

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.

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

Developing understanding about the Earth’s climate and the phenomenon of global climate change (GCC) is essential for all students, our future citizens and decision-makers. 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.

Author/Presenter

Devarati Bhattacharya

Kim Carroll Steward

Cory T. Forbes

Year
2021
Short Description

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.

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

Developing understanding about the Earth’s climate and the phenomenon of global climate change (GCC) is essential for all students, our future citizens and decision-makers. 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.

Author/Presenter

Devarati Bhattacharya

Kim Carroll Steward

Cory T. Forbes

Year
2021
Short Description

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.

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. Fifty-one out of 102 second graders and 90 out of 102 fifth graders read or used negative signs at least once across the 11 problems. Among second graders, one of their most common strategies was subtracting numbers using their absolute values, which aligned with students’ whole number knowledge-pieces and knowledge-structure.

Author/Presenter

Mahtob Aqazade

Laura Bofferding

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

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.

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

Participating in discussions of classroom video can support teachers to attend to student thinking. Central to the success of these discussions is how teachers interpret the activity they are engaged in—how teachers frame what they are doing. In asynchronous online environments, negotiating framing poses challenges, given that interactions are not in real time and often require written text. We present findings from an online course designed to support teachers to frame video discussions as making sense of student thinking.

Author/Presenter
Jessica Watkins

Merredith Portsmore

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2021
Short Description

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.

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

Preservice elementary teachers (PSTs) prepare for various standardized assessments, such as the Praxis® licensure assessment. However, there is little research on test-taking behavior and test-taking strategies for this examinee population. A common belief and instruction given in some test preparation materials is that examinees should stick to their initial answer choice. Decades of research has debunked this belief, finding that generally examinees benefit from answer changing behavior. However, there is minimal research on answer changing behavior among PSTs.

Author/Presenter

Katherine E. Castellano

Jamie N. Mikeska

Jung Aa Moon

Steven Holtzman

Jie Gao

Yang Jiang

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2022
Short Description

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.

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. We analyzed representations created by students for the following qualities: representations that distinguish the behavior of one operation from another, that support an explanation of a specific case of a generalization, and that support justification of a generalization.

Author/Presenter

Deborah Schifter

Susan Jo Russell

Year
2022
Short Description

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

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.

Author/Presenter

David Miller

Isabella Pinerua

Jonathan Margolin

Dean Gerdeman

Year
2022
Short Description

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.

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.

Key Findings

Author/Presenter

Jonathan Margolin

Isabella Pinerua

Dean Gerdeman

Year
2022
Short Description

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.