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A Landscape Analysis of K–12 Engineering Education in the Greater Boston Region

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.