Middle

Educative curriculum materials provide teachers with authentic opportunities to learn new skills and practices. Yet, research shows teachers use curriculum in different ways for different reasons, and these modifications could undermine the learning goals of the curriculum. Little research, however, has examined the variation in teacher use of educative curriculum and the impact on teacher learning. In this article, we use organizational theory's concept of sensemaking to examine teacher learning from educative curriculum.

Noticing students' mathematical thinking is a key element of effective instruction, but novice teachers do not naturally engage in this practice. Prospective secondary school mathematics teachers were engaged in an intervention grounded in analysis of minimally edited video from local secondary school mathematics classrooms; the goal was to support their ability to notice important student thinking within the complexity of instruction.

Throughout elementary school, students learn about positive numbers and how they fit on a number line. The transition to using negative numbers, after only working with numbers greater than zero for several years, can be difficult for students (Murray 1985). The card game described here was used successfully with fifth graders; through the game, students explore the characteristics of numbers less than zero and how to add positive and negative numbers.

Variations of this slide deck were used in 3 different presentations this summer about the Teachers with Guts project:

• Agent-based modeling in StarLogo Nova. MIT Nord-Anglia Teacher Program. (2016)
• Introducing Project GUTS. MIT Science and Engineering Program for Teachers. (2016)
• Infusing Computational Thinking into Science Classrooms. ISTE Conference.  (2016)

This presentation on "Supporting the Intersections between Computer Science and the NGSS" was presented at the NSTA STEM Forum & Expo in Minneapolis, MN. (2015)  

The Santa Fe Institute has been developing programs and curricula that infuse computational thinking into Science education for the past 12 years. In this webinar, presenters describe how the study of Complex Adaptive Systems through computer modeling and simulation fits into existing science frameworks and classes, share information about their program and curricula, and describe the professional development needed to prepare Science teachers to address the computational thinking practices presented in the NRC framework and NGSS.

This appendix of the California Science Framework focuses on Computer Science in Science.

Citation: Lee, I.2016. California Science Framework. Appendix 5: Computer Science in Science  Retrieved on 11-15-16 at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/sc/cf/scifw2nd60daypubreview.asp

Chapter 7 of the publication Engineering Instruction for High-Ability Learners in K-8 Classrooms, this chapter written by Irene Lee and April DeGennaro focuses on computer science, coding, and project-based learning for engineering instruction.

Citation: Lee, I. & DeGennaro, A. 2016. Computer Science, Coding, and Project-Based Learning for Engineering Instruction. In Dailey, D. & Cotabish, A. (Eds.), Engineering Instruction for High-Ability Learners in K-8 Classrooms.  Prufrock Press. Austin, TX. 

This book uses meta-analysis to synthesize research on scaffolding and scaffolding-related interventions in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. Specifically, the volume examines the extent to which study quality, assessment type, and scaffolding characteristics (strategy, intended outcome, fading schedule, scaffolding intervention, and paired intervention) influence cognitive student outcomes.