DRK-12 Research and Products
Tool | What does it mean to help students develop a small particle model of matter? The Mystery Bubble task is intended to elicit preservice teachers’ CKT related to students’ ideas about the small particle model (SPM) for matter, particularly the idea of…
Product for Educators | Use a fictional Earth-like planet to explore plate tectonics as a system of interacting plates.
Publication | This article introduces a new online curriculum module called “What will Earth look like in 500 million years?” Using two web-based tools, middle and high school students develop understandings of (1) how collective movements associated with a…
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…
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…
Publication | The effective use of formative assessment (FA) has been demonstrated to confer positive impacts on student learning. To understand why and how FA works, it is necessary to characterize teachers’ FA practices, but because both teaching practice…
Tool | What ideas do students have about small particles of matter? The Two Cups of Liquid task is intended to elicit preservice teachers’ CKT related to students’ ideas about the small particle model (SPM) for matter.
Publication | In this manuscript, we propose that educators’ perspectives may serve as an independent source of evidence that can be integrated with traditional evidence sources (e.g., cognitive interviews with students, psychometric data). This manuscript…
Publication | In this article, authors examined classroom videos of nine experienced teachers of elementary, middle, and high school science, aiming to create a model of FA enactment that is useful to teachers.
Publication | This comprehensive volume advances a vision of teacher preparation programs focused on core practices supporting ambitious science instruction. The book advocates for collaborative learning and building a community of teacher educators that can…
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 | 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.
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.
Product for Educators | The CHALK tool is a progressive web application that guides educators to improve instructional quality in early education settings. CHALK provides targeted observation tools that allow instructional coaches to easily track key…
Publication | In this study, authors examined middle-school students’ naturally occurring design conversations in small design teams and their learning of science as a result of engaging in an engineering and science unit.
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.…
| The purpose of this study was to adapt and validate an instrument for assessing immersive 360 video use in an undergraduate preservice teacher university training program.
Publication | In this chapter, the authors present the design rationale for and empirical results from a predominantly synchronous three-part online model for the professional development of mathematics teachers in rural contexts.
Publication | This theoretical paper summarizes of technology initiatives across science and STEM education from the past 30 years to present perspectives on the role of technology in science-focused STEM education.
Publication | The origin of the Universe is something that people have pondered for thousands of years. As evidence has mounted, the Big Bang theory has become the consensus scientific model. Much of this same evidence refutes opposing theories such as the…
Publication | 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…