DRK-12 Research and Products

Publication | Situated in the context of advanced placement (AP) reform in the United States, we investigated profiles of teachers’ motivation for participating in professional development (PD) courses in a two-cohort sample of nt1 = 2,369 and nt2 = 2,170…
Publication | The need for data literacy is an increasingly pressing priority in society, but most of the work in data-centred education has focused on developing skills at the middle school, secondary, and post-secondary levels, with little attention on the…
Product for Educators | Online plotter for historical data and student data collected using the Emery Method for beach profiling.
Publication | Research on geometric transformations suggests that early learners possess intuitive understandings grounded in motion metaphors, transitioning to mappings. The processes through which students transition between these two conceptions are not…
Publication | This report takes stock of what we currently know as well as what we need to know to make classroom assessment maximally beneficial for the teaching and learning of STEM subject matter in K–12 classrooms.
Publication | In this report section, we discuss the importance of aligning classroom assessments with learning goals and instructional practices to both shape and evaluate students’ learning opportunities.
Publication | Specific to the topic of oxidation–reduction (redox), teachers are obligated by the discipline to prioritise symbolic traditions such as writing equations, documenting oxidation states, and describing changes (e.g., what undergoes oxidation/…
Presentation | 'Algorithms’ is a core CS concept included in the K-12 CS learning standards, yet student challenges with understanding and using algorithms are still not well documented. This paper describes an approach to decompose the broad middle-school ‘…
Publication | In this article, we describe a professional learning community (PLC) for science teacher educators that supported changes in pedagogy through educative curriculum materials and vignette writing.
Publication | Research on socio-scientific issues (SSI) has revealed that it is critical for learners to develop a systematic understanding of the underlying issue. In this paper, we explore how modeling can facilitate students’ systems thinking in the…
Publication | Justice-centred science pedagogy has been suggested as an effective framework for supporting teachers in bringing in culturally relevant pedagogy to their science classrooms; however, limited instructional tools exist that introduce social…
Product for Educators | Our 5D assessment development process is eight phases, each with a clear goal and tools to support task development. The tools and processes are combined in the 5D Assessment Development Tool for easy access from a single source.…
Publication | In many schools across the world, students experience mathematical concepts as ideas empty of wisdom and possibility. In this paper the authors analyze a philosophical conversation in which fifth-grade students were caught up in the animacy of…
Product for Educators | A 10-week, energy literacy curriculum unit for 6th grade students. Students will study energy use and transfer in their own school buildings. They will explore how Earth systems supply renewable and nonrenewable energy, and how these…
Publication | We developed an analytic framework related to the suggestions coaches provided to mathematics teachers as they engaged in content-focused coaching cycles. We analyzed 712 suggestions from nine coaches and 58 coaching conversations. Analysis…
Presentation | ‘Algorithms’ is a core CS concept included in the K-12 CS standards, yet student challenges with understanding different aspects of algorithms are still not well documented, especially for younger students. This paper describes an approach to…
Publication | Students need “critical data literacy” skills to help make sense of the multitude of information available to them, especially as it relates to high-stakes issues of social justice. The authors describe two curriculum modules they developed—one…
Presentation | Paper set on designing, supporting, and enacting elementary science units for teacher phenomenon adaptation from 2023 NARST conference.
Publication | In today’s technologically complex and connected world, students’ needs to develop competencies and confidence with data have never been greater. The authors describe effective practices for engaging all students with data in the classroom.…
Presentation | This poster presents findings from design and early implementation work of the NSF DRK-12 project which positions 6th and 7th grade students as decision makers in their own learning, integrating culturally responsive mathematical modeling…
Product for Educators | Schoolyard SITES Curriculum Workbook includes a narrative description of the SITES professional development program and the Project Planning Guide.
Publication | This paper investigates how mathematics instructors' recognition of the professional obligations of mathematics teaching varies based on their institutional environment, specifically whether they teach high school or college mathematics.
Publication | Cognitive interviews play an important role in articulating the intended construct of educational assessments. This paper describes the iterative development of protocols for cognitive interviews with kindergarten through second-grade children…
Publication | Our research explores possibilities for cultivating new spaces for preservice secondary science teachers to engage in science. In a content-focused education course, we designed for and studied preservice teachers' engagement in expansive and…
Presentation | This poster presents findings on middle school students’ understanding of core computer science (CS) concepts, such as variables and control structures, using cognitive think-aloud interviews with eight students.