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Environmental education is essential for protecting and restoring natural water sources. Integrating education with positive environmental experiences can instill values and stewardship in the public, encouraging proactive…
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Students benefit from dialogs about their explanations of complex scientific phenomena, and middle school science teachers cannot realistically provide all the guidance they need. We study ways to extend generative teacher…
Elementary Students Learning Through Data Analysis and Sharing Findings: Design-based Research for Community and Citizen Science in Schools
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While citizen science and other participatory approaches to science are increasingly used in schools to promote student science learning, rarely are these students supported to collect, analyze, and share their data with…
Exploring Students’ Engagement with Inscription-based Science Practices from the Perspective of Epistemic (Un)certainty
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Learning about natural hazards and risks through science practices entails considerations of uncertainty. We examined ways in which students expressed their epistemic (un)certainty about claims they made based on their…
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For this study, we focused on the Ambitious Science Teaching–based teacher talk engaged in by two middle school science teachers to support student sensemaking regarding a phenomenon-based science unit with embedded data…
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Physics has the reputation of being purely about nature, not about people or culture. Physics concepts such as time, space, and mass are often considered to be independent of sociopolitical concepts such as democracy and…
Teacher Educators’ Use of Formative Feedback During Preservice Teachers’ Simulated Teaching Experiences in Mathematics and Science
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The purpose of this research study was to identify how teacher educators (TEs) attend to and use formative feedback as they work to support preservice teachers’ (PSTs’) learning. The formative feedback was provided to the…
The Design and Implementation of a Bayesian Data Analysis Lesson for Pre-Service Mathematics and Science Teachers
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With the rise of the popularity of Bayesian methods and accessible computer software, teaching and learning about Bayesian methods are expanding. However, most educational opportunities are geared toward statistics and…
Unpacking the Nuances: An Exploratory Multilevel Analysis on the Operationalization of Integrated STEM Education and Student Attitudinal Change
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Integrated STEM education (iSTEM) is recognized for its potential to improve students’ scientific and mathematical knowledge, as well as to nurture positive attitudes toward STEM, which are essential for motivating…
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This paper describes how plate tectonics and rock genesis, two topics that are typically addressed separately in secondary Earth science classes, can be taught together as an integrated system.
This…
Ten Years of Three-Dimensional Science and Its Implementation in the Secondary Classroom: A Scoping Review
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In the decade following the release of the Next-Generation Science Standards in the United States, many efforts have occurred to reform K-12 science teaching. While not all states have adopted NGSS, 48 of 50 have…
What Should We Investigate? Using a Classroom Decomposition Chamber to Support the Development of Investigation Questions
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In this article, we describe how we use classroom phenomena to help fifth grade students develop testable questions and productive investigations. Engaging students in observing and seeking to explain a classroom…
Combining Natural Language Processing with Epistemic Network Analysis to Investigate Student Knowledge Integration within an AI Dialog
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In this study, we used Epistemic Network Analysis (ENA) to represent data generated by Natural Language Processing (NLP) analytics during an activity based on the Knowledge Integration (KI) framework. The activity features…
Employing Automatic Analysis Tools Aligned to Learning Progressions to Assess Knowledge Application and Support Learning in STEM
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We discuss transforming STEM education using three aspects: learning progressions (LPs), constructed response performance assessments, and artificial intelligence (AI). Using LPs to inform instruction, curriculum, and…
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The changing landscape of geoscience learning has initiated growing interest in engaging science learners with climate data. One approach to teaching climate is the application of broadly accessible digital science…
Developing Elementary Teachers’ Climate Change Knowledge and Self-efficacy for Teaching Climate Change Using Learning Technologies
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Elementary teachers require support through professional learning activities to enhance their climate change literacy and bolster their self-efficacy for teaching climate change. This study explores methods for supporting…
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This study employs the Experiential Learning Theory framework to investigate students’ use of a wildfire simulation. We analyzed log files automatically generated by middle and high school students (n = 1515) as they used…
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Building on the literature, we designed a practical framework to support attention to equity and justice in science teacher education coursework. This framework presents four approaches for including justice moves in…
Toward a Framework of Culturally Relevant Science and Mathematics Pedagogy: A Pedagogical and Analytical Tool for Teacher Education
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In this article, we present a framework of culturally relevant science and mathematics pedagogy (CRSMP), which is grounded in the tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy. It delineates practices ranging from the most…
Toward Ontological Alignment: Coordinating Student Ideas with the Representational System of a Computational Modeling Unit for Science Learning
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Computational modeling tools present unique opportunities and challenges for student learning. Each tool has a representational system that impacts the kinds of explorations students engage in. Inquiry aligned with a tool’…
What Distinguishes Students’ Engineering Design Performance: Design Behaviors, Design Iterations, and Application of Science Concepts
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Engineering design that requires mathematical analysis, scientific understanding, and technology is critical for preparing students for solving engineering problems. In simulated design environments, students are expected…
Exploring Resources and Reasoning Practices in Socioscientific System Modeling for Justice-Centered Science Education
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Integrating science education with social justice is vital for preparing students to critically address significant societal issues like climate change and pandemics. This study examines the effectiveness of…
Facilitating Student Argumentation Around Socioscientific Issues Through Productive Discourse and Negotiation Toward Consensus
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Controversial topics that arise in science classrooms, especially those of social relevance (e.g., the climate crisis), provide opportunities to help students learn about and discuss contradictory ideas they may encounter…
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Socioscientific issues (SSI) are problems involving the deliberate use of scientific topics that require students to engage in dialogue, discussion, and debate. The purpose of this project is to utilize issues that are…
Exploring the Attending and Interpretation of Three Science and Engineering Practices Among Secondary Science Teachers
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This study explored secondary science teachers’ attending and interpretation of three science and engineering practices (SEPs) occurring in a classroom setting. This data were further examined to see if teaching experience…
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In response to the growing emphasis on addressing global socio-scientific issues like climate change and viral pandemics in K-12 education, we designed three socio-scientific units for middle school science. We call this…
STEM Teacher Characteristics and Mobility: Longitudinal Evidence from the American Midwest, 2010 Through 2023
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This study examines the demographics, qualifications, and turnover of STEM teachers in Kansas and Missouri—two contiguous, predominantly rural states in the Midwestern region of the United States. The existing literature…
“Adapting for a Local Space Can be Tricky”: Designing Units for Teachers to Localize Through Phenomenon Adaptation
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Learning science in the context of local phenomena and problems can be powerful for young people. Yet, designing place-based instructional materials is resource intensive, limiting broad access. This study investigates how…
Expanding Uses of the STEM Observation Protocol (STEM-OP): Secondary Science Teachers’ Reflections on Integrated STEM Practice
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There are few guidelines related to how to implement integrated STEM education in the K-12 science classroom. It is important that teachers have opportunities to reflect on integrated STEM instruction when implemented so…
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A teacher’s working context is an important factor in how they make sense of and enact curriculum. Understanding how external factors (e.g. state and/or district policies, school cultural norms) interplay with teachers’…
Fostering Critical Consciousness: A Systematic Review of K-12 Teachers’ Integrations of Sociopolitical Issues in Science and Mathematics Classrooms
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Efforts towards providing inclusive science and mathematics education for marginalized students are increasingly found in literature advocating for equity-oriented instruction through supporting students’ critical…
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Science and engineering offer ways to maintain the thermal comfort of our homes while minimizing impacts on the environment. This article introduces the Energy-Plus House Design Project, an NGSS-aligned curriculum unit…
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Grand Challenges (GCs) are complex, global, and multifaceted science and societal problems such as climate change, viral pandemics, loss of biodiversity, and quests for new energy sources. In this article, we advance a…
Co-designing Citizen Science Projects for Elementary Schools in New Hampshire Through Teacher and Community-based Extension Science Volunteer Partnerships
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In the United States, reforms put forth by Next Generation Science Standards have increased the demand for K-12 teacher professional development in science instruction. This study investigates a new professional…
Integrating Community Assets, Place-based Learning, and Career Development Through Project-based Learning in Rural Settings
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Our study investigates the first year of a two-year place-based education (PBE) professional development model that focuses on career development in rural middle schools through project-based learning (PBL) units. Rural…
Integrating Math and Science Through Engineering: Illustrative Examples from Curricula Implementation in Middle School Engineering Classrooms
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Engineering has emerged as a promising context for STEM integration in K-12 schools. In the previous decade, the field has seen an increase in curricular resources and pedagogical approaches that invite students to utilize…
NLP-Enabled Automated Assessment of Scientific Explanations: Towards Eliminating Linguistic Discrimination
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As use of artificial intelligence (AI) has increased, concerns about AI bias and discrimination have been growing. This paper discusses an application called PyrEval in which natural language processing (NLP) was used to…
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This article emphasizes the critical role of play in early childhood science education, arguing that natural, child-led play fosters important opportunities for children to explore scientific ideas and practices. Drawing…
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Situated learning has been widely promoted in educational practice, where students are encouraged to learn by exploring real-world problems in authentic contexts. To expand the opportunities for situated learning,…
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This study practically addresses some key challenges teachers face in enacting reform-oriented science teaching and offers suggestions for how continued research regarding norms and uncertainty can continue to further…
Development of an Observation Protocol for Teachers' Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Science Instruction
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This study is part of a larger project on culturally and linguistically responsive instruction for multilingual learners (MLs) in biology (CLIMB), aimed at enhancing MLs’ engagement in science practices, biology content,…
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As educators, we recognize that commercially prepared curricula advertised as “NGSS aligned” do not necessarily emphasize student sensemaking. In this article, we describe our process of modifying such curricula by…
More Than a Sprinkle: Elevating Multiple Perspectives in a Unit Exploring Coasts and Coastal Change in Hawai‘i
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The Exploring Coasts and Coastal Change in Hawai‘i unit supports middle school haumana (students) in developing multi-perspective understanding and personal stances about coastal change in their community. The unit was…
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The Language, Culture, and Knowledge-building through Science (LaCuKnoS) project tests and refines a model of science teaching and learning that brings together current research on the role of language in science…
STEM Education with a Focus on Equity and Justice: Traditional Approaches, Contemporary Approaches, and Proposed Future Approach
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The disproportionate impacts of societal challenges (e.g., climate change, air and water pollution) on minoritized groups expose systemic injustices and compels STEM educators to reframe the role of STEM education in…
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The recent surge of artificial intelligence (AI) in science education has heightened interest among the NARST community—a curiosity about how technology can transform education that has lasted for decades. This growing…
Unveiling Scoring Processes: Dissecting the Differences Between LLMs and Human Graders in Automatic Scoring
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Large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated strong potential in performing automatic scoring for constructed response assessments. While constructed responses graded by humans are usually based on given grading rubrics…
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This article portrays how citizen science (CS) projects can be integrated into elementary classrooms to enhance students’ sensemaking skills and connect to real-world science problems.
This article…
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Teach mathematics and science using materials for the weather-focused Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow Network project.
Teach mathematics and science using materials for the weather-…
Can Dynamic Visualizations Improve Middle School Students’ Understanding of Energy in Photosynthesis?
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Ryoo, K. & Linn, M.C. (2012). Can Dynamic Visualizations Improve Middle School Students’ Understanding of Energy in Photosynthesis? Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(2), 218-243.
ABSTRACT:
Dynamic…