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Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
Registration for the 2021 DRK-12 PI Meeting has opened! If you are the PI of a project that will be active in June, check your inbox for the invitation. This year, up to three project members and…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
CADRE is excited to announce that we’re now accepting applications for the 2023 CADRE Fellows program! This program offers mentorship and community building for early career scholars and seeks to increase…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
Family and community engagement in education can contribute to positive student outcomes. Read how projects featured in this month’s Spotlight are including families and caregivers across preK-12 grades in…
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The Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) 16-1 is comprised of documents relating to the Foundation's proposal and award process. It consists of two parts: the NSF Grant Proposal Guide (GPG)and the…
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This article presents a framework for calculating statistical power for moderator effects at all levels for two- and three-level CRTs.
Recently, there has been an increase in the number of cluster…
Design Considerations in Multisite Randomized Trials Probing Moderated Treatment Effects Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics
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The purpose of this study is to develop a statistical framework and tools for the effective and efficient design of multisite randomized trials (MRTs) probing moderated treatment effects.
Past research…
What's In a Wave? Using Modeling and Computational Thinking to Enhance Students' Understanding of Waves
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Teaching about wave structure and function is a critical element of any physical science curriculum and supported by Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) PS4: Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for…
Justice-Centered STEM Education with Multilingual Learners: Conceptual Framework and Initial Inquiry into Pre-service Teachers’ Sense-Making
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Our conceptual framework for justice-centered STEM education engages all students in multiple STEM subjects, including data science and computer science, to explain and design solutions to pressing societal challenges and…
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The goal of this project was to create an inquiry activity to teach symmetry elements and symmetry operations in an inorganic chemistry course. Many students experience difficulty when building and mentally manipulating…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
This month, we spotlight research on supporting teachers in choosing, adapting, and/or developing STEM instructional materials. Teachers are increasingly involved in these curriculum activities and…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
Happy summer, and welcome to the most recent new awardees! For those preparing to submit proposals for the next DRK-12 deadline (October 5, 2022), we invite you to listen to our recent informational…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
Here in New England, where CADRE is headquartered, spring is trying hard to break through winter’s hold. We hope that as many of you head out for spring conferences, you encounter great weather for travel…
Re-imagining a curriculum guide for teachers in digital format: A collaboration crossing geographical, disciplinary and culture boundaries
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The goal of the Electronic Teacher Guide project was to redesign the print teacher guide for the genetics unit of Foundation Science: Biology as an exemplar of a cybertool that would support the implementation of the…
Challenges to Using the Regression Discontinuity Design in Educational Evaluations: Lessons from the Transition to Algebra Study
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This article describes the use of RD design to evaluate the impact of a supplemental algebra-readiness curriculum, Transition to Algebra, on students’ mathematics outcomes.
Interest in the regression…
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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…
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Science involves changing the scale of objects—particularly scales of size, time, and intensity—from what is experienced in the world. Similar to investigations conducted in science laboratories, classroom investigations…
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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…
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Today's math curriculum is teaching students to expect -- and excel at -- paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them. At TEDxNYED, Dan Meyer shows classroom-…
Lessons learned from an initial effort to bring a Quantified Self "meetup" experience to a new demographic
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Quantified Self “meetup” groups appear to be appeal largely to middle-aged white males. What happens when the target demographic is changed to high school-aged Latina girls? This paper summarizes two lessons learned from…
Newsletter
This special edition newsletter shares resources from the 2018 DRK-12 Meeting, held June 6-8, 2018.
The Keynotes
NSF Welcome (Robert Ochsendorf, National Science Foundation) and Nexus of Change: Exploring the…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
More than 40 DRK-12 projects presented videos in the recent STEM For All Video Showcase. It isn’t too late to view those videos to learn about current work! For those considering submitting a proposal for…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
As we end 2023, we want to thank all of you who shared your research and what you’re learning about preK-12 STEM education (e.g., through project Spotlights, the DRK-12 PI Meeting, and the assessment…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues:
This is our first "formal" opportunity to welcome new DR K-12 PIs, and welcome back those of you who we haven't seen since the June PI Meeting. Thanks to all who participated in making this one of the most…
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In this exploratory study, we present typologies that represent two primary challenges teachers faced in developing coherent conceptual storylines in their lesson design, and examine the extent to which professional…
The Computational Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) Capability Flow: An Approach to Articulating CAT Capabilities over Time in African-American Middle-school Girls
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This paper explores the CAT Capability Flow, which begins to describe the processes and sub-skills and capabilities involve in computational algorithmic thinking (CAT). To do this, authors engage in an approach which…
Articulating a Transformative Approach for Designing Tasks that Measure Young Learners’ Developing Proficiencies in Integrated Science and Literacy
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This paper introduces an approach for designing NGSS-aligned assessments that measure young learners’ science progress while also attending to the scientific language and literacy practices that are integral parts of the…
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This counterstory (Delgado, 1989; Martinez, 2020) is based on field notes (Oct. 19 & Nov. 1, 2022) from our collective’s ethnographic project working with upper elementary Latiné learners and their transition to middle…
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The goal of this project was to create an inquiry activity to teach symmetry elements and symmetry operations in an inorganic chemistry course. Many students experience difficulty when building and mentally manipulating…
Sticky Ions: A Student-Centered Activity Using Magnetic Models to Explore the Dissolving of Ionic Compounds
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Understanding what happens at the particulate level when ionic compounds dissolve in water is difficult for many students, yet this understanding is critical in explaining many macroscopic observations. This article…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
In this month’s newsletter, we are excited to announce the 2022 CADRE Fellows! Thank you to the reviewers who helped identify this year’s cohort from a record number of amazing applicants. We look forward…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
This month’s Spotlight on Research and Practice Partnerships highlights current DRK-12 project work and the pivotal role of partnerships in advancing our understanding of effective teaching and learning…
Newsletter
Happy 2025 DRK-12 PI Community!
Letter from NSF Program Directors
It is hard to believe we are already three weeks into 2025! In this new year, we want to take a moment to thank you for all the work you are doing to…
STEM starts early: Grounding science, technology, engineering, and math education in early childhood
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This report summarizes the latest research findings on the importance and impact of early STEM across the child's ecological systems, as well as the critical importance of framing communications about early STEM in an…
Exploring the Difficulties African-American Middle School Girls Face Enacting Computational Algorithmic Thinking over three Years while Designing Games for Social Change
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This article explores middle school girls' reflections about the difficulties they faced while using computational algorithmic thinking capabilities as they engaged in collaborative game design for social change. Authors…
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EarSketch helps you learn core topics in computer science, music, and music technology in a fun, engaging environment. You learn to code in Python or JavaScript, two of the most popular programming languages in the world,…
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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'…
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…
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CADRE has compiled sortable Excel lists of DR K-12 projects that work in a particular topic area (e.g., algebra, earth science) or with a particular target audience. These lists can be useful tools in writing proposals for…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues:
CADRE has had a busy summer and fall, and you will read about some of our activities in this newsletter. DR K-12 PIs, please watch your email for the annual survey conducted by UMass Donahue Institute, our…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
CADRE introduces our new report, Classroom-Based STEM Assessment: Contemporary Issues and Perspectives. This report highlights the latest insights from DRK-12 program-funded research and underscores the…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
This month's Spotlight on Games in STEM Education showcases innovative research into the role of gaming as a powerful tool to boost engagement and learning in STEM classrooms. Two blog posts featured in…
Understanding the Difficulties African-American Middle School Girls Face While Enacting Computational Algorithmic Thinking in the Context of Game Design
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This article introduces CAT as explored through the Supporting Computational Algorithmic Thinking (SCAT) project, an ongoing longitudinal between-subjects research project and enrichment program that guides African-…
The Quest for Sustainable Futures: Designing Transformative Learning Spaces with Multilingual Black, Brown, and Latinx Young People Through Critical Response-ability
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In this paper we argue for the need to design and develop transformative learning ecologies that explicitly position the diverse voices of youth from nondominant communities as central to re-defining and re-envisioning…
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Explaining phenomena associated with a system involves describing a system’s structure and articulating the process through which the system’s structure changes over time. This paper defines geo-sequential reasoning in the…
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S. B. McKagan, R. E. Scherr, E. W. Close, and H. G. Close, "Criteria for Creating and Categorizing Forms of Energy," C. Singh, M. Sabella, and Engelhardt (Eds.), AIP Conf. Proc. (2011 Physics Education Research Conference…
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A PPT presentation on Articulating the Components of Inclusive STEM High Schools. Presented at STEMx Conference.
A PPT presentation on Articulating the Components of Inclusive STEM High Schools.…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
This month we begin accepting applications for the CADRE Fellows Program. We’ve made some exciting changes to the program. We’re combining the Fellows and Postdoc programs this year and inviting…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
As we near the end of 2022, CADRE is taking a look back at the past year of DRK-12 ideas and resources that made an impact and taking note of some of the important influences on STEM education research.…
Newsletter
Dear Colleagues,
We have several announcements that we’re excited to share with you:
NSF has asked us to host a 2025 DRK-12 PI Meeting. Please mark June 9-11, 2025, on your calendars, and PIs of active awards should watch…