Implementation

Integrating Community Assets, Place-based Learning, and Career Development Through Project-based Learning in Rural Settings

Cadre-Admin — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 16:09:25 +0000

Integrating Community Assets, Place-based Learning, and Career Development Through Project-based Learning in Rural Settings

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 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators face unique challenges, including geographic isolation, limited resources, and reduced access to professional development opportunities, which can hinder the effective integration of career-oriented learning in the classroom. We addressed these challenges by implementing professional development in which school counselors and teachers collaborate to design PBL units aligned with rural community local needs and STEM careers. Using a descriptive multiple-case study methodology to document the experiences of three teams of educators, we used cross-case analysis to explore how the teams integrated PBL and PBE principles to foster meaningful learning experiences and enhance career awareness among students. The research questions focused on each team’s implementation of the PBL units based on key PBL design elements and how they integrated local community connections and places. Initial findings suggest that while teams effectively engaged with community members and integrated STEM career connections, they faced challenges in broadly applying learning and assessment practices. We highlight the potential of PBE to enhance rural STEM education and emphasize the need for long-term professional development to equip teachers with the skills necessary to integrate STEM content and career development effectively.

Kizys, D., Lotter, C., Perez, L., Gilreath, R., & Limberg, D. (2025). Integrating community assets, place-based learning, and career development through project-based learning in rural settings. Frontiers in Education. 10:1577093. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1577093

Cadre-Admin Tue, 07/01/2025 - 12:09

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1577…

Ten Years of Three-Dimensional Science and Its Implementation in the Secondary Classroom: A Scoping Review

Cadre-Admin — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 18:09:25 +0000

Ten Years of Three-Dimensional Science and Its Implementation in the Secondary Classroom: A Scoping Review

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 adopted standards that are consistent with the underlying philosophy and research base of NGSS: three-dimensional (3D) science. This scoping review explores the research activity on classroom implementation of 3D Science in secondary schools in the US. The findings reveal that research about 3D Science implementation also touches on a wide array of adjacent issues, including professional learning, teacher knowledge, teacher attitudes and beliefs, assessment, and administrative support. Future research should continue to investigate the impacts of actions taken in one level of the system (i.e. professional development for teachers) on other levels of the system (i.e. classroom practice, student learning), as well as the challenges and barriers that hinder classroom implementation of the new standards.

Smith, C. M., Leary, H. M., Jensen, J. L., & Sansom, R. L. (2024). Ten years of three-dimensional science and its implementation in the secondary classroom: A scoping review. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 36(4), 425–443. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2024.2411467

Cadre-Admin Sun, 06/29/2025 - 14:09

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1046560X.2024.2411467

Science Teachers’ Implementation of Science and Engineering Practices in Different Instructional Settings

Cadre-Admin — Thu, 02 May 2024 23:28:36 +0000

Science Teachers’ Implementation of Science and Engineering Practices in Different Instructional Settings

This article explores science teachers’ implementation of science and engineering practices (SEPs) under different instructional settings. We compared the number of SEPs science teachers reported using in face-to-face instruction (traditional), online-only instruction (virtual), or HyFlex instruction (synchronously online and in-person) from August 2020 to May 2021. Records and artefacts of the teachers’ instructional practices were collected over three one-week periods. Interview data were used to validate teachers’ instructional activities, the context of SEP implementation, and their challenges when navigating the different instructional settings. Through a lens of consequential transition perspective, our findings revealed that science teachers implemented significantly more SEPs in a HyFlex or traditional setting than in a virtual setting. The results also showed that regardless of the instructional setting, elementary and secondary teachers generally implemented few investigating SEPs. Among elementary teachers, developing explanations and solutions were the most frequently used SEPs across all instructional settings. Among secondary teachers, the developing explanations and solutions SEPs and evaluating SEPs were prevalent but varied across the different instructional settings. Our findings suggest that science teachers need to continue to build their knowledge and practice of the SEPs, and have different supports to facilitate their SEP implementation in different instructional environments.

He, C. W., Tran, H., Luft, J., Ruiz, Y., McCann, S., Huang, Y., & Whitworth, B. (2024). Science teachers’ implementation of science and engineering practices in different instructional settings. International Journal of Science Education, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2024.2341189

Cadre-Admin Thu, 05/02/2024 - 19:28

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09500693.2024.2341189

Applying the VisChem Approach in High School Classrooms: Chemical Learning Outcomes and Limitations

Cadre-Admin — Tue, 30 Apr 2024 03:41:10 +0000

Applying the VisChem Approach in High School Classrooms: Chemical Learning Outcomes and Limitations

Most chemistry instruction and assessment lie in the symbolic domain of Johnstone’s representational levels, despite years of chemistry education researchers calling for increased emphasis to be placed on the molecular or particulate level of chemistry. Without a deep understanding of the particulate nature of matter and molecular-level interactions, meaningful chemistry understanding is nearly impossible. Understanding how molecules and other particles interact provides the necessary explanatory elements for predicting how chemical reactions will occur. To address this gap, the VisChem Approach was developed for university students in Australia in the late 1990s, but it was only recently formally brought to high schools in the United States. In this study, we examine the results of high school teacher implementation of the VisChem Approach in four classrooms following an intensive professional development program. Results indicate that the curricular inserts are successful in addressing many areas of misunderstanding by students regarding the molecular level. Implications for teaching using the VisChem Approach and for research on students’ understanding of the molecular level are also discussed.

Magnone, K. Q. & Yezierski, E. J. (2024). Applying the VisChem Approach in high school classrooms: Chemical learning outcomes and limitations. Journal of Chemical Education, 101(3), 727–740. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00827

Cadre-Admin Mon, 04/29/2024 - 23:41

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00827

Unpacking Teachers’ Orientations Toward a Knowledge Generation Approach: Do We Need to Go Beyond Epistemology?

Cadre-Admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2024 02:25:52 +0000

Unpacking Teachers’ Orientations Toward a Knowledge Generation Approach: Do We Need to Go Beyond Epistemology?

This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a professional development program rooted in knowledge generation theory. Specifically, it sought to examine the changes in teachers' three orientations following the completion of the first-year workshop, and how these changes impacted their classroom implementation. This investigation takes the form of a multiple-case study of twelve K-5 teachers. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. The findings suggest that achieving changes toward generative learning in teachers is not just about altering their epistemological orientations and procedural pedagogical practices, but also involves a shift towards ontological and axiological perspectives.

Sahin, E., Suh, J., Hand, B., & Fulmer, G. (2023). Unpacking teachers’ orientations toward a knowledge generation approach: Do we need to go beyond epistemology?. Teaching and Teacher Education, 132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2023.104264

Cadre-Admin Tue, 04/23/2024 - 22:25

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0742051X23002524?via%3Di…

STEM Curriculum Development and Implementation

Cadre-Admin — Thu, 18 May 2023 20:07:13 +0000

STEM Curriculum Development and Implementation

Review of the recent literature on integrated STEM curriculum development and implementation. Included are frameworks for integrated STEM curriculum development and research assessments to evaluate curriculum quality. Details and examples from a large integrated STEM research project in the United States are included. The paper concludes with a call for future research related to STEM curriculum implementation, including the need for new observation protocols.

Roehrig, G. H., Dare, E. A., Wieselmann, J. R., & Ring-Whalen, E. A. (2023). The Rise of STEM Education: STEM curriculum development and implementation. In R. Tierney, F. Rizvi, & K. Ercikan (Eds), International Encyclopedia of Education (pp. 153-163). Elsevier. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818630-5.13056-8

Cadre-Admin Thu, 05/18/2023 - 16:07

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128186305130568?via%…

STEM Curriculum Development and Implementation

Cadre-Admin — Thu, 18 May 2023 20:07:13 +0000

STEM Curriculum Development and Implementation

Cadre-Admin Thu, 05/18/2023 - 16:07

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128186305130568?via%…

STEM Curriculum Development and Implementation

Cadre-Admin — Thu, 18 May 2023 20:07:13 +0000

STEM Curriculum Development and Implementation

Cadre-Admin Thu, 05/18/2023 - 16:07

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128186305130568?via%…

Developing Transmedia Engineering Curricula Using Cognitive Tools to Impact Learning and the Development of STEM Identity

Cadre-Admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 01:54:32 +0000

Developing Transmedia Engineering Curricula Using Cognitive Tools to Impact Learning and the Development of STEM Identity

This paper examines the use of Imaginative Education (IE) to create an NGSS-aligned middle school engineering curriculum that supports transfer and the development of STEM identity. In IE, cognitive tools—such as developmentally appropriate narratives, mysteries and fantasies—are used to design learning environments that both engage learners and help them organize knowledge productively. We have combined IE with transmedia storytelling to develop two multi-week engineering units and six shorter engineering lessons. An overview of the curriculum developed to date and a more detailed description of the engineering design unit is presented in this paper.

The curriculum is currently being implemented in treatment and non-treatment classrooms in middle schools throughout the Springfield, MA public school system (SPS). In tandem with pilot-year implementation of the curriculum, we have developed an assessment instrument to measure student learning outcomes associated with a transfer variant known as preparation for future learning (PFL). An analysis of the results from the PFL assessment support the position that a curriculum employing IE cognitive tools can facilitate both transfer-in thinking and the capacity of students to “think with” and thereby interpret important engineering concepts.

Ellis, G. W., Pina, J., Mazur, R., Rudnitsky, A., McGinnis-Cavanaugh, B., Huff, I., Ellis, S., Ford, C. M., Lytton, K., & Cormier, K. C. (2020, June). Developing transmedia engineering curricula using cognitive tools to impact learning and the development of STEM identity. Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual On line. 10.18260/1-2--34438

Cadre-Admin Fri, 03/19/2021 - 21:54

Smith et al 2021.pdf

https://peer.asee.org/34438

Developing Transmedia Engineering Curricula Using Cognitive Tools to Impact Learning and the Development of STEM Identity

Cadre-Admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2021 01:54:32 +0000

Developing Transmedia Engineering Curricula Using Cognitive Tools to Impact Learning and the Development of STEM Identity

Cadre-Admin Fri, 03/19/2021 - 21:54

Smith et al 2021.pdf

https://peer.asee.org/34438