Gaming/Virtual Environments

Dissemination Toolkit: Social Media Outreach

Cadre-Admin — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:23:13 +0000

Dissemination Toolkit: Social Media Outreach

Just Getting Started?

First, ask yourself if social media is right for your project. To use social media effectively, you need to build a group of followers, and the best way to build a following is by posting relevant information regularly. As an exercise, generate a list of 14 resources that would be appropriate to post. See how long that took. If you had trouble coming up with ideas, then maybe social media is not the right approach for your project dissemination.

If social media is a good fit, then ask yourself what platform(s) would work best for you. Top 11 Social Media Sites for Business gives a great overview of the different options available. This compilation of social media statistics, Global Social Media Research Summary, can also be helpful since it provides stats on the numbers of people on Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, etc., and shows active use of social networks broken down by age group.

Social Media Platform How-tos

Facebook

What's the difference between a profile, Page and group?
What is the difference between a Facebook Page, group, and profile? See this article to find out. For an example of a Facebook page, visit the CADRE Facebook page.

How to Create a Facebook Page
There are many sites that are helpful when creating a Facebook page. We picked this one because (a) it has screen grabs, (b) it seems up to date, and (c) if you continue to scroll down, you will also find some helpful tips for more advanced Facebook learners, such as how to change the URL of your Facebook page.

Instagram

Instagram
Instagram is a popular visual social media tool. Learn about how to get started by visiting Instagram's help center.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a network of professional connections. It also has groups that you can join based on your interests. For an example, see CADRE's NSF STEM Education Research group. Interested in starting your own group? Get started with this LinkedIn Help page: Creating a Group. More tips can be found in the article, Why LinkedIn Groups Can Be Great for Businesses (and How to Create a Successful One). LinkedIn also offers a list of best practices for groups.

Pinterest

Pinterest
Pinterest is a collecting and sharing social media tool. Learn more about how to get started and use Pinterest.in this Buffer blog or on Pinterest's help page. View CADRE's Pinterest page for an example.

Reddit

Reddit
Reddit is essentially a message board. Like Twitter, the information is real-time, but unlike Twitter, the Reddit community votes on the content so that items of value or interest end up on the top. See Mashable’s Reddit: A Beginner’s Guide, or Reddit’s Beginner's Guide and accompanying video.

Snapchat

Snapchat
In 2017, Snapchat was the third-most popular app among 18- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. See this article to learn how to use Snapchat to promote your work.

TikTok

TikTok is the fastest growing social media platform in 2022. Learn how to get started.

Tumblr

Tumblr
Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform that churns out millions of posts on a daily basis. Learn how to get started!

X, Formerly Known as Twitter

Getting Started with Twitter
Learn about the basics on this Twitter help page.

Hashtagify
Use hashtagify to get data on hashtags you use or are thinking about using.

Recruiting Research Participants via Twitter (or Social Media)
This AEA365 blog gives tips on how to recruit research participants via Twitter and social media. The authors of the blog are researchers on the NSF-funded project, Twitter and Informal Science Learning and Engagement (TwISLE).

The Art of Live-Tweeting
Christopher Long, a professor at Michigan State University, gives advice on live-tweeting at academic conferences.

YouTube

How to Set Up a YouTube Channel
In true YouTube fashion, this describes how to set up your own YouTube Channel … via video. See CADRE's YouTube Channel for an example.

Social Media Tips

Social Media Examiner
From tips to product reviews, Social Media Examiner puts out new and useful social media information multiple times per week. If your project is using social media or thinking about branding, this site is definitely worth visiting.

Education-specific Social Media Platforms

Discovery Education Network
This global community of educators of more than 100,000 members connects teachers both online and in-person. Discovery Educators have exclusive access to a wide range of resources, professional development activities, networking opportunities, exclusive Discovery Educator events, and more.

Edthena
Edthena allows you to upload recorded videos and receive feedback, while also recording goals for next steps.

EdWeb
EdWeb is a professional social network for the education community that is designed to connect colleagues, create learning communities, share and collaborate, and mentor new teachers.

Teaching Channel
Teaching Channel is an online community with the mission of creating an environment “where teachers can watch, share, and learn diverse techniques to help every student grow.”

Cadre-Admin Wed, 10/17/2012 - 14:23

CADRE Short Videos: STEM Ed Research Takeaways for Practice

Cadre-Admin — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 21:21:00 +0000

CADRE Short Videos: STEM Ed Research Takeaways for Practice

This series of short videos by CADRE share STEM education research takeaways for practice.

Cadre-Admin Wed, 02/25/2026 - 16:21

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFesrj2Sg4Fhca9ouR4PkfQ6boK2yHTfs

Hazbot: Next-Generation AI Supports Student Inquiry of Natural Hazards

Cadre-Admin — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 18:33:02 +0000

Hazbot: Next-Generation AI Supports Student Inquiry of Natural Hazards

The Concord Consortium is proud to announce a new grant from the National Science Foundation for our Intelligent Simulation-based Learning About Natural Disasters (ISLAND) project. ISLAND will harness the power of artificial intelligence to help middle school students explore wildfires, floods, and hurricanes through scientific simulations—building critical knowledge and science practices for understanding and responding to natural hazards.

Lee, H. S. (2025, October 8). Hazbot: Next-generation AI supports student inquiry of natural hazards. Concord Consortium Blog. https://concord.org/blog/hazbot-next-generation-ai-supports-student-inquiry-of-natural-hazards/

Cadre-Admin Mon, 12/08/2025 - 13:33

https://concord.org/blog/hazbot-next-generation-ai-supports-student-inquiry-of-…

How Does Modifying a Scratch Game Support Teacher Learning?

Cadre-Admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 00:38:38 +0000

How Does Modifying a Scratch Game Support Teacher Learning?

There is a compelling need to strengthen professional learning (PL) regarding systems thinking, since it crosses all disciplinary boundaries and is a crosscutting concept in the Next Generation Science Standards. Yet research has shown that effectively deploying systems thinking in the classroom is challenging both for students and for teachers. The Exploring the Integration of Systems Thinking into Biology (ExIST) project engages teachers in PL that seeks to enhance teachers’ perception of the important role of systems in biology and understand how game design can support students’ systems thinking. Building on prior research, the PL is informed by the synergy between systems thinking in biology and systems thinking as inherent in game design. This paper presents a case study of how two middle school science teachers, engaged in systems thinking and a game design task, worked together to modify a Scratch game during a PL workshop. Their goal was to use the modified game during classroom enactment of a systems and game design unit. Our study focuses on what the teachers learned while they were remixing the game. Findings suggest that remixing the Scratch game helped the teachers clarify their instructional goals for their students. But it also helped the teachers themselves learn about systems dynamics, how Scratch works, and the utility of game design as a way to model real-world phenomena. We conclude with lessons learned about the design of PL based on game design.

Puttick, G., Bernstein, D. & Cassidy, M. (2025). How does modifying a scratch game support teacher learning?. Journal of Science Education and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-025-10270-9

Cadre-Admin Wed, 12/03/2025 - 19:38

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10956-025-10270-9

What Distinguishes Students’ Engineering Design Performance: Design Behaviors, Design Iterations, and Application of Science Concepts

Cadre-Admin — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 16:25:49 +0000

What Distinguishes Students’ Engineering Design Performance: Design Behaviors, Design Iterations, and Application of Science Concepts

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 to learn about science and engineering through their design. However, there is a lack of understanding concerning linking science concepts with design problems to design artifacts. This study investigated how 99 high school students applied science concepts to solarize their school using a computer-aided engineering design software, aiming to explore the interaction between students’ science concepts and engineering design behaviors. Students were assigned to three groups based on their design performance: the achieving group, proficient group, and emerging group. By mining log activities, we explored the interactions among students’ application of science concepts, engineering design behaviors, design iterations, and their design performance. We found that the achieving group has a statistically higher number of design iterations than the other two performance groups. We also identified distinctive transition patterns in students’ applying science concepts and exercising design behaviors among three groups. The implications of this study are then discussed.

Du, H., Zhu, G., Xing, W., & Xie, C. (2025). What distinguishes students’ engineering design performance: Design behaviors, design iterations, and application of science concepts. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 34, 314–326. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-024-10184-y

Cadre-Admin Mon, 06/30/2025 - 12:25

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10956-024-10184-y

What Distinguishes Students’ Engineering Design Performance: Design Behaviors, Design Iterations, and Application of Science Concepts

Cadre-Admin — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 16:25:49 +0000

What Distinguishes Students’ Engineering Design Performance: Design Behaviors, Design Iterations, and Application of Science Concepts

Cadre-Admin Mon, 06/30/2025 - 12:25

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10956-024-10184-y

From Experience to Explanation: An Analysis of Students’ Use of a Wildfire Simulation

Cadre-Admin — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 15:47:26 +0000

From Experience to Explanation: An Analysis of Students’ Use of a Wildfire Simulation

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 a wildfire simulation and answered associated prompts in three simulation-based tasks. We first analyzed students’ log files to determine which, if any, measure of simulation use–quantity of runs, variation in runs, or quality of experimentation setup–predicted their scores on responses to observation and explanation questions that followed the simulation experience. Of the three measures, only the quality of students’ simulation use was significantly correlated to their written explanation scores in all three tasks. Further investigation into the sequence in which students used the simulation and answered the questions revealed two common patterns in between two-thirds and three-quarters of the students in each task: (1) students ran the simulation and then answered the observation and explanation questions in that order or (2) students ran the simulation, answered the observation question, ran the simulation again, and then answered the explanation question. While there was no clear relationship between these two patterns and students’ scores on the explanation question, this finding has resulted in an updated experiential learning framework specific to simulation use. Implications for the design of scaffolding for future simulation-based learning experiences around natural hazards are discussed.

Lord, T., Horwitz, P., Pallant, A., & Lore, C. (2024). From experience to explanation: an analysis of students’ use of a wildfire simulation. Educational Technology Research and Development, 73, 261–282. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-024-10433-2

Cadre-Admin Mon, 06/30/2025 - 11:47

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11423-024-10433-2

Exploring Teachers’ Eye-Tracking Data and Professional Noticing When Viewing a 360 Video of Elementary Mathematics

Cadre-Admin — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 15:40:30 +0000

Exploring Teachers’ Eye-Tracking Data and Professional Noticing When Viewing a 360 Video of Elementary Mathematics

Research incorporating either eye-tracking technology or immersive technology (virtual reality and 360 video) into studying teachers’ professional noticing is recent. Yet, such technologies allow a better understanding of the embodied nature of professional noticing. Thus, the goal of the current study is to examine how teachers’ eye-gaze in immersive representations of practice correspond to their attending to children’s mathematics. Using a mixed methods approach, we incorporated eye-tracking technology embedded within a virtual reality environment to compare novice and expert teachers’ gaze duration with quality of professional noticing. Findings and results both corroborate and extend previous research evidence about important differences in professional noticing between expert and novice teachers. Specifically, the amount of experience, and thus familiarity, teachers have with being in a classroom may affect their physical movement in both real and virtual representations of practice. Additionally, findings and results emphasize the importance of teachers’ visual focus on students’ doing of mathematics across the classroom.

Kosko, K. W., Ferdig, R. E., Lenart, C., Heisler, J., & Guan, Q. (2024). Exploring teachers’ eye-tracking data and professional noticing when viewing a 360 video of elementary mathematics. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-024-09667-x

Cadre-Admin Mon, 06/30/2025 - 11:40

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10857-024-09667-x

Teacher Educators’ Use of Formative Feedback During Preservice Teachers’ Simulated Teaching Experiences in Mathematics and Science

Cadre-Admin — Sat, 28 Jun 2025 17:28:01 +0000

Teacher Educators’ Use of Formative Feedback During Preservice Teachers’ Simulated Teaching Experiences in Mathematics and Science

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 TEs as part of recurring instructional cycles within their elementary mathematics or science methods course. In these instructional cycles, their PSTs prepared for, engaged in, and reflected on their ability to facilitate argumentation-focused discussions in a simulated classroom. After each cycle, the TEs received formative information about their PSTs’ discussion performance in the form of a feedback report and a scoring report. The study used qualitative content analysis to analyze and interpret key themes from TEs’ interview data to determine how they used this formative information. Findings suggest the TEs used the formative information provided in the feedback and scoring reports: (a) to gauge their PSTs’ instructional capabilities, (b) to reflect on and make changes to their practice, (c) to evaluate their PSTs’ understanding and interpretation of the feedback reports, and (d) to attend to specific features of their PSTs’ practice. Study results highlight the usefulness of providing TEs with formative information about their PSTs’ ability to engage in specific aspects of a core teaching practice, especially to support identification of areas for improvement and inform future instruction.

Mikeska, J. N., Howell, H., & Kinsey, D. (2024). Teacher educators’ use of formative feedback during preservice teachers’ simulated teaching experiences in mathematics and science. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-024-10489-9

Cadre-Admin Sat, 06/28/2025 - 13:28

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10763-024-10489-9

Wake: Tales from the Aqualab

Cadre-Admin — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 22:08:10 +0000

Wake: Tales from the Aqualab

In this free life sciences learning game, middle school students can play as a young scientist faced with scientific challenges across multiple oceanic ecosystems. Wake: Tales from the Aqualab addresses the NGSS practices of experimentation, modeling, and argumentation in the context of food webs, environmental stressors, and ecological restoration. Wake is compatible with Chromebook, PC or Mac with Internet access and available in English and Spanish.

Cadre-Admin Thu, 10/24/2024 - 18:08

https://fielddaylab.wisc.edu/play/wake/