Nancy Romance

Professional Title
Professor
Organization/Institution
About Me (Bio)
Dr. Nancy Romance is Professor of Science Education at Florida Atlantic University. She has initiatied a focused research agenda that applies principles of cognitive science and learning theory to argue for new approaches to teacher preparation. Specifically, using a knowledge-based approach, she and her long-time colleague, Dr. Michael Vitale, has developed an instructional model, Science IDEAS, which uses an interdisciplinary approach to science teaching across grades K-5. Her current NSF DR K12 project, Primary Science IDEAS, builds upon an extensive research study in which students in grades 3-4-5 experienced Science IDEAS for two hours daily. This extended time frame resulted from the strategic integration of literacy components (especially reading comprehension and all forms of writing) into science instruction. In doing so, children have an opportunity to read and learn more about what it is they are learning, much like experts. Multi-year evidence has been published indicating positive main effects on student outcomes in both science and reading as well as transfer effects to grade 6-7. Dr. Robert Slavin et al.,(2014), in his best evidence synthesis published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching, identified Science IDEAS as one of the few elementary projects having evidence of success.
Florida Atlantic University (FAU)
09/15/2013

This research and development project is focused on accelerating both student science understanding and reading comprehension proficiency at the primary level (grades 1-2). The project is being implemented in diverse classrooms and addresses age-appropriate content from the areas of the physical, earth/environmental, and life sciences.