Piloting Toward Expertise in Science Education
How can we develop expertise in science education leadership teams?
By Jenny Sarna | September 6, 2023
You’ve likely seen or heard a helicopter flying overhead. Perhaps you have even flown in one. If I asked you to draw a diagram of how a helicopter works, what parts would you include and how would these parts interact with each other?
Most people reading this blog are probably considered […]
Customizing Cookie Recipes
How can we help teachers modify instructional materials?
By Jennifer Childress Self | August 9, 2023
When I was teaching in a school for refugees, we didn’t have a lot of resources, but we did have instructional materials[1] that covered the curriculum. It saved a lot of time to not have to create everything from scratch. However, the materials weren’t written with my students […]
Opening the Door to Data Science in STEM Classrooms
How can we help all students navigate our data-rich world?
By Leticia Perez and Karen Lionberger | May 3, 2023
It’s a strong possibility that by the time this blog comes across your screen today, you will have received multiple alerts based on a collection of personal data about you. Maybe it was your watch or phone telling you how much screen time you had […]
Motivation Matters
Five Design Principles for Supporting Student Motivation and Engagement in Science Classrooms
By Christopher Harris and David McKinney | April 4, 2023
This is an exciting time for science education. Spurred in part by the release of A Framework for K–12 Science Education and Next Generation Science Standards, science educators are changing their classrooms to enact instructional experiences that will help all their students to […]
Cultivating Cultural Competence
What does it take to build affirming science learning environments? What can be gained?
By Rasha ElSayed and Kirsten Daehler | January 30, 2023
Can you think of a time when you felt like an outsider or an “other” in the room? We have. As one of only a few girls in an AP Physics class, one of us remembers being told that girls don’t […]
Getting Back to Business
How do we equitably accelerate learning in science?
By Jennifer Childress Self | December 6, 2022
After a long and distressing absence, students have been back in classrooms this fall across the country. We’re not back to business as usual, though. Schools and districts have been trying to figure out how to address students’ “unfinished learning” — the learning targets for a grade or […]
How Can We Move the Needle for NGSS Implementation?
Influences of a Large-Scale, Intensive Initiative on Teachers’ NGSS Implementation
By Katy Nilsen and Ashley Iveland | November 8, 2022
Nearly a decade since the release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), teachers are still struggling to implement key NGSS instructional shifts: focusing on phenomena and problems, integrating engineering practices and content, and incorporating the science and engineering practices (SEPs) and crosscutting concepts (CCCs). […]
The Power of a Parking Lot
How Can Engineering Design Make Math More Accessible to All Students?
By Meghan Macias | October 6, 2022
The research literature is clear: Integrating mathematics and science can lead to students’ increased enthusiasm, increased achievement in both disciplines, and an increase in relevant and authentic experiences. As part of a recent project to better understand the impact of disciplinary integration and how to support it, […]
Supporting Student Learning in the “Forgotten” Dimension
Do we have to assess CCCs?
By Jennifer Childress Self | September 14, 2022
Since the release of A Framework for K–12 Science Education a decade ago, Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs) have become part of the national conversation about science education. Almost all states now include CCCs in their state science standards, and more instructional materials include CCCs every day. There is a difference, though, between […]
Brokering Knowledge in Diverse Classrooms
How can teachers attune to students’ cultures?
By Jon Boxerman | July 13, 2022
I recently returned from a long-awaited trip to Guam. As a member of the NSF INCLUDES SEAS Islands Alliance research team, I was there to study how Indigenous/diasporic islanders, who have historically been underrepresented in the geosciences, maintain identity and a sense of belonging to their heritage culture, while developing STEM […]
Two Things that Improve Student Outcomes: Quality Materials and Systemic Support for their Implementation
By Christopher Harris | June 8, 2022
It is hard to believe that we are nearly a decade out from the release of A Framework for K–12 Science Education (Framework) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Also noteworthy is that we are now at a point where the vision for science education put forth by the Framework has become part of education policy in many corners of the […]
Supporting Students in Science as a Way of Thinking – Rather Than as a Way of Getting the Right Answer
By Brooke Bourdélat Gorman | May 2, 2022
Many years ago, I was the kind of student who would sit in class furiously writing down every word my teacher said. It was a source of stress if a friend distracted me or the teacher talked too fast because I might miss a word, or worse, a whole sentence. At the end of class, I would shut […]
Student Work is Gold
Forming Professional Learning Communities Around Student Work Analysis
By Lauren Stoll and Jill Wertheim | April 6, 2022
“That mind shift has to change. It’s not just: I gave a test, here’s a score, it goes in the gradebook…now we have to do something else so the student does accomplish the standard.” – Secondary Resource Teacher
When we […]
Moving Beyond Scales
What is the difference between “using” and “developing” the three dimensions?
By Jennifer Childress Self | March 9, 2022
When I […]
Way more than an answer key
What does effective teacher guidance look like in science instructional materials designed for today’s science standards?
By Jenny Sarna | February 9, 2022
In my first year as a teacher, I relied heavily on an inquiry-based textbook as I enthusiastically dove into writing units and lessons for my high school biology course. As I mapped out my plan, I […]
Kindergarten Cop: What science is appropriate for early elementary kids?
Should we expect K–2 students to revise models, iterate solutions, and define criteria and constraints?
By Vanessa Wolbrink | January 6, 2022
I wasn’t ready for the transformation I was about to witness when I stepped into my kindergarten classroom my first year as a teacher. How will these students who know so little about the world around them […]
Am I Following this Recipe Correctly?
How can we use feedback to support student learning?
By Neelo Soltanzadeh | December 8, 2021
I recently came across a recipe for “fesenjoon“, a Persian staple at my family’s Thanksgiving table. As I attempted to recreate this stew that I’d eaten many times, I found myself repeatedly speed-dialing my mom: “Is this the […]
CCCs as Power Tools: Are we equitably equipping students to use them?
Do all students have to know they’re using a CCC?
By Jennifer Childress Self | November 2, 2021
Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs) were included in the Framework for K-12 Science Education as one of the three dimensions of science even though the CCCs hadn’t been explicit in science and engineering education before. They were always implicitly there, of course, underlying the content students learned, but because they were rarely included in learning goals, only a relatively small […]
Studying Nemo: Real-World Phenomena and Problems?
How realistic should phenomena and problems be?
By Jennifer Childress Self | October 5, 2021
The whole idea of this blog was inspired by questions we get from the field. One question we’ve been hearing a lot lately is “do phenomena have to be real?”
The importance of phenomena and problems is their role in engaging students and driving […]
Are SEPs in the Science Instruction Cake Batter or Just Sprinkled on Top?
What would it look like for students to progressively develop science and engineering practices?
By Jennifer Childress Self | September 8, 2021
Over the last decade, we’ve all shifted our focus from inquiry skills to science and engineering practices (SEPs). We’ve seen the work of engaging students in SEPs explode in a good way. It’s becoming normal for students to use models to describe what’s going on or to use claim-evidence-reasoning structures to list evidence and make […]