Impacts on student understanding of scientific practices and crosscutting themes through an NGSS–designed computer-supported curriculum and instruction project

This paper presents a curriculum intervention intentionally designed to align with Next Generation Science Standards in the high-school biology classroom. The project emphasizes learning about complex systems through an agent-based modeling tool called StarLogo Nova. Five curricular units have been developed on the topics of enzymes, ecology, protein synthesis, gene regulation, and sugar transport. In this exploratory study we were interested in understanding the extent to which students demonstrated understanding and skills in NGSS areas as they were designed. Evidence is gleaned from classroom observations and interviews with 50 students selected from the larger population of 352 students who worked with project resources during the 2013-2014 school year. Findings revealed that students demonstrated understanding and skills in all NGSS scientific practices and crosscutting themes particularly in the areas of developing and using models, analyzing and interpreting data, cause and effect, and systems and system models

Developing NGSS-Aligned Assessments to Measure Crosscutting Concepts in Student Reasoning of Earth Structures and Systems

The past two decades of research on how students develop their science understandings as they make sense of phenomena that occur in the natural world has culminated in a movement to redefine science educational standards. The so-called Next Generation Science Standards (or NGSS) codify this new definition into a set of distinct performance expectations, which outline how students might reveal to what extent they have sufficient understanding of disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), science practices (SEPs), and crosscutting concepts (CCCs). The latter of these three dimensions is unique both in being the most recent to the field and in being the least supported by prior science education research. More crucially, as a policy document, the NGSS alone does not provide the supports teachers need to bring reforms to their classrooms, particularly not summative assessments. This dissertation addresses both of these gaps using a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques. First, I analyze differential categorization of problems that require respondents to engage with their CCC understandings via confirmatory factor analysis inference. Second, I use a set of Rasch models to measure preliminary learning progressions for CCCs evident in student activity within a computer-assisted assessment experience. Third, I analyze student artifacts, think-aloud interviews, and post-task reflective interviews via activity theory to adapt the progression into a task model in which students explain and predict aspects of Earth systems. The culmination of these three endeavors not only sets forth a methodology for researching CCCs in a way that is more integrative to the other dimensions of the NGSS, but also provides a framework for developing assessments that are aligned to the goals of these new standards

In search of three-dimensional learning: using self-study to change a secondary biology teacher’s practice

The purpose of this research project was to provide a model for traditional teachers who want to change their practice using self-study research when professional development is unavailable. Issues and tensions that arise when transitioning from a traditionally taught secondary biology unit to a unit that is more in alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are explored. Data collection included using field notes, critical friend’s conversations and feedback, video and audio recordings, Educators Evaluating the Quality of Instructional Products (EQuIP) rubric unit evaluations, self-study personal history and class portrait, concept maps, tag clouds, and student work. Data analysis compared the changes in practice that occurred between the enactment of a traditionally taught secondary biology unit, and an instructional unit developed by Project NEURON at the University of Illinois. Changes in teacher understanding of the NGSS, classroom dynamics, curricular alignment with the NGSS, and three-dimensional learning are discussed. The self-study concludes that teacher change can occur using in-depth, critical reflections on practice. Traditional teachers who want to transition to the NGSS and three-dimensional instruction can benefit from the findings of this study. Tensions and issues surrounding science education reforms can give valuable insights to science educators in anticipation of the transition to the NGSS

Strategies for integrating literacy into a science classroom

A science reading course offers opportunities for students to develop their scientific literacy by delving into current topics in science through reading and writing. Due to the nature of the course, students could be enrolled for one semester or for the whole year. Through differentiation, Science Reading is accessible for a variety learning and interest levels. This creative component lays the groundwork for the development of a science reading course by providing examples of topics, methods, lesson activities, and assessments that could be incorporated into a Science Reading curriculum. The project recognizes the resources that are available to educators and includes a series of ideas or starting points for others to develop their own units or courses that embrace literacy in the science classroom

The Incorporation of and Engagement in Engineering Design in High School Biology

The Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards propose that students learn concepts and practices related to engineering as well as science. Currently the research surrounding how engineering practices through engineering design are implemented in the life sciences such as high school biology is limited. To explore how engineering design is included in a biology class, a case study was conducted in two high school biology classrooms. This qualitative case study examined how high school biology teachers incorporated an engineering design project into a science curricular unit and how high school biology students engaged in an engineering design project in biology class. The results show that while the intention of the engineering design project was to include science learning related to the biology unit, the project was treated as a practice independent of the science unit of study. Students were able to successfully engage in the engineering design project with differing results dependent upon the type of instruction given in the biology class

Community Framework for Geoscience Education Research

In order to guide future investments of time and resources in geoscience education research (GER), the community has developed a framework of grand challenges across ten major themes in GER. These grand challenges can provide direction to current and future researchers about where the community thinks effort should be made to answer some fundamental questions about undergraduate geoscience teaching and learning. This Community Framework for GER is comprised of ten theme chapters, as well as chapters on the development of the framework project, a synthesis of the findings and potential synergies, and on communication strategies for the transformation of geoscience teaching practice

A CASE STUDY OF SCIENCE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF SELF-EFFICACY IN TEACHING THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES

This case study examined South Carolina public school science teachers’ perceptions of self-efficacy related to planning and executing STEM-centric lessons. The adoption of the South Carolina Academic Standards and Performance Indicators for Science in 2014 required science teachers to make substantial pedagogical shifts in their instructional practices, which influenced their self-efficacy. The standards included science and engineering practices (SEPs) embedded in the standards. Understanding how science teachers’ perceptions of self-efficacy influence their instructional competence for planning and executing SEP-integrated lessons might guide schools and districts to create focused instructional support for the teachers designed to meet their unique pedagogical needs. An examination of 10 South Carolina teachers’ lived experiences and their STEM-centric lesson plans provided insights into what type of professional development they needed to make the necessary pedagogical shifts to integrate the SEPs successfully. The insights gained from the teachers’ interview and lesson plan data revealed that they preferred one-on-one mentoring from expert-teachers who model SEP integration. The findings from this study may be valuable for school and district level educators as they explore alternative professional development options for science teachers. The information may also expand the types of professional development offered by the South Carolina Department of Education

Adapting to National Standards: The Experience of One Middle School Science Teacher’s Implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) advocate K-12 three dimensional (3D) learning, which necessitates a deeper understanding of science and engineering through the weaving of the three NGSS dimensions of practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. Currently, little is known about the kinds of experiences science teachers have making sense of the NGSS as they plan and teach to support 3D learning. This two-phased, qualitative case-study investigated the experience of one middle school science teacher working to understand and to weave the three NGSS dimensions into an existing anti-drug health unit. Data analysis focused on interviews, classroom observations, and artifacts. Findings showed: (a) the teacher was uncertain about which NGSS practice/set of practices might best support 3D learning; (b) she used the NGSS practices in limited ways; (c) she was unclear about the significance of the NGSS crosscutting concepts; and (d) the weaving of the NGSS dimensions was a process that occurred in various ways (teacher-led, student-led, over multiple days). These findings suggest that science teachers will need multi-level support to utilize the NGSS dimensions. Developing teacher proficiency in 3D teaching is likely an alternating process. That is, as science teachers develop an understanding of the process of weaving and identifying instances of weaving they will likely gain proficiency in the three NGSS dimensions and their constituent parts and vice versa. To achieve this type of professional learning, teacher-to-teacher peer support within the context of the classroom might be beneficial for science teachers’ undertaking of the NGSS. The study also found various ways in which the teacher used socio-scientific issues and the students’ backgrounds and experiences to contextualize the science ideas as a way to support 3D learning. The use of contextualization along with the NGSS within a health unit provides a unique opportunity to investigate how the NGSS applies to health, an area not explicitly addressed in the NGSS. Engaging students with elements of an applied science, like health, can serve as a vehicle that has relevance for students’ lives in addition to being directly related to many ideas and phenomena highlighted in the NGSS.PhDEducational StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/133382/1/cjmorale_1.pd

Reading Nonfiction Science Literature with and without Arts Integration Activities

This study explores the integration of the arts into the teaching of science nonfiction texts during literacy instruction. Sixty-one elementary students (15 second graders, 25 third graders, and 21 fifth graders) attending schools of differing socio-economic levels participated in this study. The study examined the effects of artsintegration on student content knowledge, engagement level, and attitudes toward learning regarding science nonfiction texts. Throughout the eight-week study, students experienced both the traditional no-arts control condition and the experimental arts-integration condition in two-week segments for different science topics. Both conditions employed literacy strategies to teach comprehension of science nonfiction texts. The resulting pretests, posttests, and distal posttests, attitude surveys, and teacher observations indicated that students learned and retained content knowledge taught through both ways of teaching. The fifth-grade students evidenced greater learning during the experimental condition with very large effect sizes. Students’ overall attitudes and engagement were better when the arts were incorporated into daily instruction. The excitement for learning and academic abilities of the participants throughout the study supports the idea that different ways of creative teaching positively impact the way students learn in the classroom