A Distributed Intelligence Approach to Multidisciplinarity: Encouraging Divergent Thinking in Complex Science Issues in Society.

The scientific issues that face society today are increasingly complex, open-ended and tentative (Sadler, 2004). Finding solutions to these issues, not only requires an understanding of the science, but also, concurrently dealing with political, social, and economic dimensions that exist (Hodson, 2003). For example, 40 years after the first congressional hearing on climate change held by Al Gore in 1976, the 2012 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report states that climate change is still getting worse, despite efforts by governments, businesses, social actors such as Non-Government Organizations, and scientists. With the top minds in the world, across all disciplines, backed with government and corporate funding pursuing the same goal of resolving human impact on climate change, why haven’t we resolved the situation? What strategies might be employed to increase effective action

Examining teachers' goals and classroom instruction around the science and engineering practices in the Next Generation Science Standards

This qualitative study examined teachers’ described and observed classroom instruction around the science and engineering practices in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Seven secondary science teachers were surveyed and interviewed about their understanding and use of the science and engineering practices in their classroom teaching and then were observed to document their actual use of these practices. This study sought to describe (1) the variety of goals that teachers pursue in their classroom instruction and (2) the variety of instructional strategies teachers use to pursue those goals. Findings suggest that there were varying degrees of alignment between the teachers’ described and observed classroom instruction and between their classroom instruction and the goals of the NGSS. For example, it was easier for many teachers to describe instruction around the science and engineering practices that aligned with the goals of the NGSS than it was to enact instruction that aligned with the NGSS. I suggest that the difficulty teachers experienced with enacting these practices emerged from teachers’ misunderstanding of and misalignment with the goals of the NGSS. In order to address the challenges teachers faced in incorporating the science and engineering practices into their classroom instruction, I recommend some key features of professional development that may support teachers in refining their understanding, goals, and classroom instruction around these practices

755699 – Supplemental material for Measuring Teaching Quality of Secondary Mathematics and Science Residents: A Classroom Observation Framework

<p>Supplemental material, 755699 for Measuring Teaching Quality of Secondary Mathematics and Science Residents: A Classroom Observation Framework by Imelda Nava, Jaime Park, Danny Dockterman, Jarod Kawasaki, Jon Schweig, Karen Hunter Quartz and Jose Felipe Martinez in Journal of Teacher Education</p