Research can refer to a wide range of activities. It can describe when students in science classes investigate a topic, gather evidence, and analyze data to develop their own ideas and present them to others. Or it might refer to investigations conducted by scientists. The NSTA Research Committee focuses on another kind of research: the systematic study of how people learn science, including investigations into teaching methods, curriculum design, student understanding of scientific concepts, and factors that influence science learning, with the goal of improving science education practices and student outcomes across various levels of learning. The NSTA Research Committee is here to keep you updated on the latest research in science education. Watch for our blog posts, and our Research in Science Education Forum will be updated soon!

The following studies—published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching—have been recognized as Research Worth Reading by NSTA affiliate NARST (the National Association for Research in Science Teaching), a global organization dedicated to improving science teaching and learning through research. Stay tuned throughout the year as we spotlight more research worth reading from NARST.
 

Building a Bridge to Belonging: Making Science Truly Relevant to Every Student

Original article: McCurdy, Regina P. 2025. “The Science Relevancy Bridge: Connecting Intersectionality and Science Identity in Science Learning Experiences.” Journal of Research in Science Teaching 62 (9): 2103–24. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.70015

We are often told to make science relevant, but actually putting that into practice can feel vague. This article introduces a research-based tool called the Science Relevancy Bridge to help teachers connect a student’s cultural identity with their growing identity as a scientist.

Why It Matters

Many teachers want to create inclusive lessons but lack a clear framework to do so. Without a specific strategy, it is difficult to counter negative societal messages and help students see themselves as people who belong in science.

Key Findings for the Classroom

• The power of identity: Relevant learning creates a necessary dialogue between a student’s sociocultural background and their science identity.
• Four dimensions of relevancy: Effective science relevancy happens across four key dimensions: science for everyday life, science and society, science learning preparedness, and the foundations of scientific thinking.
• “BRIDGES” that connect us: Teachers play a critical role in shaping how students see themselves by helping them build connections, reflect on their own beliefs, and provide feedback.

Practical Tips for Teachers

Teachers can use this acronym as a guide when planning and teaching to ensure their lessons are truly inclusive and relevant:

B—Build connections: Invite students to contribute to and lead classroom discussions using their own cultural perspectives.

R—Reflect critically: Look closely at your own curriculum, teaching practices, and personal beliefs through the lens of your students’ backgrounds.

I—Identify dimensions: Choose which of the four Science Relevancy Bridge dimensions (like science and society or science for everyday life) you want to highlight in upcoming lessons to deepen their relevance.

D—Develop plans: Use specific reflective prompts and action steps to guide how you design lesson units and daily instruction.

G—Guide learners: Lead students through activities with a constant awareness of the unique ways they are making sense of the science content.

E—Elicit feedback: Frequently ask for student input throughout the lesson to keep their voices, experiences, and backgrounds at the center of the your teaching.

S—Support ongoing work: Use student feedback and reflective steps to continually enrich your teaching and strengthen your relationships with students.
 

Science Education for the Internet Age: Teaching Students to Evaluate Online Sources of Science (Mis)information

Original article: Pimentel, Daniel R. 2025. “Learning to Evaluate Sources of Science (Mis) information on the Internet: Assessing Students’ Scientific Online Reasoning.” Journal of Research in Science Teaching 62 (3): 684–720. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21974  

Students frequently turn to the internet to learn about science, but they often struggle to tell the difference between legitimate research and misleading content. Recent research highlights how high school teachers can help students by integrating practical source-evaluation strategies directly into their existing science lessons.

Why This Matters

Most students judge the credibility of a website based on how “professional” it looks, its domain name (such as whether it ends in .org), or other surface-level features. In an era of sophisticated science misinformation and disinformation, these features are easily faked, leaving students vulnerable to false claims that resemble real science.

What the Research Found

• Shifting student habits: After a classroom intervention, which included guided practice, students moved away from judging a site by its appearance and began investigating the authors and organizations behind the claims.
• Spotting denial groups: Students became significantly better at distinguishing between credible scientific institutions and misleading sources.
• Using three key criteria: Success was driven by teaching students to look for three specific criteria for a credible website: conflicts of interest, relevant scientific expertise, and alignment with scientific consensus.

Practical Tips for Teachers

Science teachers can support digital literacy without needing an entirely new unit by using these four principles:

• Use authentic sources: Give students real examples of both credible and misleading websites to compare.
• Teach online reasoning strategies: Teach students to use strategies such as lateral reading (i.e., leaving a website and using other tabs to investigate the source), click restraint (scanning and being intentional about which search results to use), and wise use of Wikipedia (learning when and how to use Wikipedia to get acquainted with a new topic). These are all strategies used by professional fact-checkers.
• Discuss how scientific institutions work: Help students understand how scientific knowledge is vetted by experts (i.e., peer reviewed), agreed upon by scientists (the role of consensus), and funded so they can identify potential biases.
• Provide scaffolds for reasoning with multiple online sources: Use anchor charts, sentence starters, and graphic organizers to help students track information across multiple websites.
   

Understanding Student “Resistance”: Differing Expectations in Science Classes

Original article: Alzen, Jessica L., Jason Y. Buell, Kelsey Edwards, et al. 2025. “Characterizing Variations in the Figured Worlds of Teachers and Students in Science Class.” Journal of Research in Science Teaching 62 (6): 1654–79. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.22022

Introducing new instructional practices into the science classroom doesn’t always go smoothly. When students seem to push back against changes, it may not be true resistance, but rather a fundamental disconnect between how teachers and students see their roles.

Research into eighth-grade science classrooms reveals that teachers and students often operate in different “figured worlds”—socially and culturally constructed ways of interpreting what happens in class. When these worlds don’t align, even the best reform-oriented lessons can stall.

Key Findings for the Classroom

• Competing goals: Teachers and students often hold different ideas about the ultimate purpose of the class and their specific roles within it.
• The “right answer” trap: While a teacher may want students to share “incomplete” ideas to help the group make sense of a topic, students often feel they should only speak up if they have the right answer to help others learn.
• Misinterpreted resistance: What looks like student pushback is often just students acting according to their own (different) understanding of classroom goals and teacher expectations.

Practical Tips for Teachers

• Talk about the how, not just the what: Have explicit, ongoing conversations about how classroom knowledge-building is structured and the value of everyone’s contributions.
• Define shared roles: Make time to develop a shared understanding of expectations to ensure teachers and students are on the same page.
• Apply sensemaking to culture: Community sensemaking isn’t just for scientific concepts; students and teachers must also make sense of their roles and what they expect from one another.
   

Carla Zembal-Saul, PhD, is a professor and science teacher educator at Penn State University. Her research and practice center on the ways in which preservice and practicing K-5 teachers learn to support children's sensemaking in science. She is the NARST liaison to NSTA.

The mission of NSTA is to transform science education to benefit all through professional learning, partnerships, and advocacy.