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Engaging English Learners in K-12 Engineering

By Christine M. Cunningham

Posted on 2019-01-08

Engineering is now part of the Next Generation Science Standards as well as many state standards. As schools and teachers begin to think about how to introduce engineering in their classrooms, they should do so in ways that support all students, including English learners.

Because K-12 engineering is a relatively new discipline, we have an opportunity from the start to design curricula and instruction that embed effective practices. There is not yet much published research specifically about engineering with English learners. But there is much to learn from research done in other STEM disciplines, particularly math and science. The recent consensus report from The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, English Learners in STEM Subjects: Transforming Classrooms, Schools, and Lives, provides a comprehensive review of such research. It addresses STEM learning and language development, effective instructional strategies, school-family-community interactions, teacher preparation, and assessment. The concise summary of relevant literature, and its 24 conclusions and 7 recommendations provide valuable resources to spur thinking about engineering with English learners.

Over the past few years my Engineering is Elementary (EiE) team and I have begun to explore some of the affordances of engineering for English learners. Close work, conversations, and observations of elementary teachers and students engaged in engineering lessons suggest a few ways that English learners can benefit from engineering instruction. These resonate strongly with the overall themes of the NASEM publication.

First, engineering can be designed to offer rich opportunities for language-intensive classroom experiences. Hands-on engineering challenges invite students to engage in authentic, purposeful, and meaningful discourse. As they dive into open-ended challenges, students can generate original solutions.

Students need and want to use language to share their innovative, unique ideas with others on their teams and in their class. Well-designed engineering lessons ask students to read, write, speak, listen, and visually represent their ideas and designs. For example, as students engineer a device to help a person with a physical disability open jars and cans, they might research the topic or interview the client to learn more about what is needed, discuss design features and sketches with teammates, share ideas for which materials to use and why they might work, negotiate with team members to arrive at an initial plan, draw and label a diagram of their proposed solution, collect and record data about how it works and where it needs further adjustment, determine how they can improve the device, and communicate what solution they recommend and the process they used to develop it with their classmates and clients.

A second beneficial feature of engineering centers on the materiality of engineering. Students, and many engineers, use physical materials to produce a product. Exploration of materials and their properties is an important part of engineering for children, especially those in elementary and middle school. Describing materials and naming properties allow all students to develop both understanding and a robust vocabulary to communicate—whether something is fluffy, opaque, strong, or porous might determine whether it is the best choice to meet the criteria of the project. Developing linguistic descriptors goes hand-in-hand with developing skills to manipulate and construct solutions. As they design concrete models, students can demonstrate their ideas through gesture, drawing, and construction of a technology. The materiality of the solutions allows students with varying levels of English proficiency to participate and share their ideas in meaningful ways. They can experience success by using multiple ways to show what they know.

The open-ended nature of engineering design challenges, which allow multiple solutions, also can invite English learners to contribute what they know. Culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms are rich in different ideas and perspectives, which can strengthen engineering solutions and the learning community. Students can draw on their funds of knowledge and creativity as they consider how to solve the challenge at hand. As English learners share their ideas and draw from concrete experiences, they can communicate the salient features to others through language and sketches. Furthermore, other students are encouraged to consider the different ways other cultures solve problems thereby broadening their perspectives. 

Finally, engineering can encourage students to develop new identities for themselves and see others in different ways. Doing authentic engineering tasks shows students they are capable of this type of work and allows them to begin to build affiliation and identity. Engaging in language-rich engineering challenges can provide opportunities for students to develop their academic language in ways that build their self-confidence about their engineering or STEM abilities. Engineering tasks that allow students to demonstrate their ideas also encourage students to regard their teammates and classmates as valued collaborators. Contributions that draw from multiple modes of communication can be made, recognized, and celebrated by a larger group, and students, including English learners, can become active, valued members of the engineering learning community.


Christine M. Cunningham is the Founding Director of Engineering is Elementary and is Vice President of the Museum of Science, Boston. 

Engineering is now part of the Next Generation Science Standards as well as many state standards. As schools and teachers begin to think about how to introduce engineering in their classrooms, they should do so in ways that support all students, including English learners.

 

Ideas and inspiration from NSTA’s January 2019 K-12 journals

By Mary Bigelow

Posted on 2019-01-07

Happy 2019! This is a milestone year for science teachers: Message From the President: NSTA’s 75th

Regardless of what grade level or subject you teach, check out all three K-12 journals. As you skim through titles and descriptions of the articles, you may find ideas for lessons that would be interesting for your students, the inspiration to adapt a lesson to your grade level or subject, or the challenge to create/share your own lessons and ideas.

NSTA members, as always, have access to the articles in all journals! Click on the links to read or add to your library.

Science Scope – Oceans

From the Editor’s Desk: Thank the Ocean “Even if you are far away from where its waves meet the shoreline, kids tend to wonder about its vast depths; rhythmic tides, interesting creatures; and the fact that there is so much left to discover…Many of our 21st-century socioscientific issues, such as climate change, plastic pollution, and oil and gas exploration, will require solutions developed by ocean literate citizens.”

Articles in this issue that describe lessons (many of which use the 5E model) include a helpful sidebar documenting the big idea, essential pre-knowledge, time, safety issues, and cost. The lessons also include connections with the NGSS.

  • The lesson in Ocean Acidification Investigation is designed to help students explore and understand the relationship between air pollution and ocean acidification, including the effects on living things.
  • The Microscopic World of Plankton takes a different look at food webs and ecosystems. The article includes a plankton “primer” with background information and directions for designing and constructing plankton nets—and you don’t need to live near an ocean for collecting and learning about plankton.
  • Ocean Pressure connects physical science and oceanography in a hands-on study. The author includes a predict-observe-explain process in a graphic organizer.
  • Commentary: Engage Your Students in Ocean Exploration Science and Scope on the Skies: Monitoring the Hydrosphere include a rationale for incorporating ocean science and water studies into the curriculum and lists of resources to get started.
  • To help students understand the characteristics of saltwater, Disequilibrium: Floating Eggs has a lesson on why objects are more buoyant in salt water than in fresh water.
  • Citizen Science: Global Fishing Watch is a project that shares real-time data and information on over 60,000 fishing vessels. Students can “explore, track, and measure current and historical commercial fishing activity” to look for trends and patterns.
  • The investigation Staying Fit in Space combines engineering, space science, data analysis, statistics, and physics in a study of the effects of exercise on the human body in space.

This month’s Science Teacher has an article related to this theme. From Dissolution to Solution goes beyond traditional studies of ocean acidification to a series of lessons that address questions about the causes and impact of acidification and ways to reduce it.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Acid Precipitation, Buoyancy, Carbon Cycle, Density, Eclipses, Energy Transformations, Food Webs, Marine Ecosystems, Marine Life, Ocean Pollution, Ocean Water Chemistry, Oceans, Overfishing, pH Scale, Plankton, Salinity, Solutions

Many authors share resources related to the lessons and strategies in their articles. These resources include rubrics, graphic organizers, handouts, diagrams, lists of resources, and complete lessons. You can access these through the Connections link for Science Scope

Continue for The Science Teacher and Science & Children

The Science Teacher – Citizen Science

Editor’s Corner: Crowdsourcing Science “Citizen scientists monitor backyard birds, track climate change, analyze signals from space, survey invasive species, and even research what makes babies laugh… In our classes, citizen science can create opportunities for students to participate in authentic research and the generation of new scientific knowledge engaging in NGSS science and engineering practices.”

The lessons described in the articles include a chart showing connections with the NGSS. The graphics are especially helpful in understanding the activities and in providing ideas for your own investigations.

  • A characteristic of citizen science projects is getting students interested in real-world science. This interest can lead to careers and lifelong interests. In these projects, teachers often learn along with students. It’s More Than Fluff describes citizen science opportunities in bird studies—collecting and submitting observational data and analyzing the data of others.
  • How are tree populations responding to climate change? The citizen science project in A Forest in Motion uses Rocky Mountain National Park as a context and incorporates examples of students at work collecting and analyzing data. The authors have suggestions for adapting the project to other regions.
  • It seems that the “maker movement” could be called “citizen engineering.” Making and the 5E Learning Cycle uses soap-making as a context for the process. The article has a table that illustrates how a maker-centered 5E lesson can align with NGSS practices—This would be useful for other maker projects, too.
  • ADD TO SCOPE From Dissolution to Solution goes beyond traditional studies of ocean acidification to a series of lessons that address questions about the causes and impact of acidification and ways to reduce it.
  • Right to the Source: Citizen Scientists in the Appalachian Forest describes a Library of Congress resource on the diversity of these forests.

Citizen Science is a monthly resource in the Scope on Science journal. This month, Citizen Science: Global Fishing Watch describes a project that shares real-time data and information on over 60,000 fishing vessels. Students can “explore, track, and measure current and historical commercial fishing activity” to look for trends and patterns.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Biodiversity, Birds, Climate Change, Electrical Circuits, Forests, Marine Ecosystems, Mollusks, Ocean Productivity, Ocean Water Chemistry, pH Scale, Properties of Ocean Water, Resistors, Threats to Oceans

Many authors share resources related to the lessons and strategies in their articles. These resources include rubrics, graphic organizers, handouts, diagrams, lists of resources, and complete lessons. You can access these through the Connections link for The Science Teacher.

 

Science & Children – Problem-Based Learning

Editor’s Note: “Science is not a noun; it’s a verb” What binds the different takes on PBL together is a need to start with students: what are they interested in, what motivates them, how can we capture their attention as well as their desire to learn more, and how can learning be transferred from the teacher to the students?

The lessons described in the articles have a chart showing connections with the NGSS. Many are based on the 5E model and include classroom materials, illustrations of student work, and photographs of students engaged in the activities.

  • The authors of From Facts to Solutions provide a table for grades1-5 with examples of driving questions and related science content about which to design problem-based units. The article goes into detail about a fifth-grade unit on climate change that incorporates an important and authentic question with processes such as modeling, journaling, interpreting data, cooperative learning, and presentations.
  • Students explore ways their state could become energy independent in the real-life investigation described in Got Energy? The investigation integrates experimental design and other familiar strategies into addressing an important question that will impact their future.
  • City Planners at Work is a challenge for students to research, plan, and present a proposal for the best site for a garden at their school. The project builds on student knowledge of erosion, terrain, soil quality, waterflow, and the needs of plants.
  • The Early Years: Discovering Their Sense of the World includes suggestions and resources for involving young students in “Using the Project Approach.”
  • Teaching Through Trade Books: The Sun’s Energy has two related lessons: Sunny Days (K-2) on the sun’s energy and Energy Flows (3-5) focusing on energy transfers in food webs.
  • How Do Animals Brush Their Teeth? sounds like an engaging question for students! The article describes a 5-day PBL experience that incorporates models, design, and content learning as students focus on the adaptations of teeth.
  • Teaching Teachers: NGSS Lesson Adaptations has an example of adapting a lesson to incorporate developing and using models (as per NGSS).
  • With the lesson in Engineering Encounters: Help Batman Build a Safe and Stable House, students design, construct, and test a structure to withstand the process of erosion.

These monthly columns continue to provide background knowledge and classroom ideas:

For more on the content that provides a context for projects and strategies described in this issue, see the SciLinks topics Birds, Carbon Cycle, Change in Climate, Ecosystems, Energy Transformations, Engineering Structures, Erosion, Food Chains, Forces and Motion, Greenhouse Effect, Landforms, Pollination, Renewable and Nonrenewable Energy, Soil, Sun, Water Erosion, Weather/Climate

Many authors share resources related to the lessons and strategies in their articles. These resources include rubrics, graphic organizers, handouts, diagrams, lists of resources, and complete lessons. You can access these through the Connections link for Science & Children.

Happy 2019! This is a milestone year for science teachers: Message From the President: NSTA’s 75th

Regardless of what grade level or subject you teach, check out all three K-12 journals. As you skim through titles and descriptions of the articles, you may find ideas for lessons that would be interesting for your students, the inspiration to adapt a lesson to your grade level or subject, or the challenge to create/share your own lessons and ideas.

 

How Are Car Crashes, Packaging Design, and Bridge Design Related? (Hint: Integrated STEM)

By Carole Hayward

Posted on 2019-01-07

Imagine a nationwide team of STEM education experts creating a GPS system of sorts for educators who want to chart a course toward an integrated STEM approach—one that’s aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, the Common Core State Standards, and the Framework for 21st Century Learning.

That’s exactly how NSTA’s STEM Road Map Curriculum Series came into being. STEM educators from across the United States responded to a growing need for K-12 classrooms to offer students real-world learning experiences, ones that are delivered through authentic problem-solving and pedagogy and grounded in integrated STEM.

The developers of this work embed authentic assessment and differentiation through each module, and they view the curriculum as a resource that serves the needs of whole districts, individual schools, or classroom teachers focused on implementing an integrated STEM approach in their own unique construct.

Three new books have been added to the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series, each targeting a different level of secondary school:

In Packaging Design, sixth-grade students can explore how marketing, packaging, and communications connect. Students have the opportunity to learn how to repurpose a product or market it to new customers, convince customers to buy their product by honing their persuasive writing and speaking skills, and develop their content knowledge while investigating the complexities of marketing.

To purchase a print copy, click here.
An e-book version of this book is also available for purchase.
Enjoy a sample chapter by clicking here.

Improving Bridge Design  puts eighth grade students in charge of strengthening the nation’s infrastructure by designing longer lasting bridges. Students examine both the nation’s as well as their own community’s current infrastructure, focusing on bridges; create models of bridges using scale factor; research the types of rocks used in bridge design; investigate building costs and more sustainable design; and debate the merits of a federally established program (similar the post-World War II Works Progress Administration) to improve the country’s public infrastructure.

Click here to purchase a print copy of this book.
An e-book version is also available. 
Enjoy a sample chapter of this book.

 

After exploring the content in Car Crashes, 12th grade students will understand the physical forces, industry challenges, role of governmental safety standards, and individual rights. Lessons take students through the roles of  forces, speed, velocity, momentum, and impact in auto safety; reverse-engineer car crash scenarios to understand why accidents happen; the background and effect of government regulations; and the many aspects of the car-safety industry.

To purchase a print copy, click here.
An e-book version is also available.
Click here to enjoy a sample chapter from this book.

The trend toward an integrated STEM focus across districts, schools, and classrooms prompted NSTA to create this high-quality, research-based K-12 curriculum series. Find the ones that are just right for you.

 

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Imagine a nationwide team of STEM education experts creating a GPS system of sorts for educators who want to chart a course toward an integrated STEM approach—one that’s aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards, the Common Core State Standards, and the Framework for 21st Century Learning.

 

Ed News: Meeting New Science Standards Requires Greater Emphasis on Teacher Practice

By Kate Falk

Posted on 2019-01-04

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This week in education news, new Forever GI Bill law allots a fifth year of education benefits for eligible students pursuing degrees in the STEM fields; President Trump signs NSF STEM Education Research Bill; researchers argue that education apps often don’t align with what we know about the science of learning and memory; Boston Museum of Science president and director to resign at the end of January; a look back at 2018’s seven biggest federal K-12 policy stories; and a new study finds that states need to focus more on teacher practice when implementing the Next Generation Science Standards.

Vets Interested in STEM Degrees Could Get More GI Bill Money in 2019

Some college degrees in science, technology, engineering and math fields take longer than four years to complete, which is why the new Forever GI Bill authorizes an additional school year of GI Bill funds on a first-come, first-serve basis. Scholarships of up to $30,000 will be available for eligible GI Bill users starting in August 2019. Only veterans or surviving family members of deceased service members are eligible for this scholarship — not dependents using transferred benefits. Read the article featured in Military Times.

The Teacher Strikes and Protests Planned for 2019

While 2018 was a pivotal year for teacher activism, with large-scale strikes in six states and more protests around the country, there has been some question as to whether momentum would continue into the New Year. So far, though, we know at least a few places where labor actions are likely to happen. Read the article featured in Education Week.

President Trump Signs NSF STEM Education Research Bill

President Trump on Dec. 31 signed into law H.R. 5509, the “Innovations in Mentoring, Training, and Apprenticeships Act,” that would direct the National Science Foundation to provide grants for research about STEM education approaches and STEM-related workforce issues. Read the article featured on Meritalk.com.

Being Wrong Has Made Me a Better Teacher

When I was a brand new teacher, my advisor from Bank Street College would observe me. Afterward, when I was expecting criticism, she would always point out a few positive moments that I usually hadn’t noticed because I was so fixated on what needed work. Her positive observations helped me see a sliver of success, so I could build in that direction. I easily identified what had not gone well, and we also problem-solved those issues together, but her encouraging observations helped keep me from beating myself up when I wasn’t meeting my own expectations. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Scientist to App Developers: Tap Learning Science to Be More Effective

Education apps are pitched to help students’ learning, but often don’t align with what we know about the science of learning and memory, researchers argue. In a new commentary in Nature’s Science of Learning journal, cognitive psychologists from the Swiss Distance Learning University, the University of Bonn in Germany, and the University of Bern in Switzerland laid out four key findings on learning and memory that could make education apps more effective. Read the article featured in Education Week.

Ioannis Miaoulis, Longtime Museum of Science President and Director, to Step Down in January

Ioannis N. Miaoulis, the president and director of the Museum of Science, Boston, plans to leave after 16 years, the institution announced. Miaoulis, a former dean of the Tufts University School of Engineering and longtime advocate of science education, oversaw the largest capital campaign in the museum’s 188-year history and the launch of record-breaking exhibits inspired by the Star Wars movie franchise and the Pixar movie studio. Read the article featured in the Boston Globe.

How School Policy Changed in 2018: The Year’s Seven Biggest Federal Storylines, From Unforgettable Student Advocacy to an Already Forgotten White House Proposal

The second year of the Trump presidency has been one for the history books, particularly in the realm of K-12 education. Some moments this year were unforgettable, either for their sheer emotional power and size, like the waves of student-led gun control and school safety advocacy, or for their potential to upend the way schools operate, like the Supreme Court’s Janus decision. Read the article featured in The 74.

Meeting New Science Standards Requires Greater Emphasis on Teacher Practice

As states implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a new study finds that simply focusing on building teachers’ content knowledge in science isn’t sufficient to help students reach higher expectations. “These science learning goals pose a challenge for educators,” the authors write. “Typical K-12 science teaching practice does not come close to matching the kind of teaching needed to support such learning.” Read the brief featured in Education DIVE.

Stay tuned for next week’s top education news stories.

The Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs (CLPA) team strives to keep NSTA members, teachers, science education leaders, and the general public informed about NSTA programs, products, and services and key science education issues and legislation. In the association’s role as the national voice for science education, its CLPA team actively promotes NSTA’s positions on science education issues and communicates key NSTA messages to essential audiences.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.


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Learning Wins in STEM Games

By Debra Shapiro

Posted on 2019-01-04

At the New York Botanical Gardens, students and parents play Biome Builder, a game from New York City–based learning games company Killer Snails. Photo courtesy of Killer Snails

Jamie Easley, eighth-grade science teacher at Eleanor Roosevelt Middle School in Dubuque, Iowa, says she created Science Ball—a baseball-like game—“to make test review interesting [for students]…It’s important to find every way possible to increase engagement and interest in the material we’re teaching, especially if it’s an unusual way to do it,” she contends.

Easley labels “bases” in her classroom, and divides students into two teams. One student from each team “answers [short-answer or multiple-choice] questions simultaneously on small whiteboards, then they reveal [their answers at the same time].” Correct answers allow players to advance to a base; incorrect ones result in an out. Easley selects questions for each pair, and pairs students of similar levels so she can choose appropriate questions—a must for special-needs students.

To inform students about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers, Donna Muller, former K–8 technology teacher at Atonement Lutheran School in Metairie, Louisiana, says she turned The Game of Life® into a STEM careers game by creating her own “career cards, basing them on Career and Technical Education (secondary certificate) careers versus [the] college-bound careers. It makes it meaningful and shows career pathways.”

Muller has used other popular games in her classroom, many of which have free digital versions online: Kahoot!® for vocabulary; Heads Up to teach about scientific processes like the water cycle; Pictionary and Win, Lose, or Draw because “they allow students to draw [things like] the parts of a cell. [Games] are a way to reach [students with] different learning styles.”

When students excel at the games but don’t perform well on tests, “the games can show me why the tests aren’t working…If you set the game up right, it should test content knowledge,” Muller explains. However, “games should not be the ‘end-all,’ they should help students get comfortable with the material, but students also need to do projects, hands-on [learning].

“You are getting cross-curricular with games, which helps you meet the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS),” asserts Muller. In addition, “you are actually teaching those [21st-century soft skills], such as learning to work together and it’s okay to not have the right answer; just keep trying…Students need to [be able to] make mistakes without it counting [against their grade].”

“Games [equalize] my class, even when some students have prior knowledge, and give everyone an activity to talk about,” says Cynthia Hopkins, seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Kaffie Middle School in Corpus Christi, Texas. She has students play games related to concepts before teaching the concepts. “I use a game called Suspend to teach [about] unbalanced and balanced forces,” she notes. Suspend involves hanging notched wire pieces on a tabletop stand. Adding pieces shifts the balance, and players try to add all their game pieces without making the structure fall.

“[Suspend] is the first thing I do in my Forces and Motion unit. I give no initial explanation. The debrief is the important part: Why is [your structure] balanced or unbalanced?,” Hopkins relates.

To create her own game cards based on state test questions, Hopkins uses the free resources on Problem-Attic, one of many resources that she and a colleague presented during their Game On: Gaming With a Purpose session at the Science Teachers Association of Texas’s 2018 Conference for the Advancement of Science Teaching.

Playing games with her students helps Hopkins “get to know them and allows me to check in with them during the year…I’m willing to look foolish,” she admits, “because sometimes it takes that to reach some of my students.”

In her games, Allyson Macdonald, a professor of educational sciences at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík, Iceland, requires student preparation. For Sustainability Scrabble, each student “had to make five tiles…The tiles all had to be related to recent class work in sustainability and could be a word/ concept, a quote, or a picture (photograph or diagram)…The learning was in the questioning and defense of what [was] on the tile,” she explains.

Her Three More game familiarizes students “with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The year is 2025, and there are concerns that some of the goals will not be reached. Each person picks three of the 17 goals [that] they wish to alter in some way and [names] three additional goals,” Macdonald relates.

In each group, she explains, “two participants [decide] the steps they would take to introduce a project linked to the goals selected from the survey. The other two…[ask] searching questions about planning and implementation. The learning was in the questioning and defense of what was being proposed and audited.” Scores were determined by “clarity of proposal and feasibility, and additional points were given for incorporating an education project.”

Designing STEM Games

Whether teachers use commercially available games or create their own, they should always be sure to follow lab safety practices during gameplay. Other considerations include making sure all students can participate.

Valarie Broadhead, science teacher at Aliso Viejo Middle School in Aliso Viejo, California, says she has incorporated games “as part of my NGSS instructional strategies,” designing them “around special education students, then add[ing] on features and increas[ing] complexity for general education students.” She incorporates “visual aspects…especially [in] the instructions and content. Pictures, models, and the use of colors also help English language learners,” she notes.

Broadhead uses very large text so materials are easier to read, especially for students with visual impairments. She also places “pre-printed items (games, learning objectives, instructions, etc.) on their desks so they don’t have to look up at the board, reducing possible errors.” By using microphone enhancement, headsets with volume control, and print materials, students with hearing disabilities “don’t have to ‘hear’ the instructions to know how to play the game,” she explains.

“The great thing about science is that it’s really an active, engaging discipline, so games can be created [in which] student players are doing the work of the field,” contends Kathleen Mercury, who teaches gifted middle school students at Ladue Middle School in St. Louis, Missouri. “Students can [play] the role of engineers, learning how to create circuits by playing the right cards, or players can learn about the cycle of photosynthesis by moving the different elements around.”

Because she is “passionate about helping other teachers incorporate games and game design in their classes,” Mercury shares her game design teaching resources for free at www.kathleenmercury.com. “Playtesting prototypes is such an important part of the process for students to see,” she says, because “games, like any other open-ended work or research that starts with a question, are created through a process of inquiry, testing, and refinement. By modeling my willingness to engage in this process and to take feedback, they see the value of it, and that makes it easier for them to create and show their own unfinished work.”

Lindsay Portnoy, co-founder and chief learning officer of Killer Snails, a learning games company, says, “We wanted to make science accessible, but also impactful, so all of our games are based on both dynamic STEM content and extant standards.” In the BioDive game, for example, “student scientists collect data to iterate on their models as they work out their hypothesis, identifying how abiotic factors impact biotic factors across three marine ecosystems,” she notes.

“We’re also all parents and want to make games that are equally fun to play in class or at [home],” Portnoy asserts.

This article originally appeared in the January 2019 issue of NSTA Reports, the member newspaper of the National Science Teachers Association. Each month, NSTA members receive NSTA Reports, featuring news on science education, the association, and more. Not a member? Learn how NSTA can help you become the best science teacher you can be.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

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At the New York Botanical Gardens, students and parents play Biome Builder, a game from New York City–based learning games company Killer Snails. Photo courtesy of Killer Snails

 

Hallmarks

By Gabe Kraljevic

Posted on 2019-01-04

What makes you believe a student teacher is going to make an excellent teacher one day?
– J., Ohio

I looked for several things in student teachers to indicate they were on the right track:

  • Cared about their students. First and foremost, remember that you are teaching children and young adults. Be caring and flexible.
  • Thoughtful preparation. Nothing will destroy a lesson faster than a lack of planning.
  • Reflective and self-assessing. Student teachers should ask themselves these questions: How did that class go? What were the students doing? Did they understand my lesson? How do I know? How can I be sure? What is the next step? How could I have done the lesson three different ways?
  • Had vision. They could describe what their perfect classroom looks like. What’s happening? What are the students doing? What are they doing? What’s being accomplished. This vision will help guide all their decision making.
  • Participated in the school community. Teachers have to work together and should become integral parts of the school environment.
  • Would admit when they didn’t know something. Don’t ever try to bluff your way through a question. Model that you’re a life-long learner and find the answers or have the students find the answers.
  • Exhibit passion for the subject and teaching.

Things I do not consider important:

  • Create all their own lessons and handouts from scratch. They still had to do thoughtful preparation by analyzing everything they wanted to use.
  • Be content geniuses.
  • Be friends with the students. Caring and befriending are not the same.
  • Have perfect lessons. Near impossible.

Hope this helps!

What makes you believe a student teacher is going to make an excellent teacher one day?
– J., Ohio

I looked for several things in student teachers to indicate they were on the right track:

 

Legislative Update

What’s Ahead for Federal Education Policy (and Funding) in 2019?

By Jodi Peterson

Posted on 2019-01-03

Welcome to 2019. As of January 3, Congressional leaders and President Trump are still working on a final agreement on FY2019 spending and the federal government remains closed for business. As you will recall, federal education funding, including programs at the U.S. Department of Education, is not affected by this current shutdown.  The full-year appropriations bill for education H.R. 6157 (115) will fund the Department of Education programs, including Title II and Title IVA, through next September.  

So looking ahead, what can we expect from federal lawmakers and the federal agencies in 2019?

Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA) may happen this year, largely because Senator Lamar Alexander, the top Republican on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) , has announced he will not seek re-election in 2020.

Senator Alexander has served as the secretary of education under former President George H. W. Bush, as governor of Tennessee, and as president of the University of Tennessee. He was one of the key architects of the Every Student Succeeds Act and has a reputation for reaching across the aisle and working with Democratic colleagues. Many believe he will make reauthorization of the HEA a priority and move the bill forward in the coming months.

HEA reauthorization in the Senate went nowhere in the last Congress, and a Republican bill last year in the House to reauthorize the legislation failed to garner any Democratic support and did not come up for a floor vote.

Rep Bobby Scott, incoming chair of the House Education and Labor Committee (recently renamed from the Education and Workforce Committee), has indicated that HEA is also a priority for him and that he is willing to work with Senate colleagues to get the legislation passed.  

Earlier in December during remarks to the American Council on Education, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos stated that “Like all of education, higher education is due for a rethink.”  The Secretary released the administration’s white paper on higher education  which includes broad goals for an overhaul of higher education policy in 2019.

Many also believe that Congressional Democrats and Republicans could work together in 2019 on a massive infrastructure bill that would include schools/education.  Rep. Scott’s infrastructure bill—Rebuild America’s Schools Act, (H.R. 2475 (115)—would create a $70 billion grant program and $30 billion tax credit bond program for high-poverty schools.

Also in 2019 look for work on rulemaking, as an ED panel begins work to rewrite federal regulations around college accreditation, religious schools and nontraditional education providers; and the Departments final rule for Title IX outlining how schools should handle allegations of sexual assault.

School Safety Report Issued December 18

The school safety advisory panel, formed by President Trump after the school shooting in Parkland, Fla. and led by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, issued their report in mid-December. The 177-page report provides information on 93 best practices and policy recommendations for improving safety at schools nationwide.

As expected, the report criticized the “Rethink School Discipline” Guidance issued during the Obama Administration that placed an emphasis on tracking school disciplinary actions by race and largely intended to end minority students’ more frequent expulsions and suspensions from schools.

The commission found the guidance “likely had a strong, negative impact on school discipline and safety.”  Conservatives have long viewed the guidance as a burden and possibly dangerous for its potential to keep violent children in school. Civil rights groups and Democrats have vehemently complained that the administration would connect the guidance with school shootings.

The panel also encouraged more coordination between schools and law enforcement that could include programs that arm highly trained school personnel. It did not address if firearm purchases should be subjected to age restrictions.

The school safety panel also denounced the prevalence of violence in video games and movies, social media, music and more.  The report says “it is estimated that depictions of violence are present in 90 percent of movies, 68 percent of video games, 60 percent of television shows, and 15 percent of music videos,” noting that “violent content is ubiquitous across these platforms and continues to grow.”  The panel report also notes the conflicting research on the influence violent media actually has on children.

Rep. Bobby Scott, chair of the House education panel, said in a statement that the report “promotes a longstanding, conservative agenda to undermine policies that protect students’ civil rights” and was not a “serious or good-faith effort” to make schools safer.

Sen. Patty Murray, the ranking Democrat on the Senate HELP Committee, said of the report that “The gun industry itself could not have written a more blatant and obvious distraction from the real problem gun violence poses to students across our country,”

Senate Confirms New Head of OSTP

And finally, after a nomination hearing in late August, the Senate confirmed Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier on January 2 to be the next Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). More here.

Stay tuned, and watch for more updates in future issues of NSTA Express.

Jodi Peterson is the Assistant Executive Director of Communication, Legislative & Public Affairs for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and Chair of the STEM Education Coalition. Reach her via e-mail at jpeterson@nsta.org or via Twitter at @stemedadvocate.

The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.


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Welcome to 2019. As of January 3, Congressional leaders and President Trump are still working on a final agreement on FY2019 spending and the federal government remains closed for business. As you will recall, federal education funding, including programs at the U.S.

 

Supportive communities for teaching science in the early childhood years

By Peggy Ashbrook

Posted on 2019-01-02

Child squeezing out white school glue onto a pinecone craft.There are times when educators miss opportunities to support young children’s interest in exploring and  learning about natural phenomena. We might be otherwise engaged, too focused on the next activity, or uncomfortable with what is happening. We might be talking with one child while another eagerly tries to tell us about a bird flying by, or we don’t want to pause for a minute and listen to the firetruck going past, or get Child pointing to a cricket.too close to that small animal. Sometimes a child uses too many materials or a child’s actions lead to an undesirable amount of cleanup, such as when a child squeezes and squeezes the glue bottle until there is a huge puddle of glue on the paper and the bottle is empty and then reaches for another bottle. Sometimes the school system requirements don’t include teaching science for any amount of time. 

How do we get better at facilitating meaningful explorations so children have first hand experiences and conversations to help them make sense of the natural phenomena they encounter? How can we incorporate math and language and literacy learning so children develop the skills they need to discuss and communicate about their experiences?

Supportive communities for teaching science in the early childhood years can be found online. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) position statements support educators in advocating for the time we need to develop our own learning as well as to teach science in our early childhood classrooms. These statements can be shared with colleagues, administrators, and policy makers to make them aware of the support needed for quality science education. The NSTA Learning Center forums give us a place to ask questions and share strategies and resources that make it possible for us to teach. For NSTA members, the listservs provide a responsive community we can access through email with questions and shared guidance. The NSTA journal, Science and Children publishes educator experiences and reviews of resources. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) publishes science education articles in journals and has an interest forum, the Early Childhood Science Interest Forum (ECSIF), that organizes conference sessions, holds meetings, and posts on the NAEYC social media site Hello.

 Webinars, or online conversations, can help you build a community of science-interested educators when you take notes of the ideas that you want to try and resources to look up, and watch with colleagues, then hold a discussion to gain more insight into the ideas presented. I presented one of the modules in the 11-part Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) in Early Learning Series from the Preschool Development Grant, and just watched two from the LinkEngineering Educator Exchange: Building Literacy with PK-2 Engineering Experiences, and Playful Learning: Make Engineering Fun.

I’d love to hear about the communities that support your science learning and science teaching!

Child squeezing out white school glue onto a pinecone craft.There are times when educators miss opportunities to support young children’s interest in exploring and  learning about natural phenomena. We might be otherwise engaged, too focused on the next activity, or uncomfortable with what is happening.

 

NSTA’s 75th: A Beginning and Future Forged with a Need for Science Education

By Korei Martin

Posted on 2019-01-02

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, April 1944.  After many years of discussion, two separate associations—The American Science Teachers Association and the American Council of Science Teachers — proposed and adopted a constitution that merged their members and joined their forces to organize as one national group for science education. By the end of 1944, the seed that had been planted broke through the surface and emerged as the National Science Teachers Association. Its founding purpose to “stimulate, improve, and coordinate science teaching at the elementary, secondary, and collegiate levels of instruction.”

There is no doubt that since its inception, the importance of science teaching and science learning has been the driving focus of the association. The ongoing need for this driving force has been society as a whole and the need to provide students with instruction that helped to understand scientific and technological advances of the time. Robert Carleton penned the following at the 25th anniversary: “The challenge to NSTA and to the profession is to tie science education together with the lives of people and the problems of society in a truly functional manner.” As science educators we have the ability to make connections between new advances and everyday life, influence the future, and to extend the reach of science to many.

At our 50th anniversary, then President Gerry Madrazo likened our Association to a giant Sequoia which has grown slowly by planting deep roots, and reaching wide but had yet to realize the fullness of the tree’s expanse. The challenge to tie people’s lives and science together and need for us to continue to develop and expand our reach still exists! Throughout the last 75 years, NSTA has weathered many changes from programmatic offerings to the location of our headquarters to changes in our governance structure to the overall manner in which we engage with our members and meet their needs. These events, strategies, and changes offered opportunities to interact with our members and look towards the future of science education and the growth of our association. While history provides us context, the future provides us promise.

NSTA has become the largest organization in the world devoted to the science teaching and learning and at its core has always been our mission statement “…to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.” Like the Sequoia, we have grown with time and arrive at a new era where our historical roots are deep and there is strength in our message. Our potential reach and growth still hold promise by modifying our strategies to meet the future of science education and needs of our members.  

Join us throughout 2019 as we uncover and reveal some of the new features of NSTAs digital presence and overall engagement strategy. As we look to the past with an eye to the future, it is clear that the science taught and need for science educators who create a love of learning and interest in students is as necessary today as it was in 1944. 

How, we engage ALL students in science learning and ensure that all science educators continue their own lifelong, lifewide, and lifedeep learning process is the focus for our future growth. With that goal in mind, the voice of the science teacher and need for all educators to advocate and speak out for science education is more prominent than ever before.


The mission of NSTA is to promote excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Future NSTA Conferences

2019 National Conference
St. Louis, April 11–14

2019 STEM Forum & Expo
San Francisco, July 24–26

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The concept of problem-based learning has been vigorously applied in the classroom and touted as a panacea to the traditional curriculum. This month, we take on PBL in all its iterations to share practical and applicable teaching methods and learning situations to engage reluctant learners and excite students to think creatively and with purpose.
The concept of problem-based learning has been vigorously applied in the classroom and touted as a panacea to the traditional curriculum. This month, we take on PBL in all its iterations to share practical and applicable teaching methods and learning situations to engage reluctant learners and excite students to think creatively and with purpose.
The concept of problem-based learning has been vigorously applied in the classroom and touted as a panacea to the traditional curriculum. This month, we take on PBL in all its iterations to share practical and applicable teaching methods and learning situations to engage reluctant learners and excite students to think creatively and with purpose.
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