As suggested in A Framework for K–12 Science Education (National Research Council 2012), “Scientific knowledge is a particular kind of knowledge with its own sources, justifications, ways of dealing with uncertainties . . . and agreed-on levels of certainty” (p. 251). That is, whenever scientists develop scientific knowledge, they must wrestle with a certain degree of uncertainty stemming from multiple sources, such as insufficient information, ambiguous experiment results, and incoherent or conflicting data patterns (Chen and Qiao 2019; Park et al. 2022). It follows that for students, learning science should involve coming to understand the nature of scientific knowledge and its development through opportunities to struggle with uncertainties (Chen 2022; Falk and Brodsky 2013). Such opportunities are best generated through engagement in science practices during project-based learning (PBL) because PBL requires students to identify a problem through a target phenomenon, seek coherent understandings or solutions, and apply the new understanding to complete the project. All these processes entail the navigation of scientific uncertainties.

Blended learning strategies combined with innovative technology, for example, virtual reality (VR), can be used in science classrooms to differentiate teaching and enrich learning experiences. The positive impacts of differentiated instruction in a classroom can lead to a better understanding of science content and improved inclusivity. Blended learning station rotation models allow multiple groups to work on different materials at the same time, while station rotations provide teachers the flexibility to incorporate collaboration, technology-focused learning, and small-group instruction.

Motivation and collaboration intersect in important ways in a science classroom. One important motivational component of collaborative work is what students understand the goal of that work to be (Ames 1992). When students feel they are competing, especially within their own groups, to get the highest grade, complete the task fastest, or show that they are smart (ego orientation), they can view collaboration as an impediment to those goals and show less willingness to cooperate (Rogat and Linnenbrink-Garcia 2019). A high-achieving student might take control to ensure that her group’s product shines and reflects well on her—but then gets frustrated feeling like she’s “doing all the work.” Another student who lacks confidence might use the collaboration to skate by, making small contributions to avoid the group’s wrath but not otherwise challenging himself. By contrast, if teachers can cultivate a learning orientation such that developing deeper understanding is the goal, students work more effectively in teams (Hijzen, Boekaerts, and Vedder 2007). Collaboration becomes an essential tool for three-dimensional science learning because diverse perspectives, ideas, and approaches all contribute to making sense of phenomena and solving problems (Table 1).

Students with visual impairments are often the only students at their school who read braille. They often do not participate in science fairs, in some cases because of low expectations on the part of educators and in other cases because of accessibility challenges. Yet science fairs are a valuable way for students to build skills (Welsh, Hedenstrom, and Koomen 2020). The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) focus on engineering design in the middle school years while testing models where only one variable is changed from trial to trial (NGSS Lead States 2013). The emphasis is on design and communicating about the data gathered, analyzed, and interpreted. With adaptations, students with visual impairments can, and do, learn these skills.

Beginning in January 2024, NSTA’s journals will be hosted on the T&F Online platform (https://www.tandfonline.com). NSTA’s journals will be an excellent addition to T&F’s world-leading education journals portfolio and will receive dedicated support and attention to ensure their success. 

Academic food security aims to provide students with sufficient access to knowledge (one key academic nutrient) in order to limit intellectual hunger. In this analogy, the student is seen as a consumer of knowledge. Academic food sovereignty, on the other hand, aims to shift the focus from student knowledge consumership to student knowledge producership. Our efforts to democratize authentic undergraduate research experiences and our computational biology approach to the discovery and analysis of sea star ovarian gene expression aim to shift the paradigm to sustainably realize “academic food sovereignty.” Essential for this paradigm shift is the realization that faculty of community colleges and primarily undergraduate institutions can be valued in equal partnership with research-intensive institutions. In this article, we report how a genuine, sustainable inter-institutional partnership formed; developed into a community-college centric, authentic course-based undergraduate research experience (aCURE); and evolved into a pandemic-resilient small tri-institutional networked aCURE. Qualitative and quantitative data on the impacts of our efforts are presented, and the broader impacts of this academic bridging and learner-autonomy-respecting bidirectional partnership are discussed. Sustainability is essential for “academic food sovereignty,” and we emphasize the many legs of the proverbial stool for stability in the future.

Quantitative reasoning, although included in most science courses, can be challenging to teach. In this article, we explore whether cooperative learning may help instructors teach quantitative reasoning and enhance students’ understanding and learning experience. Our lesson was taught in a large introductory geoscience course. The lesson required the undergraduate students to process geological data, represent the processed data graphically in a ternary diagram, and interpret the results in terms of geological environments. Students were assigned to groups in which they were asked to either work in pairs (experimental group) or individually (control group) on the tasks. Students’ performance on questions related to ternary diagrams on the test and their feedback in the evaluation survey indicate that the cooperative approach enhances the ability of freshmen and sophomores to apply the quantitative reasoning they learned to new problems. Most participants prefer learning in a cooperative setting rather than the individual approach. We suggest that cooperative learning can help develop quantitative reasoning in undergraduate science classes.

This qualitative study compares the views about nature of science (NOS) between students enrolled in a traditional lecture and laboratory course and students in an inquiry-based class to the view of the scientists who taught the course. We administered the Views of Nature of Science Form C (VNOS-C) to identify students’ views after partaking in two different pedagogical-style courses (either the traditional course or inquiry-based course). We report on two aspects of VNOS-C: definition and explanation of science and role of creativity and imagination within the scientific process. The data showed that the students in the inquiry-based section held slightly more concrete views of creativity and imagination in science and more informed views of science and that they held similar NOS views to the scientist. This study shows that even if you teach inquiry as means, students tend to form transitional or even informed views of the roles of imagination and creativity in the scientific endeavor. 

The Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) program at Sacramento State was established in 2012 with one section supporting introductory chemistry. The program now serves 17 courses with high rates of students who receive a D or an F or withdraw (DFW) from the course in biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and statistics; the program enrolls approximately 1,400 students annually. Adapting the Peer-Led Team Learning model, PAL facilitators do not teach, tutor, or even confirm answers; they ask scaffolding questions, provide encouragement, and ensure that all group members participate in problem-solving. Each PAL section is an optional credit-bearing course that supplements the targeted parent science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) course. In this article, we assess the efficacy of the program in terms of student success in the parent course. As PAL is an opt-in program, we employ propensity score matching techniques to account for confounding factors. Our analysis shows that the mean course grade point average is 1.98 for matched nonparticipants and 2.40 for matched PAL participants, indicating that the program provides an average bump of 0.42 points in the parent course. We consider data from more than 25,000 students, and our propensity score analysis uses more than 10,000 students (4,519 PAL and 5,814 non-PAL) for whom appropriate matches could be found.