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How Do I Design Authentic Assessments to Meet the Needs of ALL Learners?

Book Chapter

How Do I Design Authentic Assessments to Meet the Needs of ALL Learners?

Students need opportunities to show what they know in a variety of ways and at multiple points along the way. Knowing what to look for and how to interpret what you see may guide you to plan new experiences. Questioning, investigating, and assessing ...

How Does Metacognition Support Instructional Decision Making?

Book Chapter

How Does Metacognition Support Instructional Decision Making?

Metacognition engages students and teachers in reflection of the learning process—in essence, thinking about thinking. Metacognitive questions give teachers a better understanding of how students are processing content, the types of connections the...

Archive: Using Phenomena to Drive Student Learning, July 28, 2018

Virtual Conference

Archive: Using Phenomena to Drive Student Learning, July 28, 2018

Science is ultimately about explaining the phenomena that occur in the world around us. Recent reforms in science education have focused on how phenomena should be used during instruction. This conference will focus on how using phenomena effectively...

Improving Bridge Design, Grade 8: STEM Road Map for Middle School (Book Sample)

Book Chapter

Improving Bridge Design, Grade 8: STEM Road Map for Middle School (Book Sample)

What if you could challenge your eighth graders to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure by designing bridges that last longer? With this volume in the STEM Road Map Curriculum Series, you can! Improving Bridge Design outlines a journey that wi...

Journal Article

Science Investigation and Developing Students’ Science-Process Skills Through Citizen Science

It’s 7:15 on a Friday morning and the ‘early birds’ have arrived. Eager students don their binoculars for Ms. Vigeland’s before-school birdwatching club. Ranging from fourth to eighth grade, these Hilltop Country Day School students...

By Jennifer Fee

Informal Education

Journal Article

Philly Scientists

The Philly Scientists project engages underserved youth in grades 5–8 and their educators in a curriculum that includes a mobile application with a digital badging reward system.    ...

By Rasheda Likely, Magdalene Moy, and Nancy Songer

Informal Education

Journal Article

Curiosity Machine

The Curiosity Machine Family Program at Iridescent Learning brings underserved families together over five weeks to do open-ended engineering design challenges with the help of scientists and engineers, who mentor the families as they build. &nb...

By Wallace Louie, Tara Chklovski, Maggie Jaris, and Audra Torres

Informal Education

The Power of Assessing: Guiding Powerful Practices (Book sample chapter)

Book Chapter

The Power of Assessing: Guiding Powerful Practices (Book sample chapter)

The Power of Assessing will show you how to use authentic assessments as a dynamic teaching tool. But this book doesn’t just describe ways to evaluate your students’ learning. Through colorful photographs and over 30 minutes of video footage you ...

The Power of Assessing: Guiding Powerful Practices (e-book)

eBook

The Power of Assessing: Guiding Powerful Practices (e-book)

The Power of Assessing will show you how to use authentic assessments as a dynamic teaching tool. But this book doesn’t just describe ways to evaluate your students’ learning. Through colorful photographs and over 30 minutes of video footage you ...

Packaging Design, Grade 6: STEM Road Map for Middle School (Book Sample)

Book Chapter

Packaging Design, Grade 6: STEM Road Map for Middle School (Book Sample)

Packaging Design outlines a journey that will steer your students toward authentic problem solving while grounding them in integrated STEM disciplines. As are the other volumes in the series, this book is designed to meet the growing need to infuse r...

Did You Get My Message?

Interactive E-book Kids

Did You Get My Message?

There are many methods for communicating. Some methods are easy to understand, while other methods require learning or decoding. As students explore communication systems, they will discover that each has benefits and drawbacks. This book focuses ...

Early Childhood Elementary Pre-service Teachers Preschool Physical Science STEM Technology 5E Assessment Crosscutting Concepts Curriculum Disciplinary Core Ideas Instructional Materials Inquiry Learning Progression Lesson Plans NGSS Pedagogy Performance Expectations Phenomena Science and Engineering Practices Three-Dimensional Learning Interdisciplinary Literacy

Beavers Building Ecosystems

Interactive E-book Kids

Beavers Building Ecosystems

Studies have shown that wetlands created by beaver dams are more biodiverse than human-made wetlands. Beavers’ first impact on the environment begins with dam building. Using their powerful teeth and engineering instincts, they significantly alte...

Elementary Biology Engineering Life Science STEM Technology 5E Assessment Crosscutting Concepts Curriculum Disciplinary Core Ideas Instructional Materials Inquiry Learning Progression Lesson Plans NGSS Pedagogy Performance Expectations Phenomena Science and Engineering Practices Three-Dimensional Learning Interdisciplinary Literacy

Journal Article

Connecting Fossil Clubs With K–12 Teachers

FOSSILs4Teachers! is a professional development workshop that allows K–12 educators and museum paleontologists to collaborate on fossil resources and standards-aligned lesson plans about fossils.    ...

By Jeanette Pirlo, Bruce J. MacFadden, Eleanor E. Gardner, Victor J. Perez, and Denise Porcello

Informal Education

Journal Article

Engaging Learners in Authentic Science With Environmental Data

Citizen science has long been touted as a way to engage in-school and out-of-school learners in authentic science, but the opportunities have largely been limited to collecting data. FieldScope from BSCS Science Learning is changing that by offerin...

By Daniel C. Edelson, Audrey Mohan, and Sean O'Connor

Informal Education

Journal Article

Connected Climate Change Learning Through Citizen Science

Educators in rural Alaska assessed and implemented effective strategies for Indigenous youth in rural Alaska to use GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment), a K–12 classroom learning program, to study local changes in cl...

By Katie V. Spellman, Elena B. Sparrow, Malinda J. Chase, Angela Larson, and Kelly Kealy

NSTA Press Book

Designing Meaningful STEM Lessons

Sure, there are lots of cool STEM activities you can use in class. But do they really help your students learn science? This book shows you how to take lessons you’re already familiar with and, through small changes, do what the title says: Design ...

By Milton Huling, Jackie Speake Dwyer

Elementary High School Middle School Earth & Space Science Life Science Physical Science STEM 5E Assessment Curriculum Instructional Materials Lesson Plans Teaching Strategies Professional Learning old Teacher Preparation

NSTA Press Book

STEM Education Now More Than Ever

In response to “these unconventional and uncertain years,” veteran educator Rodger W. Bybee has written a book that’s as thought-provoking as it is constructive. Now more than ever, he writes, America needs reminders of both the themes that mad...

By Rodger Bybee

Elementary High School Informal Education Middle School STEM Curriculum NGSS Pedagogy Teaching Strategies Careers Equity New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Professional Learning old Teacher Preparation Administrators

Designing Meaningful STEM Lessons (e-book)

eBook

Designing Meaningful STEM Lessons (e-book)

Sure, there are lots of cool STEM activities you can use in class. But do they really help your students learn science? This book shows you how to take lessons you’re already familiar with and, through small changes, do what the title says: Design ...

Fostering Student Engagement With Digital Microscopic Images Using ThingLink, an Image Annotation Program

Journal Article

Fostering Student Engagement With Digital Microscopic Images Using ThingLink, an Image Annotation Program

The teaching of histology has changed dramatically with virtual microscopy. Fewer students of histology spend significant time viewing slides on a microscope and instead study images available in digital slide sets, generally accessible via the inter...

Connecting Argumentation to 5E Inquiry for Preservice Teachers

Journal Article

Connecting Argumentation to 5E Inquiry for Preservice Teachers

It is important to develop students’ capacities to interpret information and data to reasonable evidence and make appropriate justification to debate with peers in argumentative practice. This article introduces a series of activities progressively...

Scaffolding STEM Classrooms to Integrate Key Workplace Skills: Development of Resources for Active Learning Environments

Journal Article

Scaffolding STEM Classrooms to Integrate Key Workplace Skills: Development of Resources for Active Learning Environments

Integrating workplace skills in large-enrollment classrooms can be challenging, even with the support of teaching assistants (TA). Using formative feedback from both students and TAs, the instructor developed resources and modified classroom facilita...

Dorm Room Labs for Introductory Large-Lecture Science Classes for Nonscience Majors

Journal Article

Dorm Room Labs for Introductory Large-Lecture Science Classes for Nonscience Majors

Many large-lecture introductory science courses for nonscience majors do not have a lab component and hence do not provide much opportunity for students to engage in the practice of science. The author has developed a new instructional activity calle...

Research and Teaching: Student Perceptions of an Inquiry-Based Karaoke Exercise for Ecologically Oriented Classes: A Multiclass Evaluation

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Student Perceptions of an Inquiry-Based Karaoke Exercise for Ecologically Oriented Classes: A Multiclass Evaluation

The authors evaluated student perceptions of an inquiry-based, karaoke video exercise in six university classes ranging from first year to graduate level. Students created a 3–4 minute karaoke video on a topic relevant to class. Student responses t...

Research and Teaching: Infusion of Quantitative and Statistical Concepts Into Biology Courses Does Not Improve Quantitative Literacy

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Infusion of Quantitative and Statistical Concepts Into Biology Courses Does Not Improve Quantitative Literacy

Multiple national reports have pushed for the integration of quantitative concepts into the context of disciplinary science courses. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quantitative and statistical literacy of biology students and explore learn...

Research and Teaching: The Use of Classroom Clickers to Support Improved Self-Assessment in Introductory Chemistry

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: The Use of Classroom Clickers to Support Improved Self-Assessment in Introductory Chemistry

With only minimal changes to the course structure, classroom clickers were introduced in introductory chemistry to allow students to regularly compare their perceived abilities with their actual abilities, a measurement also known as calibration. Stu...

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