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Journal Article

Promoting Meaningful and Equitable Modeling Practices in Online Science Instruction

Many elementary science teachers have faced some challenges in implementing meaningful and equitable modeling practices in online science instruction that is aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards. Integrating technology tools into modeli...

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Elementary Distance Learning Equity Inclusion Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Science 101: What is Light?

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Elementary Phenomena Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

The Poetry of Science: Sensitive, Sensory Science

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Journal Article

Bugging Out with Bugscope

Looking for something REALLY exciting, creepy-crawly, accessible and pertains to phenomenon-based/ storyline-based NGSS? Bugscope is a free educational project at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. K-12 classrooms have an opportunity to ...

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Elementary Biology Citizen Science Interdisciplinary Technology

Journal Article

Equitable from the Start: Strategies for Making Science Relevant, Engaging, and Accessible

Equalizing opportunities for students to learn science and engineering in the ways described in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) requires intentional planning. In this paper, we describe a framework for designing equitable and inclusive s...

By Rachel Ruggirello and Alison Brockhouse

Early Childhood Elementary Equity Inclusion Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Moving Beyond Equity-as-Access to Expanding What Counts as Science in the Elementary Classroom

Making science accessible is an important and worthy goal, but for many students, science is inaccessible because what counts as science in the classroom is narrowly defined as what is known as western science, rooted in Europe in the 1600s and often...

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Elementary Equity Inclusion Multicultural Sensemaking Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Culturally Relevant Science Learning

Creating learning opportunities for students to culturally connect in the science classroom is crucial to ensuring inclusivity and accessibility for all. This article describes how multicultural picture books that use visuals to capture diverse repre...

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Preschool Early Childhood Elementary Inclusion Literacy Multicultural Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Reading Like a Scientist: Teaching Students to Strategically Read Multimodal Science Texts

Calls for disciplinary literacy instruction in elementary schools encourage teachers to provide authentic opportunities for students to read and write like scientists. Enacting disciplinary literacy with problem-based learning practices to inquire ab...

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Early Childhood Elementary Instructional Materials Interdisciplinary Literacy Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Achieving Desired Student Outcomes in Virtual Field Experiences through Attention to Design Considerations: A Delphi Study

Virtual field experiences (VFEs) hold promise as a mechanism to approximate the in situ field experiences that are central to many undergraduate programs in the natural sciences. In this Delphi study, the collective expertise of 26 VFE experts was so...

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Journal Article

Single Parents Represent an Underutilized Resource for Undergraduate Research Training

Undergraduate and graduate research opportunities represent a unique educational opportunity for students in that it can stimulate interest and potential careers in academic disciplines. Students who are single parents, can also benefit from this opp...

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Journal Article

Tab-meta key: a model for exam review

Traditional exam reviews are passive and face many challenges to prepare students for exams. In this study, we proposed the “Tab-meta key” model, which emphasizes five major factors (Time, Accountability, Big picture, Key concepts, and Me...

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Assessment Biology Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

SoTL Clusters: Faculty-focused Needs-Based Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Support

To further teaching and learning, there has been a push to engage faculty to pursue research on teaching. With the recognition that science research often occurs in research teams, we sought to create a research-cluster approach to support faculty en...

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Leadership New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation

Journal Article

Embedding Study Skills in STEM Courses to Increase Retention and Success: A Quantitative Study

This study was conducted to determine if embedding effective study skills within a course would result in an increased use of these skills and, therefore, increase success and retention in introductory level science, technology, engineering and math ...

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Assessment Preservice Science Education STEM Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Use of a Student-Ally in Emergency Remote Teaching

This manuscript reviews This manuscript reviews the peculiarities of emergency remote teaching (ERT) –in the context of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic – compared to in-person and traditional online teaching. A literature review precedes an...

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Distance Learning New Science Teachers Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Project-Based Statistics Outcomes: Pre- and Post- COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic altered course delivery in higher education at many universities. This paper evaluates the differences in student experiences in the fall 2019 semester (pre-pandemic) against student experiences in the semester of fall 2020 (pan...

By , , , ,

Journal Article

Transforming Science Education in an Age of Misinformation

Scientific misinformation has reached alarming proportions. Here, we summarize a new expert report, Science Education in an Age of Misinformation, that outlines what science education can do to address this problem and, given the urgency, must do. I...

By , ,

Leadership Literacy Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

"Signs, Signs, Everywhere the Signs": Interpretive Trail Signage for Biodiversity Education

Postsecondary science faculty face challenges in balancing the engagement of undergraduates while concomitantly ensuring knowledge is gained and retained, either in standard lectures or labs as well as in outdoor activities. Designing on-campus trail...

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Biology Instructional Materials Interdisciplinary Labs Life Science Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences for Laboratory Learning in the Life Sciences

Laboratory learning in the life sciences is historically centered around following recipe-like instructions to complete activities with defined outcomes. The American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Vision and Change report has ca...

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Labs Life Science Research Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Combining Different Inoculation Types to Increase Student Engagement and Build Resilience Against Science Misinformation

Inoculation theory, which applies the biological concept of vaccination to misinformation, provides a range of ways to effectively build resilience against misinformation. In this article, we define and organize the various types of inoculation, whic...

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Biology Curriculum Literacy Preservice Science Education Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Students as Creators of Instructional Videos: Best Practices and Lessons Learned

Clear, detailed instructional procedures have an important role to play in laboratory teaching, not only to produce consistent results, but to ensure safe practices. Student success in using these can be strengthened through the use of video resourc...

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Pedagogy Teaching Strategies Technology

Journal Article

Comparison of Knowledge Gained in a Face-to-Face versus an Online College-Level Nutrition Course

Although evidence exists that online education can result in comparable outcomes as the equivalent face-to-face (F2F) version, there is still a dearth in the literature. The objective of this pilot was to investigate differences in academic performan...

Distance Learning Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Eliciting Student Thinking

Interdisciplinary Sensemaking Teaching Strategies Three-Dimensional Learning

Journal Article

Growing Beyond Earth: Cultivating 21st century science exploration

Citizen Science column for the Jan/Feb 2024 Science Scope Journal...

Middle School Astronomy Citizen Science Earth & Space Science Life Science Technology

Journal Article

Discover student thinking while analyzing data…and having fun! (Data Literacy 101)

Our students rarely practice data skills with data not related to our science content, which makes sense given all we must teach. But always asking our students to succeed at the data skill move (e.g., graphing, analyzing, interpreting) and the conte...

Middle School Literacy Sensemaking Three-Dimensional Learning

Journal Article

The Science Practice of Modeling as a Sensemaking Tool

Does the scientific practice of modeling actually support students in making thinking visible? Middle school teachers can build from the work of 12 K–8 teachers who wanted to learn how the practice of modeling is developed across grades and analy...

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Middle School Pedagogy Sensemaking Teaching Strategies Three-Dimensional Learning

Journal Article

Looking Back

January-February 2024 Scope on the Skies column...

Astronomy Earth & Space Science Physical Science

Journal Article

Exploring Socioscientific Issues through Evidence-Based Argumentation with MEL Diagrams

Critical thinking skills are best taught as students participate in the scientific practice of argumentation. When engaged in scientific argumentation students are expected to engage in active listening and social collaboration through the process o...

Middle School Equity Inclusion Interdisciplinary Teaching Strategies Three-Dimensional Learning

Journal Article

Making Scientific Sensemaking Visible

Many teachers and schools are coming to recognize the importance of sensemaking in the science classroom. But what does an NGSS-informed sensemaking lesson look like in practice, and how might our students respond to this shift in our instruction? Th...

Middle School Crosscutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Practices Sensemaking Three-Dimensional Learning

Journal Article

Making light work of gravity: Scaffolding middle schoolers’ thinking to help them understand gravitational lensing.

Although the NGSS has helped teachers conceptualize teaching science in a more integrated way, effectively scaffolding students’ thinking within and across lessons can still be a challenge for any middle school science teacher. Thinking about the c...

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Physical Science Sensemaking Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Promoting Sensemaking Through an Impactful Instructional Sequence

A valuable framework for promoting sensemaking includes the convergence of two independent ideas: (1) the focus of modern education on teaching for understanding and transfer, and (2) a purposeful sequence of instruction with those ends in mind. In ...

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Middle School 5E Crosscutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas NGSS Science and Engineering Practices Sensemaking