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Journal Article

Using Collaborative Digital Summary Tables to Impact Student Engagement and Learning

This manuscript reports on the impact of using collaborative digital summary tables on student engagement and learning. First, traditional summary tables were used during two units in 7th grade life science, then more scaffolded digital collaborative...

By Grace Buchholz and Pradeep Maxwell Dass

Middle School Equity Multilingual Learners NGSS Pedagogy Research

Journal Article

Blackout Poetry: Eclipsing with words and images to Illuminate ideas

Integrating literacy practices in science classrooms can help students with reading complex scientific text, write arguments as part of shared cross-disciplinary practices and engage with content. In the Linking Science, Mathematics, and Literacy fo...

By Amy Lannin, Jeannie Sneller, and Heba Abdelnaby

Instructional Materials Interdisciplinary Literacy Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Easing into Socioscientific Issues and Critical Science Literacy

Including SSIs in the classroom can be a daunting task. To make this task more manageable, we have developed a strategy to easily create short modules for use in our classrooms that can be used to introduce new topics or apply previously learned topi...

By Mitchell Klocke and Jerrid W. Kruse

Literacy Research Social Justice

Journal Article

Empowering Student Action Through Climate Literacy Development

In light of the International Panel on Climate Change's findings, this article underscores the detrimental effects of climate misinformation in the U.S. and its role in impeding public understanding and action. Leveraging the power of education, an 8...

By Jocelyn Miller, Gina Childers, and Rebecca Hite

Middle School Advocacy Climate Science Literacy

Journal Article

Transporting Martian Samples: Using Engineering Design to Assess Thermal Energy Transfer, Forces, and Nature of Engineering

Engineering activities often emphasize the practices of engineers, but can sometimes feel disconnected from content. This engineering design activity ties together multiple Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and explicitly addresses the nature ...

By Isaiah J. Kent-Schneider, Bridgid Miller, Emma Marie, Jayme Scheck, Jerrid Kruse, and Dan Chibnall

Engineering Physical Science Physics STEM

Journal Article

Caterpillars Count

Citizen Science column...

By Jill Nugent

Middle School Biology Citizen Science Earth & Space Science Instructional Materials

Journal Article

Exploring Climate Change through Students’ Place Connections and Public Data Sets

Climate change is a pressing societal challenge. It is also a pedagogical challenge and a worldwide phenomenon, whose local impacts vary across different locations. Climate change reflects global inequity; communities that contribute most to emission...

By Kathryn Lanouette, Krista Cortes, Lisette Lopez, Michael Bakal, Michelle Wilkerson

Middle School Climate Science Curriculum Multilingual Learners

Journal Article

Data analysis using open data and software reveal environment-mediated microbial heterogeneity in soil and sediment samples, while enhancing STEM research experience at an undergraduate institution

Undergraduate institutions serve as stepping stones to a student’s career. Teaching and learning in the science classrooms requires quality and integrated teaching-research learning experiences that prepare students to advance their careers. Using ...

By Aditi Sengupta, Nallely Delara, Joyce Barahona, and Justin Garcia

Postsecondary Earth & Space Science Research STEM

Journal Article

A Residential Learning Community for Enhancing STEM Education: Program Design and Lessons Learned

There continues to be a concern regarding sustained recruitment and retention of students in STEM majors. Although the rate of attrition in these majors is comparable to other majors (Chen, 2013), the demand for trained scientists to enter the workfo...

By Jessica M. Fautch

Postsecondary Pedagogy Research STEM

Journal Article

Application of retesting as a learning tool in an online science course

Retrieval practice has been proved effective in conceptual science learning and retesting was applied in retrieval practice and showed significant improvement in learning outcomes (Karpicke & Blunt, 2011; Ariel et al., 2018; Lyle et al., 2020). In th...

By Qunxing Ding and Haiyan Zhu

Postsecondary Distance Learning STEM Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

The illogical leap to summative without formative: Low-risk assessments of high-risk students in human anatomy and physiology classes

Nationally, students fail anatomy and physiology courses at some of the highest rates compared to other courses at the undergraduate level. Formative evaluation guides future learning by assessing the quality of student achievement while the student ...

By Amy Benton and Drew Hataway

Postsecondary Assessment Equity Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Here and there: A novel hybrid remote/in-person college-level science lab model at a small primarily undergraduate institution

Moving to remote, online learning to meet local and national health guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic posed a challenge for college science courses due to the interactive nature of laboratories. We developed and implemented a remote/in-person l...

By Matthew Lundquist and Ann Aguanno

Postsecondary Distance Learning Labs Technology

Journal Article

Teaching Trees: Revisions to an inquiry-based, service-learning field lab broadens student learning and better aligns to learning outcomes.

Most introductory science courses are large, lecture-style general education classes. Introduction to Environmental Science (ES 100) at NC State University is no exception, enrolling 200-300 students and meeting in the campus cinema. In 2018, I intro...

By Stephanie Jeffries

Postsecondary Environmental Science Inquiry Labs Learning Progression

Journal Article

The Micro Assignment Guided Inquiry and Collaboration (MAGIC) method: A qualitative discussion of the benefits of active learning through scaffolded assignments in upper-level physics and mathematics

In this article, we discuss Micro Assignment Guided Inquiry and Collaboration (MAGIC), an active learning method that draws on the merits of inquiry-based learning in STEM courses. We describe the use of Micro Assignments (MAs) consisting of a serie...

By R.F. Malenda, S. Talbott, and Scott Walck

Postsecondary Inquiry Instructional Materials Mathematics Physics Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

Local Ecosystem Observation Cycle: Supporting Preservice Elementary Teachers Engagement in Sensemaking

Equitable sensemaking enables students to draw on personal resources to investigate and explain phenomena and problems within their communities. Although equitable sensemaking allows for meaningful understanding of big ideas of science and deeper eng...

By Jessica Stephenson Reaves and Anna Arias

Postsecondary Environmental Science Inquiry Preservice Science Education Sensemaking

Journal Article

Undergraduate Student Perceptions of Online Teamwork Activities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was suddenly necessary to shift college courses online. Many instructors without experience teaching online were faced with course design decisions about how to structure their courses and support students during the ...

By Tracy Ediger, Olga Glebova, Michael Waterson, and Matthew Nusnbaum

Postsecondary Distance Learning Inquiry Pedagogy

Journal Article

Authentic assessments for an in-person or online science course for pre-service teachers

Creating authentic science assessments that engage students in conceptual understanding and provide evidence of their learning is challenging. Student-centered instruction and assessments provide an opportunity to build student agency and foster posi...

By Stefany M. Sit and Laura Zeller

Postsecondary Assessment Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies

Journal Article

A Process for Scaling an Independent Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience: Lessons Learned from Expansion of the Tigriopus CURE to Diverse Institutions

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) increase student engagement in scientific practices and allow students to generate novel findings. Previous studies demonstrated that CUREs are more effective at enhancing students’ motivation...

By Ginger R. Fisher, Kevin W. Floyd, and Jeffrey T. Olimpo

Postsecondary Biology Preservice Science Education STEM

Journal Article

A mixed-methods study of a poster presentation activity, students’ science identity, and science communication self-efficacy in face-to-face teaching conditions

Communicating scientific findings is an accepted part of the research experience, but few science programs include explicit undergraduate curricula for developing or practicing oral science communication. Course-based undergraduate research experienc...

By E. Austin Leone and Donald P. French

Postsecondary Instructional Materials Pedagogy Research

Journal Article

Introducing a sequence of (almost) unlimited, zero-penalty, interview-like assessments into an introductory physics course: student responses and considerations.

An introductory physics course may be run like a video game, where students have an almost unlimited number of attempts to demonstrate their competencies through a sequence of zero-penalty assessments until the end of a semester. Each checkpoint is ...

By Minjoon Kouh

Postsecondary Assessment Physics Research

Journal

Science Scope—May/June 2024

Journal

Science and Children—May/June 2024

Journal

The Science Teacher—May/June 2024

Journal Article

Program Evaluation in Formal and Informal STEM Learning Environments

Evaluation Insights is a new column about program evaluation that will help readers build their capacity as program evaluators....

Informal Education Administration Assessment STEM

Journal Article

Best Practices for STEM-Focused Mobile Instructional Spaces

Mobile instructional spaces such as retrofit buses, customized trucks or trailers, and repurposed shipping containers are innovative, unique venues for teaching and learning. STEM-focused mobile instructional spaces have emerged as vehicles for provi...

By , ,

STEM

Journal Article

A Safer “Flubber” Recipe

A material commonly known as Flubber, with properties that are excellent for teaching about glaciers, has been widely used in geosciences education. Yet, the original recipe contains borax, which has health risks that should be avoided. A new recipe ...

By , , , ,

Informal Education Earth & Space Science Life Science STEM

Journal Article

How Do You Sample a Frozen River?

Through the Sediment, Ice, & Learning on the Tanana (SILT) project, a team of university scientists engaged two middle school student groups in testing innovative environmental research technologies to measure sediment flowing underneath river ice. T...

By , , , , , , ,

Environmental Science Labs STEM

Journal Article

Changing Elementary Students’ Environmental-Based Attitudes Using an Outdoor Learning Experience: Watershed Investigations

The Learning Team at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa received funding in 2014 to create and conduct a long-term outdoor learning experience for Hillsborough County, Florida, fifth-grade students. The program was designed with four parts to optimize stu...

By , ,

Informal Education Environmental Science Life Science STEM

Journal Article

Transition Complete! So What’s Next?

From the outside, it may not have seemed like a big deal, but transitioning the NSTA journals to an external publisher was a complex process. Of course it was worth it. New features such as DOI numbers, the ability to download and print PDFs of artic...

Journal Article

Engaging STEM Learners of All Ages: A University, Community, and K–12 Solar Eclipse Outreach Partnership

Solar eclipses are a rare phenomenon that everyone should have the opportunity to explore in depth. This article describes two programs developed by a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) outreach center with the goal of bringing ...

By , ,

Earth & Space Science STEM