Students’ Ideas Matter! Linking Formative Assessment Probes to Instructional Sequence teaching is all about creating conceptual coherence for learners to better prepare them for future careers.

Written for K–5 educators, this practical book combines effective, research-based approaches from two popular NSTA resources. One is the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science book series by Page Keeley, which uses formative assessment probes to elicit students’ initial ideas and use them as starting points for instruction. The other is the Instructional Sequence Matters book series by Patrick Brown. It promotes active learning through the “explore-before-explain” teaching method.

In this session, you’ll meet Brown and Keeley, who will discuss their new book and provide approaches to uncover students’ ideas to inform a sequence of instruction in science/STEM teaching, including the following:

• How to do it. Model lessons encourage you to teach in ways that allow for active meaning-making—precisely what three-dimensional instruction requires. You will learn how to engage students’ prior knowledge ideas, which can seamlessly transfer into firsthand experiences with data that serve as evidence for sensemaking.
• What you need to do. You’ll get an overview of essential planning considerations, including how to become an “explore-before-explain” teacher who supports student sensemaking.
• Why sequence matters. During a concise review of cognitive science and science education research, you’ll hear why the order in which you structure your lessons is critical, and how an “explore-before-explain” sequence naturally translates into the three dimensions advocated by contemporary science standards.

All individuals receive a certificate of participation and 100 NSTA activity points for attending the live seminar and completing the end-of-program survey. A certificate of participation is not awarded for watching the recorded version of the program.

We invite you to register for upcoming web seminars at NSTA.