Science Scope—November/December 2021

Volume 45, Number 2
November/December 2021
The Importance of Professional Development
Nearly all teachers participate in professional development (PD), much of which is mandated by individual states and school districts. The purpose of PD is to enhance teacher knowledge and skills with the end result of positively impacting student achievement, provided the teacher applies information gleaned from the PD to the classroom. However, the application of new knowledge cannot happen in a vacuum; PD is often ineffective when delivered in a one-day workshop that is often “intellectually superficial, disconnected from deep issues of curriculum and learning, fragmented, and noncumulative.”
Journal Article
Shifting From Learning About to Figuring Out
By Katherine L. McNeill, Renee Affolter, and Michael Clinchot
Journal Article
Culturally Relevant Partnerships in the Engineering Design Process
By Meredith W. Kier, Lauren A. Grob, Kelly G. Leffel, Deena Khalil, and Turhan Carroll
Journal Article
By Jesse Wilcox, Cat Lucht, Katie Murano, Erin McBroom, and Jerrid Kruse
Journal Article
Using Understanding by Design to Make the Standards Come Alive
By Jay McTighe and Patrick L. Brown