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Journal Article |
Educators are increasingly recognizing that significant amounts of science learning take place over the course of one’s lifetime and that much of this learning takes place outside of school settings (NRC 2009).…
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Scientific Literacy: Lives could depend on it!
Journal Article |
Carl Sagan famously said “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology” (Sagan, 1990, p. 264). As demonstrated during the COVID…
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Journal Article |
Science concepts connect us to the wonders of the natural universe. Why is the sky blue? [Air molecules behave much like tiny little tuning forks.] Is there gravity in space? [Yes, it extends to infinity.] What do fish…
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Journal Article |
Solar eclipses are excellent platforms for engaging students with astronomy and for teaching concepts like the Sun-Earth-Moon relationship through rare natural events. Traditional STEM instruction, however, highly…
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Comparing Undergraduate Nature of Science Views in Traditional Versus Inquiry-Taught Science Courses
Journal Article |
This qualitative study compares the views about nature of science (NOS) between students enrolled in a traditional lecture and laboratory course and students in an inquiry-based class to the view of the scientists who…
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Journal Article |
Academic food security aims to provide students with sufficient access to knowledge (one key academic nutrient) in order to limit intellectual hunger. In this analogy, the student is seen as a consumer of knowledge.…
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Journal Article |
Although argumentation is a critical historical component of scientific literacy, the recent coronavirus pandemic and associated issues have highlighted the importance of argumentation in science practice. Argumentation…
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Undergraduate Summer Research Program in the Midst of a Pandemic
Journal Article |
Although many summer undergraduate research programs made the decision to delay, cancel, or suspend their summer experiences in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Morehouse College McNair Scholars…
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Journal Article |
A circle of fourth-grade students sit around Mrs. Ray, who shows videos and images of two natural events: large rocks that have fallen from a cliffside and large rocks in the middle of a dry stream near a road. She asks…
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Making Sense of the Deepwater Oil Spill Disaster
Journal Article |
Authenticity in learning is becoming increasingly important as today’s students are not “buying into” school just because it’s there! Today’s high school students have learned firsthand (thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic…
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Promoting Learning for All Through Explore-Before-Explain
Journal Article |
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) highlight the importance of creating more equitable learning environments and engaging all students in science (NGSS Lead States 2013). In professional learning, we target…
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Teaching Students to Read Equations
Journal Article |
The laws of nature are expressed in equation form in all physics courses. How these laws are taught can vary widely. In this article, I expand on previous Focus on Physics articles, particularly the March 2022 article “…
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Translanguaging as an Essential Practice in Socially Just Science Classrooms
Journal Article |
In this interaction, Manuel and Rico (all names are pseudonyms) expertly mix Spanish and English to communicate as they collect data in a ninth grade physics lab. Your reaction to this mixture of English and Spanish,…
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Development and Implementation of an Undergraduate STEM Peer Coaching Program
Journal Article |
Undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences have academic, psychological, and social challenges that require additional support to navigate. This article explains the…
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Lesson Plan |
The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about biological adaptation. The probe is designed to find out if students think animals intentionally adapt to a change in their environment.
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