Curriculum

Situated learning has been widely promoted in educational practice, where students are encouraged to learn by exploring real-world problems in authentic contexts. To expand the opportunities for situated learning, immersive virtual environments have been explored by presenting problem contexts in vivid and interactive formats and enabling a variety of exploration activities. However, there are multiple challenges surrounding situated learning. The challenges can be caused by the complexities of real-world problems, the complexities in exploring real-world problems, and the complexities in reflecting on the exploration experience. This paper presents a conceptual framework outlining three types of complexities surrounding situated learning and six strategies for coping with these complexities.

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide guidance for climate education and scientific epistemology in secondary schools. This includes tools like climate models and observational data to help students understand global climate patterns. Despite this, teachers often have limited access to standards-based instructional resources on Earth’s climate and global climate change (GCC). In 2022, we implemented a one-week national professional development program (PDP) for secondary teachers introducing two NGSS-aligned climate-related curricula: i) the EzGCM global climate model for students, and ii) carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. Our study explored, i) what demographic factors are associated with teachers’ assessments of these resources? and ii) what criteria do teachers consider when evaluating the potential adoption of climate-related curricula?

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) provide guidance for climate education and scientific epistemology in secondary schools. This includes tools like climate models and observational data to help students understand global climate patterns. Despite this, teachers often have limited access to standards-based instructional resources on Earth’s climate and global climate change (GCC). In 2022, we implemented a one-week national professional development program (PDP) for secondary teachers introducing two NGSS-aligned climate-related curricula: i) the EzGCM global climate model for students, and ii) carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies. Our study explored, i) what demographic factors are associated with teachers’ assessments of these resources? and ii) what criteria do teachers consider when evaluating the potential adoption of climate-related curricula?

Research has affirmed the importance of asset-based family partnerships, yet it does not often recognize the complementary roles of multilingual caregivers and teachers to enact culturally sustaining mathematics education. Our theoretical framework brings together the perspectives and tools of positioning theory and community solidarity through a lesson study that integrated the participation of caregivers.

Engineering has emerged as a promising context for STEM integration in K-12 schools. In the previous decade, the field has seen an increase in curricular resources and pedagogical approaches that invite students to utilize mathematics and science as they engage in engineering practices. This Innovation to Practice paper highlights one effort to meaningfully integrate mathematics and science through engineering in middle school classrooms.

Our study investigates the first year of a two-year place-based education (PBE) professional development model that focuses on career development in rural middle schools through project-based learning (PBL) units. Rural science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educators face unique challenges, including geographic isolation, limited resources, and reduced access to professional development opportunities, which can hinder the effective integration of career-oriented learning in the classroom. We addressed these challenges by implementing professional development in which school counselors and teachers collaborate to design PBL units aligned with rural community local needs and STEM careers.

We describe the development of a visual model to represent the implementation of an ambitious mathematics program, which serves as an example of a complex educational reform.

There is a need for research on effective classroom strategies available for teachers that promote equitable school-family collaborations. Such effective strategies are needed in general but also specifically in the area of content, skill acquisition, and positive dispositions in early mathematics. This exploratory qualitative study looked at a mathematical routine, focused on family-provided photos and artifacts, that elicited children’s mathematical and general observations and inquiries and engaged families in mathematical communications.

There is a need for research on effective classroom strategies available for teachers that promote equitable school-family collaborations. Such effective strategies are needed in general but also specifically in the area of content, skill acquisition, and positive dispositions in early mathematics. This exploratory qualitative study looked at a mathematical routine, focused on family-provided photos and artifacts, that elicited children’s mathematical and general observations and inquiries and engaged families in mathematical communications.

There is a need for research on effective classroom strategies available for teachers that promote equitable school-family collaborations. Such effective strategies are needed in general but also specifically in the area of content, skill acquisition, and positive dispositions in early mathematics. This exploratory qualitative study looked at a mathematical routine, focused on family-provided photos and artifacts, that elicited children’s mathematical and general observations and inquiries and engaged families in mathematical communications.