Middle

Creating Inclusive PreK–12 STEM Learning Environments

Brief CoverBroadening participation in PreK–12 STEM provides ALL students with STEM learning experiences that can prepare them for civic life and the workforce.

Author/Presenter

Malcom Butler

Cory Buxton

Odis Johnson Jr.

Leanne Ketterlin-Geller

Catherine McCulloch

Natalie Nielsen

Arthur Powell

Year
2018
Short Description

This brief offers insights from National Science Foundation-supported research for education leaders and policymakers who are broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM). Many of these insights confirm knowledge that has been reported in research literature; however, some offer a different perspective on familiar challenges.

Seeds of Algebraic Thinking

Seeds of Algebraic Thinking are sub-conceptual resources coming from life experience that students call upon when responding to mathematical prompts. This site includes resources students could activate when thinking about groups and sets, equality, proportionality and ratio reasoning, and functions.

Author/Presenter

Janet Walkoe

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2024
Short Description

Seeds of Algebraic Thinking are sub-conceptual resources coming from life experience that students call upon when responding to mathematical prompts. This site includes resources students could activate when thinking about groups and sets, equality, proportionality and ratio reasoning, and functions.

Project CARe Student Tasks

This site provides three online activities focused on covariational reasoning as a foundation for middle school students to build more abstract algebraic knowledge. These tasks provide students with opportunities to understand static points, understand dynamic points, and make sense of different amounts of change.

Author/Presenter

Teo Paoletti

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2024
Short Description

This site provides three online activities focused on covariational reasoning as a foundation for middle school students to build more abstract algebraic knowledge. These tasks provide students with opportunities to understand static points, understand dynamic points, and make sense of different amounts of change.

Situating Teacher Movement, Space, and Relationships to Pedagogy: A Visual Method and Framework

In conversations about pedagogy, researchers often overlook how physical space and movement shape teacher sensemaking. This article offers a comparative case study of classroom videos using a dynamic visual method to map embodied interaction called “interaction geography.” Our analysis proposes an integrative framework to study classroom interactions and teacher movement over space and time comprised of four salient characteristics within lessons: trails, landmarks, material routines, and circulation patterns.

Author/Presenter

Ben Rydal Shapiro

Ilana Seidel Horn

Sierra Gilliam

Brette Garner

Year
2024
Short Description

In conversations about pedagogy, researchers often overlook how physical space and movement shape teacher sensemaking. This article offers a comparative case study of classroom videos using a dynamic visual method to map embodied interaction called “interaction geography.”

Learning About Science Topics of Social Relevance Using Lower and Higher Autonomy-Supportive Scaffolds

Evaluation of plausible alternative explanations of scientific phenomena is an authentic scientific activity. Instructional scaffolding can facilitate students’ engagement in such evaluations by facilitating their reflections on how well various lines of scientific evidence support alternative explanations. In the present study, we examined two forms of such scaffolding, with one form providing more autonomy support than the other, to determine whether any differential effects existed between the two.

Author/Presenter

Eric C. Schoute

Janelle M. Bailey

Doug Lombardi

Year
2024
Short Description

Evaluation of plausible alternative explanations of scientific phenomena is an authentic scientific activity. Instructional scaffolding can facilitate students’ engagement in such evaluations by facilitating their reflections on how well various lines of scientific evidence support alternative explanations. In the present study, we examined two forms of such scaffolding, with one form providing more autonomy support than the other, to determine whether any differential effects existed between the two.

Learning About Science Topics of Social Relevance Using Lower and Higher Autonomy-Supportive Scaffolds

Evaluation of plausible alternative explanations of scientific phenomena is an authentic scientific activity. Instructional scaffolding can facilitate students’ engagement in such evaluations by facilitating their reflections on how well various lines of scientific evidence support alternative explanations. In the present study, we examined two forms of such scaffolding, with one form providing more autonomy support than the other, to determine whether any differential effects existed between the two.

Author/Presenter

Eric C. Schoute

Janelle M. Bailey

Doug Lombardi

Year
2024
Short Description

Evaluation of plausible alternative explanations of scientific phenomena is an authentic scientific activity. Instructional scaffolding can facilitate students’ engagement in such evaluations by facilitating their reflections on how well various lines of scientific evidence support alternative explanations. In the present study, we examined two forms of such scaffolding, with one form providing more autonomy support than the other, to determine whether any differential effects existed between the two.

Using Simulations to Support Students’ Conceptual Development Related to Wildfire Hazards and Risks from an Experiential Learning Perspective

From the experiential learning perspective, this study investigates middle and high school students (n = 1009) who used an online module to learn about wildfire hazards, risks, and impacts through computational simulations of wildfire phenomena. These students were taught by 18 teachers in urban, rural, and suburban schools across the United States. We analyzed students’ simulation behaviors captured in log files, responses to an assessment administered before and after the module, and demographic surveys, as well as teachers’ responses to a post-module implementation survey.

Author/Presenter

Trudi Lord

Paul Horwitz

Hee-Sun Lee

Amy Pallant

Christopher Lore

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2024
Short Description

From the experiential learning perspective, this study investigates middle and high school students (n = 1009) who used an online module to learn about wildfire hazards, risks, and impacts through computational simulations of wildfire phenomena.

Centering on Power Relations in Collaboration Among Mathematics Teacher Educator-Researchers

Mathematics education research tends to center on what Mathematics Teacher Educators-Researchers (MTERs) work on or the people (teachers and students) they work with. Rarely, research in mathematics education focuses on MTERs working with one another. This article decenters from these traditional foci and instead examines a heterogeneous group of MTERs describing their research collaborations for professional development efforts on social justice issues in mathematics education.

Author/Presenter

Carlos LópezLeiva

Sunghwan Byun

Beth Herbel-Eisenmann

Year
2024
Short Description

Mathematics education research tends to center on what Mathematics Teacher Educators-Researchers (MTERs) work on or the people (teachers and students) they work with. Rarely, research in mathematics education focuses on MTERs working with one another. This article decenters from these traditional foci and instead examines a heterogeneous group of MTERs describing their research collaborations for professional development efforts on social justice issues in mathematics education.

Epistemic Scaffolding: Understanding and Designing the Support for Epistemic Growth in Science

In this paper, we introduce an epistemic scaffolding framework for understanding the nature of support for epistemic growth in science. Our framework distinguishes between two patterns of epistemic scaffolding: implicit and explicit. Implicit epistemic scaffolding encompasses support integrated into contexts, activities, discourse, or tools, exerting an unconscious influence on learners’ epistemic thinking and practices. On the other hand, explicit epistemic scaffolding involves intentionally explicating the underlying epistemology of learners’ knowledge work.

Author/Presenter

Feng Lin

Sadhana Puntambekar

Year
2024
Short Description

In this paper, we introduce an epistemic scaffolding framework for understanding the nature of support for epistemic growth in science.

Science Teachers’ Implementation of Science and Engineering Practices in Different Instructional Settings

This article explores science teachers’ implementation of science and engineering practices (SEPs) under different instructional settings. We compared the number of SEPs science teachers reported using in face-to-face instruction (traditional), online-only instruction (virtual), or HyFlex instruction (synchronously online and in-person) from August 2020 to May 2021. Records and artefacts of the teachers’ instructional practices were collected over three one-week periods.

Author/Presenter

Cheng-Wen He

Hong Tran

Julie Luft

Yamil Ruiz

Shaugnessy McCann

Yuxi Huang

Brooke Whitworth

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2024
Short Description

This article explores science teachers’ implementation of science and engineering practices (SEPs) under different instructional settings.