Nancy Vye

This project will provide an empirically-supported learning progression for a key scientific practice, scientific modeling. The specific instructional materials created as part of the project can serve as a model other developers can use to design materials supporting scientific modeling and other practices. The model for educative curriculum materials as a form of teacher support can be adapted to support teacher learning about modeling or other scientific practices in other curriculum materials.

This research and development project develops and tests in the classroom three fifth-grade and two second-grade science units that combine both socio-cultural and socio-cognitive perspectives in order to more fully engage both students and teachers in authentic inquiry and tests the units in second- and fifth-grade classrooms.