This article discusses a partnership with two different civic education organizations to study three different student-centered discussion designs. In one study, the authors worked with the Close Up Foundation. Close Up is a non-profit that annually brings 20,000 high school and middle school students from all 50 states and U.S. territories to…

The objective of this project was to address design gaps in previous programs that address scientific argumentation in middle schools. We adopted gamification mechanics (e.g., stimulus and response and progression) to design a computer-assisted program to better support students' development of scientific argumentation. In this paper, we describe…

This paper introduces a model built upon the Method of Varying Inquiry, offering a didactical approach to problem posing and solving activities that stimulates inquiry-based learning in mathematics classrooms. The model combines the inquiry-based framework with the variation theory and with specific didactical and theoretical elements (the…

Argumentation is an important mathematical practice, highlighted by research and policy documents that describe ways to structure reform-oriented classrooms (Nardi and Knuth 2017; NCTM 2000; NGA Center and CCSSI 2010). Participating in argumentation can enhance students' mathematics learning as they make sense of mathematical ideas, provide…

Frustrated by her students' glib use of catch-all terms such as 'militarism' in addressing causation, Alexia Michalaki wanted her Year 9 students to produce mature causal explanations of World War I. To encourage this to happen she went back into decades of pedagogical writing and research, teasing out the ways in which others have sought to…

The article describes a science activity designed to increase students' knowledge and awareness of the spread of COVID-19. It helps students achieve scientific literacy through improving their views about the nature of science and their argumentation skills. It also promotes students' engagement in scientific practices such as modelling,…

This article's focus was on transitioning middle grade students from the position of having a positive environmental attitude toward their exhibiting actual behaviors that address climate change. Using research by Newhouse's criteria of changing attitude into behavior, specific activities were developed and tested in a eighth grade classroom. The…

Most children, when presented with the option between two drink items, will choose the one with "more." But what exactly do children consider when they recognize one object as having more than another? Is it the perceived surface area or volume of an object? Depending on children's cognitive development, the aspect of measurement on…

Listening skill is the least researched language skill. Most of the published studies include theoretical information about this skill. The fact that individuals have acquired some theoretical knowledge does not mean that they will use them effectively in their lives. In very few studies, listening activities were suggested and implemented.…

The authors showcase critical, participatory literacy as a motivator for English learners' literacy development. The urban middle school English learners reported in this narrative metamorphosed from reluctant to empowered writers when they inserted themselves into the local politics of school district zoning. Their investment in the zoning issue…

With the implementation of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy, as well as the onset of the C3 framework from the National Council of Social Studies, social studies teachers are tasked with integrating content and writing instruction in thoughtful and relevant ways. A middle school social studies teacher…

Fall 2020 presented myriad challenges for teachers trying to plan curricula to meet students' social-emotional and learning needs following an unprecedented spring and summer of isolation and loss due to the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 (Rivera and Wallace 2020). The result of creative planning and adjusting of curricula for remote instruction…

In this time of deep divisions, many Americans have recognized the need to heal schisms, repair the social fabric, and restore trust and civility in public discourse. The Better Arguments Project is based on the premise that American civic life does not need fewer arguments; it needs Better Arguments. The project stems from the founding idea that…

Helping students understand that the scientific community's claims change through time, sometimes radically, allows them to develop a well-grounded sense of the "nature of science." Learning to reason about how scientific claims come to be accepted, and later refuted, is important for understanding the tentative nature of scientific…

History education rests at the junction between historical content, disciplinary literacy, and educational psychology. To understand the sources and strategies that facilitate historical thinking, more inquiries are needed. How do students respond to different historical topics, texts, and tasks? Which sources and strategies best facilitate…