The Cell Phone modeling task centers on a Fermi real-world estimation question. The task and rubric can be used at different grade levels to focus on the modeling process and classroom community. Finding time and space to engage students, especially novice modelers, in mathematical modeling can be a challenge, yet the benefits of modeling are…

Challenging mathematics problems were posed as a substantial part of homework in an elective combinatorics course. The intent was to encourage undergraduate students' exploration as well as develop their technical writing skills. The bulk of students' grades on these problems rested on a three-page reflective write-up using a rubric on…

In the second edition of "Data-Driven Dialogue: A Facilitator's Guide to Collaborative Inquiry," authors Bruce Wellman and Laura Lipton provide strategies that transform school culture through data-driven inquiry. By applying a three-phase model and a host of process tools to facilitate collaborative data analysis, K-12 school and…

The Better Math Teaching Network (BMTN) is a networked improvement community (NIC) of researchers and high school teachers from New England who use improvement science principles to deepen student engagement in algebra content. The BMTN began as a pilot during the 2015-16 school year and concluded in fall 2021. Key learnings from the network…

In this paper, the authors introduce a research instrument (Draw a STEM Learning Environment: D-STEM) and its accompanying rubric (the D-STEM Rubric), both of which were developed based upon relevant research studies. The authors describe their usefulness to school principals in commencing conversations with their school's STEM [Science,…

Deeper learning has been defined as "the skills and knowledge that students must possess to succeed in 21st century jobs and civic life" (William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, 2013). "Assessing Deeper Learning: Developing, Implementing, and Scoring Performance Tasks" examines the role of performance assessment to facilitate…

For over two decades, Giselle O. Martin-Kniep and her colleagues have worked for Learner-Centered Initiatives, a consulting organization based in New York, promoting best practices in curriculum, development, assessment, and leadership. A significant portion of their work is directed toward helping educators attend to and assess students' ability…

This paper introduces and illustrates Bi-relational Design (BD) as a general approach to (re)solving wicked problems. BD theorises oppositional, equipositional and para-positional approaches to problem-specific dyads (e.g., subjective/objective) based on a general consensus of research on epistemological development. These epistemic positions are…

Project-based learning (PBL) in the science classroom provides an opportunity for students to investigate socioscientific issues that are current, authentic, and relevant. In a typical PBL unit, the teacher designs a narrative plan and acts as a facilitator who helps gather and organize student ideas. The framework of the Next Generation Science…

MAUVE (magnitude, answer, units, variables, and equations) is a framework and rubric to help students and teachers through the process of clearly solving and assessing solutions to introductory physics problems. Success in introductory physics often derives from an understanding of units, a command over dimensional analysis, and good bookkeeping.…

Active learning classrooms provide an ideal opportunity to develop key workplace skills such as teamwork, information processing, critical thinking, and problem solving. Although many active learning pedagogies implicitly support student development of these skills, the role of the instructor in explicitly prompting and assessing these skills in…

The European Commission considers the development of digital competences a strategic action to spread and to develop a more active digital participation of citizens. The objective is to increase the level of digital competence in the European citizens up to 2015 and to reduce the number of those who don't use new technologies and don't surf the…

Mathematical modeling, in which students use mathematics to explain or interpret physical, social, or scientific phenomena, is an essential component of the high school curriculum. The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) classify modeling as a K-12 standard for mathematical practice and as a conceptual category for high school…

This article discusses a writing project that offers students the opportunity to solve one of the most famous geometric problems of Greek antiquity; namely, the impossibility of trisecting the angle [pi]/3. Along the way, students study the history of Greek geometry problems as well as the life and achievements of Carl Friedrich Gauss. Included is…

Our regional accrediting body, New England Association of Schools and Colleges, requires outcome assessment of core liberal education outcomes. Because of this mandate, and our new mission at the University to prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to thrive and be engaged in a pluralistic, complex world, we have…