While technology advancement and scientific innovation have created new topics and fields of inquiry in STEM education, external content experts such as university scientists/researchers have been increasingly involved to enhance K-12 teachers' disciplinary understandings and professional development (PD). However, few studies have scrutinized…

Representation in science is anything that stands for something else--drawings, pictures, graphs, or other representational forms (Danish et al. 2020). Representations serve as public displays of phenomena that make aspects of those phenomena explicit (Gilbert 2008). They can serve to make the invisible visible, communicate ideas, display…

This autobiographical study of teaching and learning Algebra 1 was developed to examine classroom experiences through the lens of the researcher and to explore the perceptions of teachers and students involved in the study. The goal was to identify the quality, meaningful educational experiences in the classroom which led to the development of…

Abstract concepts dominate university science teaching, and much of this content is taught without sufficient connection to students' prior knowledge or everyday experiences. As this can be problematic for students, the aim of this research was to determine the utility and effectiveness of a professional development module on using analogies to…

Coaching is a complex endeavor that blends a myriad of concepts and skills. Practical experience, content knowledge, and coaching knowledge are instrumental to becoming an effective math coach. In order to design a professional development system to best support and build the capacity of coaches, we must identify what specific content and coaching…

We investigate teacher beliefs about discourses for equation solving and the challenges these beliefs might pose for the implementation of instructional practices that promote deductive reasoning in algebra. To uncover these beliefs, we recorded three video explanations of solutions to the same linear equation with distinct discursive…

Adaptive teaching on the micro-level of teacher-student interaction has often been investigated, but rarely with respect to students' content-specific learning pathways. In this paper, we present an analytic approach to disentangle the learning content into its components and to capture the content-specific adaptivity in teaching practices with…

We describe here lessons learned in designing an early algebra curriculum to measure early algebra's impact on children's algebra readiness for middle grades. The curriculum was developed to supplement regular mathematics instruction in Grades K-5. Lessons learned centered around the importance of several key factors, including using conceptual…

The mole concept is one of the fundamental concepts in chemistry. However, a number of studies carried out in various countries have shown that teachers and learners face many difficulties in teaching and learning the concept. One of the underlying sources of teaching and learning difficulties of the mole concept identified in literature is the…

Purpose: This paper presented the learning process of a group of primary mathematics teachers who participated in two iterations of lesson design, enactment and reflection in a Chinese Lesson Study. Design/methodology/approach: An expansive learning theory was employed to examine the teachers' learning process in lesson study (LS) on representing…

This column provides ideas and techniques to enhance your science teaching. This month's issue discusses using the 5E learning cycle to create coherent storylines. The 5E learning cycle provides an important framework to help teachers organize activities. To realize the full potential of the 5E framework for student learning, lessons must also…

Purpose: This paper's purpose is to describe students' learning processes in a project-based and self-organized seminar on sustainability. A detailed knowledge of typical learning processes is part of a pedagogical content knowledge of sustainability and can therefore contribute to the professional development of university educators.…

"Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1" reviews the best available evidence to offer five recommendations for developing the maths skills of 3-7-year olds. Recommendations include integrating maths into different activities throughout the day -- for example, at registration and snack time -- to familiarise children…

Higher education institutions are developing more and more online courses to supplement and augment the courses they offer in on-campus modes. In fact, some universities now offer the majority of their courses through online contexts. However, for academic staff who design and teach these courses, the transition from teaching on-campus courses to…

This study examines elementary- and middle-grade teachers' understanding of the mathematical learning progression as they participated in a 6-month professional learning project. Teachers participated in a professional development project that consisted of a 1-week summer content-focused institute with school-based follow-up Lesson Study cycles in…