National data shows that despite gains over the past twenty years, females remain underrepresented in the engineering workforce. Education's role in supporting the engineering pipeline cannot be ignored. Middle school teachers who lack integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (iSTEM) efficacy are less likely to engage students,…

Energy is a central concept across the sciences and an important goal of science education is to support all students so that they develop a full understanding of the energy concept. However, given the abstract and complex nature of the energy concept, only a few students develop an understanding so that they can use energy ideas to make sense of…

A growing number of studies have shown the benefits of K-12 integrated science and engineering education. With this study, we add to the literature by documenting the relationship between STEM learning and engagement, and the demographic characteristics that impact achievement in STEM. This longitudinal study followed a diverse group of 245 middle…

Past research has identified elements underlying modeling as a core science and engineering practice, as well as dimensions along which students' learn how to use models and how they perceive the nature of modeling. To extend these findings by a perspective on how modeling practice can be used in classrooms, we used design-based research to…

In 2013 the Vermont legislature enacted Act 77 mandating that students in Grades 7-12 develop personalized learning plans (PLPs) to guide them toward high school graduation using proficiency-based requirements. In the present qualitative self-study, we document the impact of implementation of a personal learning framework integrating PLPs into a…

Monolingual or multilingual students with low academic language proficiency need to acquire conceptual understanding for percentages and the language to communicate about them. The design research study explores how these two learning goals can be fostered by a macro-scaffolding approach for seventh grade students. The dual hypothetical learning…

To investigate instructional planning strategies that impact student improvement in argumentative writing, the teacher-researcher implemented an Integrated Writing intervention in a seventh-grade urban school classroom to impact student writing, student feedback, and teacher reflection. Utilizing a mixed-methods Action Research study, the…

NGSS Early Implementers is a four-year initiative created to help eight California school districts and two charter management organizations, supported by WestEd's K-12 Alliance, implement Next Generation Science Standards. The Initiative focuses on NGSS implementation in grades K-8 and incorporates the integrated course model (preferred by the…

Background: Blending collaborative learning and project-based learning (PBL) based on Wolff (2003) design categories, students interacted in a learning environment where they developed their technology integration practices as well as their technological and collaborative skills. Purpose: The study aims to understand how seventh grade students…

The blending of information from an academic class with projects from art class can do nothing but strengthen the learning power of the student. Creating three-dimensional color wheels provides the perfect opportunity to combine basic geometry knowledge with color theory. In this article, the author describes how her seventh-grade painting…

In this experimental study we examined the effects of integrating teacher-directed knowledge-building and student-regulated comprehension practices in 7th- to 10th-grade English language arts classes. We also investigated the effect of instructional quality and whether integrating practices differentially benefitted students with lower entry-level…

Using migration as a springboard, students can begin to understand patterns of survival and interdependence that exist within nature, as well as humankind's role in modifying these patterns. This mini-unit involves a series of integrated activities designed to take middle school students (fifth through eighth grades) on a journey of the eastern…

Explicit strategy instruction combined with student-directed self-regulation in conjunction with cognitive strategies has proven effective in supporting low-achieving students' reading comprehension. Experts have extended 1 such approach, self-regulated strategy development (SRSD) for the expository reading comprehension Think before reading,…

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of the cooperative integrated reading and composition (CIRC) technique and the traditional reading and writing pedagogical methods for primary school students. The study group was composed of 45 7th grade students enrolled at a primary school at the centre of Giresun Province in the 2009/2010…

One school offers zipTrips as an alternative to actual field trips taken outside of school. ZipTrips are web- and broadcast-delivered electronic field trips that include online videos, lesson plans, and a live, 45-minute interactive program consisting of four core components: an in-studio audience, live interaction with scientists, prerecorded…