The "A Nation at Risk" report was released in 1983 and enumerated systemic flaws in the U.S. education system, highlighting science education as an area of concern (Denning, 1983). Over a generation later, a new opportunity has emerged to improve science education for all students, and especially the youngest learners. The Next…

Knowledge-producing practices in sciences and engineering increasingly use computational means for modeling and working with data. Despite consensus regarding the importance of computational thinking in science and engineering, scholars differ in conceptualization of the primary purposes and role of its integration in K-12 science (Kafai &…

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were developed by 26 lead states with NSTA, AAAS, NRC, and Achieve in 2013 to provide a new vision for the teaching of science in U.S. schools. Teachers' applications have been mainly concentrated on efforts to align the current practices with the standards. Elementary science teachers need to use…

High school science teachers are a unique subset of teachers with distinctive PD needs in content, pedagogy, and technology, yet there is scant research about PD from the perspective of secondary science teachers. This qualitative research study used narrative research methods with grounded theory to explore how a group of seven high school…

This dissertation study uses an alternative dissertation format to deliver two separate but interrelated studies. As a whole, the dissertation is connected by a single overarching research question: "What are the characteristics of effective, meaningful, and equitable science instruction through modeling and how do teachers' pedagogical…

Efforts to understand changes in teacher curricula following the adoption of reform-based standards, such as the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) remain incomplete and prior scholarship has identified several topics in the standards (e.g., nuclear chemistry and kinetics) that remain infrequently addressed in teachers'…

The study aimed to investigate how the knowledge, understanding and skills of secondary science teachers in SC relate to their capacity to deliberately integrate World Class Skills (WCS) into their science classroom instruction through effective planning and pedagogical choices. The study employs the Partnership for 21 Century Learning framework…

This qualitative case study aimed to investigate instructional leaders' depths of science content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge and how their depths of that knowledge supports effective instructional leadership. Implementation efforts around the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have highlighted the need for science…

As schools in the United States see a rise in students receiving special services, educators must adapt to meet the learning needs of this growing population. To address this need, many schools are turning to the practice of co-teaching, or the partnership of a general educator and special educator serving the same group of students. By…

Challenges to integrating technology into educational institutions pose a significant issue that impacts students' performance and accomplishments. The research problem addressed through this study was that secondary school physics teachers were challenged to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) in a southwestern state of…

Science instruction in elementary schools can be poorly defined, of low status, and taught by teachers with inadequate subject knowledge (Shulman, 2015). This confusion can lead to low teacher confidence, morale, and professional dissatisfaction which may contribute to high attrition rates and diminished value of science teaching and learning…

The M.S. Chemistry -- Chemical Education Specialization program at South Dakota State University provides in-depth general chemistry coursework to in-service high school science teachers in a virtual format. The goal of the program is for the teachers enrolled to become more effective teachers while gaining content knowledge in chemistry; in…

Determining how to increase practicing elementary teacher science instruction self-efficacy through ongoing professional development has been a problem in one urban Texas school district. Existing literature indicated science instruction self-efficacy could be built using professional development. However, there is a gap in the literature…

As educational accountability pressures and science teacher attrition rates within American public-school systems continue to rise, so does the need for improved reform-based professional development (PD) opportunities that allow science educators to challenge their pedagogical beliefs and teaching practices. This qualitative case study explores…

Professional development programs aim to make long-lasting change to teacher practice. However, these programs are often short-lived due to limited personnel, cost, and time constraints. Using an actor-oriented approach, this study aimed to understand how teachers transfer their learning from a professional development program focused on…