Secondary science teachers participated in a socio-scientific issues (SSI) professional development (PD) during which they co-designed SSI curriculum units. In this qualitative multiple case study, we followed a sub-set of eight teachers who enacted their SSI units in their classrooms and agreed to participate in the study. Clarke and…

Recent national reforms focus on learning disciplinary core ideas through engaging in science and engineering practices. These reforms also call for students and teachers to use crosscutting concepts (CCCs), or analytical lenses, that support scientific sensemaking and connections across disciplines. The "Framework for K-12 Science…

The study investigated how explicit instruction of argumentation-in the context of socioscientific issues (SSI)- and explicit instruction of NOS, compared with explicit instruction of argumentation only, can develop grade 10 students' argumentation skills and NOS conceptions. Participants were 36 grade 10 students enrolled in two sections that…

In this study, we present a conceptual tool for guiding teachers' principled pedagogical actions toward equitable instruction, referred to as the "Transforming Science Learning" (TSL) framework. The TSL framework was developed to address the challenges of enacting an ideological commitment in local contexts--promoting equity and justice…

The vision of the Framework and NGSS requires important shifts in teaching approaches and instructional materials. We argue that this commitment to engaging learners in meaningful practice and supporting students' epistemic agency entails that we support "coherence from the students' perspective." This coherence arises when students see…

We report on one teachers' efforts to re-design an entire instructional unit as a coherent storyline about forces and motion as a part of a multiyear professional development (PD) project around the NGSS. Designing coherent storylines demands that teachers create opportunities for students to meaningfully engage in science practices in order to…

Natural history museums (NHMs) are important out-of-school learning settings for teaching science; therefore, familiarisation with NHMs is crucial for future teachers. This article presents a student teacher training program in the form of an optional module for Master of Education Biology students at a major German university that focuses on NHMs…

This paper examines the impacts of technology (e.g., Chromebooks, Google Drive) on teacher learning and student activity in the development and implementation of a deeply digital high school biology unit. Using design-based implementation research, teachers co-designed with researchers and curriculum specialists a student-centered unit aligned to…

The purpose of this study was to describe how teachers used and adapted a set of curriculum materials that included opportunities for students to engage in scientific practices. Two-fourth-grade teachers in the same school were observed and interviewed. Findings revealed that teachers enacted almost every type of scientific practice in the…

Research supports an explicit-reflective approach to teaching about nature of science (NOS), but little is reported on teachers' journeys as they attempt to integrate NOS into everyday lessons. This participatory action research paper reports the challenges and successes encountered by an in-service teacher, Sarah, implementing NOS for the…

Research suggests discipline-specific, educative mentoring can help preservice teachers develop more sophisticated pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). However, there are few studies examining the nature of mentors' practice and "how" mentors influence preservice teacher's (PST) PCK. The purpose of this case study was to describe the…

Like their students, teachers may hold a variety of naïve conceptions that have been hypothesized to limit their ability to support students' learning. This study examines whether changes in elementary students' conceptions are related to their teachers' content knowledge, attitudes, and understanding of conceptual change. The study…

Measurement is an essential skill that students need to develop in both mathematics and science classes. However, many students only develop very superficial understanding regarding the nature of measurement. Building upon modeling-based work, we construct a framework that views measurement as a complex set of knowledge and skills one can use to…

This study illustrated a pathway of growth that a preservice teacher might traverse when learning to use and develop equitable assessments (EA). The study is rare in that it looks at the development of preservice teachers' understanding and ability to design EA. I examined the understanding and implementation of EA of 23 secondary preservice…

This paper present findings from a pre-service teacher development project that prepared novice teachers to promote English language and literacy development with inquiry-based science through a modified elementary science methods course and professional development for cooperating teachers. To study the project's impact on student learning,…