Explicit and reflective teaching of communal goals forms connections between STEM content and practices, providing in- and out-of-class opportunities to reflect on how communal goals relate to class activities. This lesson integrates the concepts of "prosociality" (science helps others and gives back to the community) and…

The internet abounds with free science education applications. But, on their own, these applications have limited capacity to teach students curricular concepts or skills. The author integrated several free web-based applications into a broader pedagogical approach called T-GEM, in which the teacher guides student investigations. In this article,…