To prepare students for the complex, multidisciplinary problems they will face outside of the classroom, current reform initiatives advocate for the integration of content and practices from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the science classroom. One approach, integrated STEM, uses the engineering design process as a…

Significant attention is being paid to how assessments aligned to learning trajectories (LTs) can be used as a means to locate students' progress in learning big ideas in mathematics over time. Furthermore, data from LT-aligned assessments have been signaled as key to driving student-centered instruction on a day-to-day basis. For LTs and…

Background: Dialogue between the teaching profession and researchers regarding pedagogical strategy is sometimes problematic. Pedagogy research may benefit from incorporating research methods that can investigate teachers' and pupils' interpretations. Purpose: This research expands the Pedagogy Analysis Framework (Riordan, 2020) by explaining in…

This study examines shifts in science teachers' (N = 15) beliefs and practices within the context of a research-practice partnership (RPP) that developed and implemented curriculum modules in middle school science classrooms. Interview, document, and observation data gathered over the course of the project indicate that the vast majority of…

We are interested in how whiteness shaped one teacher's abilities to engage his elementary school students in culturally responsive pedagogy, especially his abilities to engage or avoid conversations about race-based inequities in an integrated technology unit focused on NGSS disciplinary practices. We draw upon culturally responsive pedagogy,…

The effectiveness of the 5E model has been supported by research in schools in recent years, although its efficacy has rarely been assessed in the long term to avoid novelty effects and to consider the impact of the usual loss of fidelity that time entails. This study was designed to assess the long-term effects on students' conceptual learning as…

In secondary science education, students often do not feel engaged with the scientific concepts that are taught, which hinders conceptual learning. This lack of engagement can be overcome by fictional placemaking. Therefore, the purpose of our design-based research is to explore how the creation and use of fictional places lead to meaningful…

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in healthcare and related science majors at the undergraduate level. This presents an opportunity to introduce health science training in middle school science classes to familiarize students to various healthcare-related fields. The pharmaceutical science-based hands-on activities for middle…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] Although curriculum design has a long tradition in physics education research (PER), it is often criticized for unclear or inconsistent methodologies. One reason is that the theory-into-practice aspect frequently remains blurred. Only a few curriculum…

A coherent curriculum that clearly defines sets of ideas that build upon one another to meet desired learning goals can successfully support the development of meaningful understanding across time. This study explores the influence of a coherent curriculum as a systematic approach to aligning and sequencing specific ideas to support students in…

Understanding factors that impact teacher implementation of learning from professional development is critical in order to maximize the educational and financial investment in teacher professional learning. This multi-case qualitative investigation elucidates factors that influence the appropriation of instructional tools associated with…

This article is drawn from a study conducted to explore how assessment conversations, a type of informal formative assessment, can support science learning in a technology-aided seventh-grade classroom in Northern California. The classroom setting where the study took place used interactive whiteboards in conjunction with the inquiry-based…

This study aimed to teach 9th grade students the meanings of scientific theory and scientific law, and the differences between them. The related literature informs that students at different grade levels have misconceptions about the definition of both scientific theory and scientific law and the relationship between them. In this study, the…

Optics is a core field in the curricula of secondary physics education. In this study, we present the development and validation of a test instrument in the field of optics, the ray optics in converging lenses concept inventory (ROC-CI). It was developed for and validated with middle school students, but can also be adapted for the use in higher…

In responding to Murakami and Siegel's "Becoming Bermuda grass" one is led to reflect on one's own practice in what becomes an example of reflexivity. Following the authors' lead of incorporating Deleuze and Guattari's rhizomatic theory and the art form of decalcomania to reflect on practice, discoveries are made regarding the practice…