Artificial photosynthesis is a promising approach to generate commodity chemicals using abundant chemical feedstocks and renewable energy sources. Despite its importance, affordable and effective hands-on classroom activities that demonstrate artificial photosynthesis and teach key concepts, especially for primary school students, are lacking.…

Dialogic, sense-making interactions are critical venues for language development and science learning, particularly for emergent multilingual students. Designing and facilitating such learning opportunities is pedagogically complex work and often requires significant shifts in practice. We report on a design study in which we partnered with 5th…

This STEM research project asks middle school or high school students to work towards creating ecologically friendly packaging. Packaging that can be composted instead of thrown away and collected in landfills and oceans like plastics. This inquiry uses nanocellulose and focuses on water permeability. The fibers of nanocellulose can be dried to…

This qualitative case study investigated the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) by sixth-grade teachers in diverse educational settings within the Central Valley of California. The research focused on identifying the practical successes and ongoing challenges faced by educators in elementary and middle school…

Rural students often face challenges in receiving high-quality education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Yet without meaningful STEM educational opportunities, rural students might not develop the knowledge and skills needed to compete in a technology-driven workforce. The Learning by Making program (LbyM), an innovative…

As schools continue to focus on outcome-based instructional practices, less emphasis is placed on the creativity and reasoning necessary for students to become effective critical thinkers. As a result, students struggle to demonstrate creative problem-solving skills in the classroom. This study examines how the facilitation of an instructional…

With school populations across the country becoming increasingly representative of students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, new considerations must be made to promote equitable and engaged science learning for all students (National Academy of Science, National Academy of Engineering, & Institute of Medicine [NAEEM], 2011).…

Science education has experienced a significant transition over the last decade, catalyzed by a re-envisioning of what students should know and be able to do in science. That re-envisioning culminated in the release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in 2013. The new standards set off a chain reaction of standards adoption and…

This research brief highlights the findings of a study looking at the impact of a project-based approach to science instruction in middle school. Stanford University experts and middle school teachers developed the project-based program, Learning Through Performance (LTP). Researchers found that the approach boosted student achievement in science…

The Japanese lesson study (JLS) model for curriculum development has seen limited application to middle school science classrooms. The JLS model was used to develop and refine three hands-on activities focused on four major eighth grade science topics from the California curriculum. Prior assessments of these topics showed limited understanding by…

This article reports an investigation of a professional development program to enhance elementary teachers' ability to engage their students in argument from evidence in science. Using a quasi-experimental approach, three versions were compared: Version A--a 1-week summer institute with a 2-week summer practicum experience and 8 follow-up days…

Finding context, examples, and ample hands-on experimentation is fundamental for understanding complex ideas in subjects such as science and math. Recent popularity of competitive robotics has become a catalyst in the development of DIY and hobby kits. Manufacturers have made available easy to work, re-configurable, and functional, structural…

This case study examines how material resistance (limitations posed by the physical world) and graph interpretation intersected during a high school biology investigation using digital sensors. We use an extended episode from a small group to illustrate how, in an inquiry-based unit, measuring near the resolution limit of a sensor caused scaling…

This research summary accompanies the report "Final Report of the i3 Impact Study of Making Sense of SCIENCE, 2016-17 through 2017-18." Science education has experienced a significant transition over the last decade, catalyzed by a re-envisioning of what students should know and be able to do in science. That re-envisioning culminated in…

Cross-connections between the sciences and mathematics are emphasized through the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards in the United States. One topic that is a common bridge between math and science is the concept of measurement and unit conversions in the metric/English system. This article uses a mixed-methods…