Increasing emphasis on students' understanding of the practices of science and engineering necessitates that teachers themselves possess a strong understanding of these practices. Unfortunately, a teacher's potentially limited engagement in science and engineering practices throughout his or her own education may impede his or her understanding of…

With the economic competitiveness of the United States dependent on an adequate supply of high-quality workers in the STEM fields, President Obama outlined a broad agenda to reinvigorate our country's interest in STEM. Responding to this call, organizations such as the National Lab Network and the STEM Education Coalition began efforts to raise…

This mixed-methods study examines how engaging science teachers in a summer Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) followed by an academic-year Professional Learning Community (PLC) focused on translating teacher research experiences to inquiry-based classroom lessons might facilitate changes in their beliefs and classroom practices regarding…

Despite the long history of the study of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), two facts remain obvious. First, there are almost as many conceptions regarding the definition of PCK as there are researchers interested in it. Second, it is largely unclear which methods enable teacher educators to best prepare teacher candidates to use PCK. Recently,…

Teachers who conduct research in the context of their own teaching practices can contribute to knowledge about reform-based instruction. This article provides examples that illustrate research by elementary, middle school, high school, and college faculty as well as the use of data such as transcripts of discussion, reflective journals, and copies…

Presents guidelines for planning successful workshop presentations. Discusses how to determine the basics of a presentation and what to do before, during, and after the workshop. (KHR)

Diminishing "standards" and "alignment" to overused buzzwords or superficial checklists masks the dire need for truly systematic and operational standards-based alignment in science education. In this article, the authors report the findings of an ongoing collaborative effort between cognitive researchers and urban science…

Discusses the benefits of having students do research with other students and having teachers do research with other teachers. Recommends connecting topics for the investigative process with issues from students' real life experiences. (DDR)