Globally, science interest in diminishing among students, and as a result the science career field has begun to suffer from a lack of science career aspirations. The issue is especially relevant in developed countries, such as the United States, Japan, and South Korea, because of their policies and efforts to promote science and science education…

Concerns with the ability of U.S. classrooms to develop learners who will become the next generation of innovators, particularly given the present climate of standardized testing, warrants a closer look at creativity in science classrooms. The present study explored these concerns associated with teachers' classroom practice by addressing the…

This study is focused on a statewide implementation of the core conceptual framework for effective professional development in the United States and associated impact on teacher quality and attitudes. The framework included content focus, active learning, coherence, duration, and collective participation. There were 252 participants in the study,…

The U.S. educational system is undergoing rapid and substantial changes with many states grappling with the adoption of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (CCSSM). Important research questions remain unanswered regarding the potential efficacy of the CCSSM to improve student math performance compared with students around the globe.…

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) science and engineering practices are ways of eliciting the reasoning and applying foundational ideas in science. As research has revealed barriers to states and schools adopting the NGSS, this mixed-methods study attempts to identify characteristics of professional development (PD) that will support NGSS…

Professional development (PD) programs focused on increasing teachers' use of formative assessment generally provide a framework designed to help teachers understand the breadth and complexity of formative assessment, while advocating for teacher choice with respect to the specific implementation. This study examined the implementation patterns of…

Creating scientifically literate students is a common goal among educational stakeholders. An understanding of nature of science is an important component of scientific literacy in K-12 science education. Q methodology was used to investigate the opinions of preservice and in-service teachers on how they intend to teach or currently teach science.…

Afterschool programs have garnered much attention as promising environments for learning where children can engage in rich science activities. Yet, little is known about the kinds of instructional materials used in typical, large-scale afterschool programs that implement science with diverse populations of children. In this study, we investigated…

Research indicates there is a need for teachers to experience multiple mastery experiences with engineering teaching in order to improve teaching engineering self-efficacy. To prepare future K-5 teachers to teach the engineering design process, one science methods course integrated 2-day engineering mini-units into the class meeting and…

The press to integrate mathematics and science comes from researchers, business leaders, and educators, yet research that examines ways to support teachers in relating these disciplines is scant. Using research on science and mathematics professional development, we designed a professional development project to help elementary teachers improve…

This study investigates the conceptions and use of inquiry during classroom instruction among beginning secondary science teachers. The 44 participants were beginning secondary science teachers in their first year of teaching. In order to capture the participants' conceptions of inquiry, the teachers were interviewed and observed during the…

We investigated beginning secondary science teachers' understandings of the science and engineering practice of developing and using models. Our study was situated in a scholarship program that served two groups: undergraduate STEM majors interested in teaching, or potential teachers, and graduate students enrolled in a teacher education program…

STEM education in elementary school is guided by the understanding that engineering represents the application of science and math concepts to make life better for people. The Engineering Design Process (EDP) guides the application of creative solutions to problems. Helping teachers understand how to apply the EDP to create lessons develops a…

The purpose of this study was to develop, scale, and validate assessments in engineering, science, and mathematics with grade appropriate items that were sensitive to the curriculum developed by teachers. The use of item response theory to assess item functioning was a focus of the study. The work is part of a larger project focused on increasing…

"As the world becomes increasingly technological, the value of (the ideas and skills of its population) will be determined in no small measure by the effectiveness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in the United States" and "STEM education will determine whether the United States will remain a…