The main purpose of this study was to explore major factors at student and teacher/school levels affecting middle-school students' science self-efficacy among countries with high science academic performance levels in PISA 2015 data by using various regression algorithms of machine learning and multilevel latent profile analysis (MLPA). Out of…

Introduction: In today's world, which is progressively oriented towards science and technology and facing a growing demand for skilled professionals, it becomes essential to identify the factors that encourage individuals to pursue careers in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Previous research has shown that…

Scientist-led K-12 outreach offers many benefits to scientists, teachers, and students; however, many of these programs are top down rather than collaborative. Our team facilitated a museum-based scientist-teacher partnership to co-design a lesson on shark biology for middle school students. Following the implementation of the lesson, we conducted…

The "Integrated Development of Key Competences" has been identified as the core idea in education to face competition in the 21st century. Similarly, reform efforts in science education emphasize the importance of integrating scientific practices and disciplinary core ideas. The learning progression (LP) is viewed as a robust tool to…

Student-Teacher-Scientist Partnerships (STSPs) provide opportunities for students and teachers to participate in citizen science and engage with scientific concepts and practices, thereby bridging school learning with issues of importance to society, such as climate change. But STSPs require partners to cross boundaries between the cultures of…

In this study, we examined the ways in which two middle school science teachers elicited and were responsive to students' initial science ideas for explaining an anchoring phenomenon while teaching the same model-based learning unit focused on plate tectonics. Data sources included student models, classroom video, and classroom artifacts. Our…

There is an expanding body of research focused on exploring inclusive science learning for students with complex support needs. The aim of this qualitative case study was to explore how a research partnership focused on expanding inclusive science learning for students with complex support needs (CSN) could support the learning of a focal student…

Many middle school students perform below grade-level standards in reading (National Center for Education Statistics, 2019), and recent observation studies demonstrate middle school teachers' limited use of reading comprehension practices within content area instruction (e.g., science and social studies; Greenleaf & Valencia, 2017). In this…

Many middle school students perform below grade-level standards in reading (National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, 2019), and recent observation studies demonstrate middle school teachers' limited use of reading comprehension practices within content area instruction (e.g., science and social studies; as reported by Greenleaf (in:…

Each and every student, including students with disabilities, needs to be engaged in high-quality science instruction that moves beyond just memorization and recall of facts and toward critical thinking that supports informed decision making about current issues. There are notable achievement gaps between the science proficiency of students with…

To promote a justice-oriented approach to science education, we formed a research-practice partnership between middle school science teachers, their students, curriculum designers, learning scientists, and experts in social justice to co-design and test an environmental justice unit for middle school instruction. We examine teacher perspectives on…

Climate change education is both important and challenging. Prior research suggests that many secondary school science teachers in the United States were conveying "mixed messages" to students that legitimized scientifically unwarranted explanations of recent global warming. In this paper, we focus on US climate education at the middle…

Academically gifted students or high potential learners don't feel challenged in regular classrooms. Teachers in schools are also not quipped with pedagogical interventions to meet the advanced learning needs of gifted students. Mentoring is considered an effective method to guide, motivate and optimize learning abilities of gifted students. The…

Recent policies and programs in science education underscore a need to address "opportunity gaps" for students who are parts of minoritized social, cultural, or racial/ethnic groups. In order to implement professional learning for teachers to assist them in effectively supporting all students, it is critical to understand the classroom…

The purpose of this study was to investigate any differences in the student's ability to present evidence-based claims in writing and to evaluate teachers' perceptions of the implementation of the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning tool in middle-grade science. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) require teachers to meet deeper conceptual knowledge,…