Science Education as a Pathway to Teaching Language Literacy


Book Description

In this era of mandated high stakes and standardized testing, teachers and schools officials find themselves struggling to meet the demands for improved student achievement. At the same time, they are also expected to teach all subjects as required by national and state curriculum standards.




Science Education as a Pathway to Teaching Language Literacy


Book Description

In this era of mandated high stakes and standardized testing, teachers and schools officials find themselves struggling to meet the demands for improved student achievement. At the same time, they are also expected to teach all subjects as required by national and state curriculum standards. Because of these competing demands, science is not even taught or taught less often in order to make more room for mathematics and language arts "drill and practice" and "teaching to the test." Anyone concerned with providing students with a well-rounded education should ask whether these drastic measures-even if they were to show improvement in achievement-justify denying children access to the unique opportunities for intellectual growth and social awareness that the effective instruction of science provides. Will these students have enough exposure to the science curriculum to prepare them to do well later in middle and high school? How is this current situation going to help ameliorate the pervasive achievement gap in science, and how is it going to motivate students to pursue science-related careers? The authors of this book believe that instead of sacrificing the science curriculum to make more time for drill and practice in mathematics and language arts, what should be done is to connect current research on literacy and science instruction with effective pedagogy. Therefore, this volume provides fresh theoretical insights and practical applications for better understanding how science can be used as a pathway to teaching literacy, and hence, as a pathway to improving teachers' practice and students' learning.




STEM Road Map


Book Description

STEM Road Map: A Framework for Integrated STEM Education is the first resource to offer an integrated STEM curricula encompassing the entire K-12 spectrum, with complete grade-level learning based on a spiraled approach to building conceptual understanding. A team of over thirty STEM education professionals from across the U.S. collaborated on the important work of mapping out the Common Core standards in mathematics and English/language arts, the Next Generation Science Standards performance expectations, and the Framework for 21st Century Learning into a coordinated, integrated, STEM education curriculum map. The book is structured in three main parts—Conceptualizing STEM, STEM Curriculum Maps, and Building Capacity for STEM—designed to build common understandings of integrated STEM, provide rich curriculum maps for implementing integrated STEM at the classroom level, and supports to enable systemic transformation to an integrated STEM approach. The STEM Road Map places the power into educators’ hands to implement integrated STEM learning within their classrooms without the need for extensive resources, making it a reality for all students.




Complexity and Simplicity in Science Education


Book Description

This edited volume brings together a broad range of international science education studies, focusing on the interplay of teaching and learning science. It recognizes the complexity present in today’s education, associated with major science related issues faced by society, such as climate change, diseases and pandemics, global conflicts over energy, food and water. The studies discussed in this volume are focused on presenting different opportunities to teach these convoluted matters in order to find simplicity within the complexity and make it accessible to learners. They bring together the challenges of preparing the students of today to become scientifically informed citizens of tomorrow.




Cognition, Metacognition, and Culture in STEM Education


Book Description

This book addresses the point of intersection between cognition, metacognition, and culture in learning and teaching Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). We explore theoretical background and cutting-edge research about how various forms of cognitive and metacognitive instruction may enhance learning and thinking in STEM classrooms from K-12 to university and in different cultures and countries. Over the past several years, STEM education research has witnessed rapid growth, attracting considerable interest among scholars and educators. The book provides an updated collection of studies about cognition, metacognition and culture in the four STEM domains. The field of research, cognition and metacognition in STEM education still suffers from ambiguity in meanings of key concepts that various researchers use. This book is organized according to a unique manner: Each chapter features one of the four STEM domains and one of the three themes—cognition, metacognition, and culture—and defines key concepts. This matrix-type organization opens a new path to knowledge in STEM education and facilitates its understanding. The discussion at the end of the book integrates these definitions for analyzing and mapping the STEM education research. Chapter 4 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com




International Handbook of Research on Multicultural Science Education


Book Description

This handbook gathers in one volume the major research and scholarship related to multicultural science education that has developed since the field was named and established by Atwater in 1993. Culture is defined in this handbook as an integrated pattern of shared values, beliefs, languages, worldviews, behaviors, artifacts, knowledge, and social and political relationships of a group of people in a particular place or time that the people use to understand or make meaning of their world, each other, and other groups of people and to transmit these to succeeding generations. The research studies include both different kinds of qualitative and quantitative studies. The chapters in this volume reflect differing ideas about culture and its impact on science learning and teaching in different K-14 contexts and policy issues. Research findings about groups that are underrepresented in STEM in the United States, and in other countries related to language issues and indigenous knowledge are included in this volume.




Illuminating and Advancing the Path for Mathematical Writing Research


Book Description

Mathematical writing is essential for students’ math learning, but it’s often underutilized due to unclear guidelines. Mathematical writing is a mode of communication that provides teachers access to their students’ thinking and, importantly, offers students an opportunity to deepen their mathematical understanding, engage in mathematical reasoning, and learn a fundamental way to communicate mathematically. Notably, one needs to be able to judiciously combine mathematical symbols, representations, and text. However, more research is needed to exemplify the qualities of mathematical writing, develop implementation methods, and support teachers. Illuminating and Advancing the Path for Mathematical Writing Research, is a necessary comprehensive resource designed to enhance mathematical writing and promote equitable learning. This research book provides a comprehensive understanding of the current state of mathematical writing and illuminates various perspectives on moving the teaching and learning of k-12 mathematical writing forward. Mathematical writing is an important yet underutilized component of mathematical discourse, and this book offers further insight into understanding what it means to write mathematically for mathematics educators and researchers. It informs with research-based implementation strategies and creates purposeful professional learning opportunities. Ultimately, k-12 students will benefit from a more informed field because they will have access to a vital mode of mathematical reasoning and communication.




Supporting K-12 English Language Learners in Science


Book Description

The contribution of this book is to synthesize important common themes and highlight the unique features, findings, and lessons learned from three systematic, ongoing research and professional learning projects for supporting English learners in science. Each project, based in a different region of the U.S. and focused on different age ranges and target populations, actively grapples with the linguistic implications of the three-dimensional learning required by the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. Each chapter provides research-based recommendations for improving the teaching of science to English learners. Offering insights into teacher professional learning as well as strategies for measuring and monitoring how well English learners are learning science and language, this book tells a compelling and inclusive story of the challenges and the opportunities of teaching science to English learners.




Inquiry-Based Science in the Primary Classroom


Book Description

The chapters in this book represent a cross-section of research conducted in inquiry-based science education at primary levels of schooling in international contexts that include school settings in Australia, India, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, Northern Ireland, and the United States. The book includes empirical studies on the role of inquiry-based learning in advancing students’ conceptual understanding and modelling proficiency, students’ understandings about the nature of scientific inquiry, classroom studies on teachers’ enactment of inquiry-based learning, teachers’ facilitation of classroom discourse for inquiry-based learning, and co-teaching in developing teachers in adopting an inquiry-based pedagogy. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Education 3–13.




Improving Adult Literacy Instruction


Book Description

A high level of literacy in both print and digital media is required for negotiating most aspects of 21st-century life, including supporting a family, education, health, civic participation, and competitiveness in the global economy. Yet, more than 90 million U.S. adults lack adequate literacy. Furthermore, only 38 percent of U.S. 12th graders are at or above proficient in reading. Improving Adult Literacy Instruction synthesizes the research on literacy and learning to improve literacy instruction in the United States and to recommend a more systemic approach to research, practice, and policy. The book focuses on individuals ages 16 and older who are not in K-12 education. It identifies factors that affect literacy development in adolescence and adulthood in general, and examines their implications for strengthening literacy instruction for this population. It also discusses technologies for learning that can assist with multiple aspects of teaching, assessment,and accommodations for learning. There is inadequate knowledge about effective instructional practices and a need for better assessment and ongoing monitoring of adult students' proficiencies, weaknesses, instructional environments, and progress, which might guide instructional planning. Improving Adult Literacy Instruction recommends a program of research and innovation to validate, identify the boundaries of, and extend current knowledge to improve instruction for adults and adolescents outside school. The book is a valuable resource for curriculum developers, federal agencies such as the Department of Education, administrators, educators, and funding agencies.