Science

The Greater North Shore Science Partnership (GNSSP) offers middle and high school science and math teachers an intensive course of study contributing to the completion of Northeastern University”s Masters of Education in Middle School Science program. CSE research involves observing middle school science teachers to understand whether and how participating in the GNSSP mathematics course for science teachers has an impact on the nature of their science instruction.

The INTALEQ (INnovations in Technology-Assisted Learning for Educational Quality) project is a public/private partnership initiative that will help Yemeni students “step up” to the future by giving them a chance to master the types of skills necessary to flourish in the 21st century. INTALEQ (which means “step up” or launch in Arabic) offers a replicable model for leveraging the power and pull of technology, not just to teach computer and internet skills, but to improve core teaching and learning in Yemeni high schools, particularly in the essential areas of math and science.

EDC is working with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) to develop an investigation using the MicroObservatory online telescopes. Controlling the telescopes from their classroom, students will join a community of scientists in the search for solar systems beyond our own, including a search for a twin of Earth that may harbor life.

CSE, through a cooperative agreement with the NSF, is establishing and maintaining the Discovery Research K–12 learning resource network, known as CADRE. The goals are to advance the state of research and evaluation in STEM education and to move forward the goals of the DR-K12 program. CADRE provides support services to grantees from the DR-K12 program, which enhances student and teacher learning of the STEM disciplines through the development, implementation, and study of resources, models, and technologies.

Although green technology is one of the fastest growing industries in America, studies have shown that there is an alarming lack qualified professionals in this field. GreenFab: Sustainable Design Through Engineering and Technology will address this imbalance through activities that increase participating students’ technological and engineering fluency while providing a community and framework for them to explore “green collar” jobs. CCT is providing research and evaluation support for this initiative.

ERO is creating K–3 curriculum activities that will become part of SAE International’s A World in Motion® (AWIM) Program. These activities consist of one six-to-eight-session unit for each grade level. Each unit will include a book geared toward children at that level, written specifically for the project by award-winning children’s book author Stephen Krensky. The integration of these books into the curriculum units will be used to build children’s literacy skills (reading, writing, and speaking).

This five-year project is designed to provide NASA with rigorous evaluation findings of its education portfolio contributions to furthering key strategic goals: develop the STEM workforce in relevant disciplines, attract and retain students at all stages of the educational pipeline, build strategic partnerships between STEM formal and informal education providers, and promote STEM literacy and awareness of NASA’s mission.

This project developing, implementing, and studying a dual model of professional development that augments traditional professional development with an online professional development platform: the Active Physics Teacher Community (APTC).

EDC is conducting a two-year pilot study to address critical methodological challenges inherent in doing longitudinal research linking informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences and school achievement: first, addressing selection bias through careful selection of a comparison group that is comparable to the intervention group, and second, developing a qualitative design that both complements and extends the quantitative data collected.

CSE is directing the evaluation of the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Wolbachia Project. This five-year effort engages high school teachers and students in authentic research on bacterial symbionts, thereby providing an opportunity to learn important concepts and techniques in modern microbiology. Project components include (1) an annual teacher workshop, (2) discovery-based lab implementation during the school year in classrooms of teachers who participated in the workshop, and (3) student and teacher summer “envisionships” in a Wolbachia scientist’s laboratory.