Science

CCT will collaborate with colleagues at EDC’s Center for Science Education and game developers Electric Funstuff to develop and pilot-test a series of game modules that infuse inquiry-based game activities into traditional classroom practice for grade 7 science. Known as “Super Sleuths,”the modules will offer teachers and students in-depth explorations of scientific problems, countering students’ scientific misconceptions, reading difficulties, and lack of motivation that often complicate science teaching.

Supported Literacy for Adolescents is a research-based literacy program developed over 10 years by EDC, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education (Office of Special education Programs and Institute of Educational Sciences), Annenberg Foundation, and MetLife Foundation. Its goal is to improve reading, writing, and comprehension among both high risk and typically achieving populations. It is deeply rooted in standards-based curriculum design, and all components of the program are aligned with national reading and writing standards, as well as selected content standards.

The Environmental Science Schools (ES2) project hopes to build a community of elementary schools in which science is a highly motivating experience for students and where the science program motivates students to read more, write more, and use mathematics.

At this three-day institute teachers will learn about the science of building structures, how materials and design influence structural stability, and what young children might learn about building strong stable structures. Through hands-on exploration, discussion, and video analysis they will gain new understanding of how to set-up the block area for science learning and how to support children’s scientific inquiry. Participants will all receive Building Structures with Young Children, a guide developed at EDC, to teaching science through block play.

CSE is working with the Robert Goddard Council and the STEM Pipeline Fund staff and committee to define STEM strategies for the Council, and to outline the major STEM priorities to be addressed by Commonwealth stakeholders.

The Center for Science Education is working with the Massachusetts State Science and Engineering Fair to help design and develop a sustainable, scalable model of teacher professional development in inquiry-based learning. The goal of the six-day course is to enable middle and high school teachers to enhance their science curricula with inquiry-based lessons that will help students develop science literacy and acquire workplace skills such as critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and perseverance.

The success of the Teacher Quality Research Project in West Virginia led to this new project. The state Department of Education has contracted with us for LEEP to be taught eight times in parts of the state that have not had the benefit of the Teacher Quality grant. This year EDC’s Ingrid Chalufour will teach LEEP in Wyoming and McDowell counties in southern West Virginia, working with a co-instructor from the WV Department of Education.

Teachers’ Domain: Engaging Alaska Natives with the Geosciences collection aims to increase Alaska Natives’ exposure to and involvement with geoscience-related issues that are directly relevant to their lives. CCT will conduct the evaluation of the collection to examine the ways in which teachers are accessing and using the media materials and the impact on both native and non-native Alaskan high school students.

CSE is providing technical assistance and guidance to the Portland, Oregon, Science Resource Team and the Elementary Science Leadership Team in their quest to develop and provide a high-quality, cost-effective professional development program for science teachers in grades pre K–5 surrounding the new science standards with a literacy emphasis. CSE is also providing technical assistance to the Science Resource Team to design and implement professional development for middle school and high school science teachers.

The User-Centered Digital Library project will implement IMS/ISO Access specifications in the Teachers’ Domain online digital library to enable users (teachers and students with disabilities) to conduct searches for accessible content that is formatted to meet specific students’ needs. As part of the project, an evaluation will be conducted to both inform project activities in adapting the Teachers’ Domain digital library and to document the impact of the resources to be adapted on teachers and students with disabilities.