Scientific modelling plays a crucial role in students’ science learning. Modelling proficiency and literacy development reinforce each other. This study investigates the relationship between teacher support of student literacy development and their modelling proficiency in the context of elementary project-based learning science environments. To explore the relationship, we sampled 557 students from 24 classrooms in 12 different schools. Data were analysed by multilevel mixed linear regression model analysis.
Research
CREATE for STEM Institute teams conduct research that focuses on impactful projects in undergraduate education through Discipline-Based Educational Research (DBER). We design innovative K-16 science curricula and investigate the effects of new teaching methods on student learning, engagement, and community impact, with our work increasingly incorporating artificial intelligence to enhance support for teachers and learners. We are leaders in STEM assessment design and professional development for educators, collaborating with international partners in over a dozen countries. CREATE fosters new talent, provides seed money for initial work and supports the grant writing process. Our goal is for CREATE to be a hub for the exchange of information and ideas!
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Culturally Responsive Project-Based Learning Intervention in Secondary Science
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Interactions - Physical Science Curriculum
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Supporting High School Students in Constructing Quantitative Knowledge-in-Use of Energy
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Developing a Teacher Micro-credential for Integrating Computational Thinking Across Disciplines
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Collaborative Research: Modeling inclusive computational thinking instruction
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3DLP (Learning Progression)
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Multiple Literacies in Project-Based Learning
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Auto Feedback 3DLP
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Circadian regulation in potatoes
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Collaborative Research: Scaffolding Computational Thinking Through Multilevel System Modeling
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Assessing Mathematical Sensemaking in Science (AMASS)
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Health in Our Hands: A New Genomic Framework for Schools and Communities
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Supporting Instructional Decision Making (PASTA)
Publications
The relationship between teacher's support of literacy development and elementary students' modelling proficiency in project-based learning science classrooms
Developing preservice elementary teachers’ self-efficacy toward teaching science
Having a negative attitude toward science plays a major factor in elementary teachers avoiding teaching science in elementary school. This mixed methods study examined changes in pre-service elementary teachers’ (PSETs) attitudes toward teaching science. PSETs (n=59) engaged in a semester-long university course in the Southeastern United States. The course focused on demonstrating and applying knowledge of scientific concepts and inquiry-based teaching. PSETs took a Dimension of Attitudes toward Science (DAS) questionnaire before and after the course.
Using automated analysis to assess middle school students' competence with scientific argumentation
Argumentation is fundamental to science education, both as a prominent feature of scientific reasoning and as an effective mode of learning—a perspective reflected in contemporary frameworks and standards. The successful implementation of argumentation in school science, however, requires a paradigm shift in science assessment from the measurement of knowledge and understanding to the measurement of performance and knowledge in use.
Extending a Pretrained Language Model (BERT) using an Ontological Perspective to Classify Students’ Scientific Expertise Level from Written Responses
The complex and interdisciplinary nature of scientific concepts presents formidable challenges for students in developing their knowledge-in-use skills. The utilization of computerized analysis for evaluating students’ contextualized constructed responses offers a potential avenue for educators to develop personalized and scalable interventions, thus supporting the teaching and learning of science consistent with contemporary calls.
FEW questions, many answers: using machine learning to assess how students connect food–energy–water (FEW) concepts
There is growing support and interest in postsecondary interdisciplinary environmental education, which integrates concepts and disciplines in addition to providing varied perspectives. There is a need to assess student learning in these programs as well as rigorous evaluation of educational practices, especially of complex synthesis concepts.
