In an effort to document teachers' enactments of new reform in science teaching, valid and scalable measures of science teaching using engineering design are needed. This study describes the development and testing of an approach for documenting and characterizing elementary science teachers' multiday enactments of engineering design-based science teaching. Using the tenets of ambitious teaching, we explore how Grade 4 teachers utilized elements of high-leverage practices in an effort to teach science using engineering design. Data included 33 hours of classroom observations, semistructured interviews, and teacher reflections. Using lesson event, classroom organization, and instructional codes analogous to the literature on the engineering design process, we generated and analyzed classroom event maps, noting trends across multiple and individual teacher classrooms. Results indicated percentages of time spent on different phases within the design process among multiple classrooms as well as consistency across individual cases that demonstrate teachers' capacity to enact ambitious teaching practices through engineering design-based science instruction. Implications suggest that our approach provides a useful method to not only document and characterize engineering design-based science teaching practices but also reveals complexities of leveraging student thinking through ambitious engineering teaching practices.

No abstract

Science fairs have a long history in the United States and internationally. Their implementation varies greatly (Kook et al, 2020), yet few empirical studies have examined the outcomes of these experiences for student learning. Research indicates that authentic scientific inquiry that focus on students' agency in investigations can contribute to students learning (e.g., Houseal, Abd‐El‐Khalick, and Destefano, 2014). However, teachers have been challenged with implementing inquiry‐based investigations (e.g., Anderson, 2007; Harris & Rooks, 2010). As new science standards increase the demand for science investigations in classrooms that afford students opportunities to engage with science and engineering practices (SEPs; NGSS Lead States, 2013), research is needed to understand the role of teachers and how these experiences can contribute to student learning. In this article, we describe the results of a national study that included data from 21 middle school science fairs. Data included observations of 20 science fairs, pre and postscience fair assessment data from 343 sixth grade students, and interviews or focus groups with 131 students, 122 teachers, 16 administrators, and 29 science fair judges. These data enabled the exploration of features of science fairs, including opportunities for students to engage in SEPs and the teachers support for SEPs through the science fair investigations. Findings reveal that science fair implementation varies considerably across schools. HLM analysis indicates that teachers' support for critiquing practices, particularly when it included students' engagement in evaluating the work of their peers, are positively associated with students understandings of SEPs. Qualitative findings highlight the ways in which teachers structured students' experiences and supported their enactment of SEPs as they conducted their science fair investigations.

Researchers, evaluators, and practitioners need tools to distinguish between applications of technology that support, enhance, and transform classroom instruction and those that are ineffective or even deleterious. Here we present a new classroom observation protocol designed specifically to capture the quality of technology use to support science inquiry in high school science classrooms. We iteratively developed and piloted the Technology Observation Protocol for Science (TOP-Science), building directly on our published framework for quality technology integration. Development included determining content and face validity, as well as the calculation of reliability estimates across a broad range of high school science classrooms. The resulting protocol focuses on the integration of technology in classrooms on three dimensions: science and engineering practices, student-centered teaching, and contextualization. It uses both quantitative coding and written descriptions of evidence for each code; both are synthesized in a multi-dimensional measure of quality. Data are collected and evaluated from the perspective of the teacher's intentions, actions, and reflections on these actions. This protocol fills an important gap in understanding technology's role in teaching and learning by doing more than monitoring technology's presence or absence, and considering its integration in the context of the Next Generation Science Standards science and engineering practices. Its applications include research, evaluation, and potentially peer evaluation.

No abstract