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1. How can science teacher educators best prepare students to teach engineering practices?

   Gutierrez, K; Ayala, OM; Kidd, JJ; Ringleb, SI; Kaipa, K; Pazos, P (January 2021, 2021 Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) Annual International Virtual Conference)

   null (Ed.)

   Teacher education is facing challenges given the recent incorporation of engineering practices and core ideas into the Next Generation Science Standards and state standards of learning. To help teachers meet these standards in their future classrooms, education courses for preservice teachers [PSTs] must provide opportunities to increase science and engineering knowledge, and the associated pedagogies. To address this need, Ed+gineering, an NSF-funded multidisciplinary service-learning project, was implemented to study ways in which PSTs are prepared to meet this challenge. This study provides the models and supporting data for four unique methods of infusion of engineering skills and practices into an elementary science methods course. The four models differ in mode of course delivery, integration of a group project (with or without partnering undergraduate engineering students), and final product (e.g., no product, video, interactive presentation, live lesson delivery). In three of the models, teams of 4-6 undergraduates collaborated to design and deliver (when applicable) lessons for elementary students. This multiple semester, mixed-methods research study, explored the ways in which four unique instructional models, with varied levels of engineering instruction enhancement, influenced PSTs’ science knowledge and pedagogical understanding. Both quantitative (e.g., science content knowledge assessment) and qualitative (e.g., student written reflections) data were used to assess science knowledge gains and pedagogical understanding. Findings suggest that the PSTs learned science content and were often able to explain particular science/ engineering concepts following the interventions. PSTs in more enhanced levels of intervention also shared ways in which their lessons reflected their students’ cultures through culturally responsive pedagogical strategies and how important engineering integration is to the elementary classroom, particularly through hands-on, inquiry-based instruction. 

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2. College Student Meaning Making and Interest Maintenance During COVID-19: From Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) to Science Learning Being Off-Campus and Online

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.590738  

   Wang, Cong; Bauer, Melanie; Burmeister, Alita R.; Hanauer, David I.; Graham, Mark J. (December 2020, Frontiers in Education)

   null (Ed.)

   In response to the outbreak of COVID-19 the national landscape of higher education changed quickly and dramatically to move “online” in the Spring semester of 2020. While distressing to both faculty and students, it presents a unique opportunity to explore how students responded to this unexpected and challenging learning situation. In four undergraduate STEM courses that incorporated course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs)—which are often focused on discovery learning and laboratory research—we had an existing study in progress to track students' interest development at five time points over the Spring 2020 semester. Via this ongoing study we were able to investigate how students stay engaged in their college science courses when facing unexpected challenges and obstacles to their learning. Longitudinal survey data from 41 students in these CURE courses demonstrated that students' situational interest dropped significantly when their CURE courses unexpectedly shifted from hands-on, discovery-based, and laboratory-based instruction to online instruction. Although we observed a dramatic decline in student interest in general after the CURE courses moved fully online, the decline rates varied across students. Students who were able to make meaningful connections between the learning activities and their personal or career goals were more likely to maintain a higher level of interest in the course. Implications for practice are discussed. 

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3. Connecting the Dots between Active Learning and Science Communication in the Graduate Classroom

   Cashwell, H; McNeal, K (April 2025, Tranformative dialogues)

   Active learning and science communication have previously been separated in the literature. A science communication course was developed for graduate students within a Geosciences department to educate students on how to communicate about the research they are completing while pursuing their degree. This course used active learning techniques throughout the education of the material to engage students. This article aids in bridging the gap between active learning and science communication in this graduate level science communication course. The initial premise of this study was to see how graduate students connected using active learning techniques to enhance their science communication. However, through class observations and one-on-one interviews, it was found that students did not realize the methods that were being used in class for instruction were active learning techniques. Students were not connecting the dots with the information that they were learning about communication was given to them in active learning formats. Those active learning formats could also be used to enhance their own communication techniques when discussing the research that is being conducted. Conclusions from this work generate methods of how active learning can be incorporated in science communication to improve how students learn how to talk about their research which also contributes to the advancement in the scholarship of teaching and learning around science communication. 

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4. Exploratory Learning in Engineering Programming

   https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343300  

   Bego, Campbell R; Thompson, Angela K; Crockett, Cenetria; Chastain, Raymond J; Hieb, Jeff L; Fuselier, Linda; Patrick, Ryan; DeCaro, Marci S (October 2023, Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE))

   This WIP paper presents new research on exploratory learning, an educational technique that reverses the order of standard lecture-based instruction techniques. In exploratory learning, students are presented with a novel activity first, followed by instruction. Exploratory learning has been observed to benefit student learning in foundational math and science courses such as calculus, physics, and statistics; however, it has yet to be applied to engineering topics such as programming. In two studies, we tested the effectiveness of exploratory learning in the programming unit of a first-year undergraduate engineering course. We designed a new activity to help students learn about different python error types, ensuring that it would be suitable for exploration. Then we implemented two different orders (the traditional instruct-first versus exploratory learning’s explore-first) across the six sections of the course. In Study 1 (N=406), we did not detect a difference between the instruct-first and explore-first conditions. In Study 2 (N=411), we added more scaffolding to the activity. Students who received the traditional order of instruction followed by the activity scored significantly higher on the assessment. These findings contradict the exploratory learning benefits typically shown, shedding light on potential boundary conditions to this effect. 

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5. How an undergraduate physical science course influences elementary teachers’ longer-term intentions to teach physical science

   Borges, I. Tapia (April 2022, Annual meeting program American Educational Research Association)

   Preservice science courses typically demonstrate valuable semester impacts on preservice teachers, but less is known about how such courses impact future teacher practice. Using the theory of planned behavior, this study investigates how an undergraduate Physical Science course, focused on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), influences elementary teachers’ longer-term intentions to teach Physical Science. Data sources include a questionnaire with credential-candidate teachers (n=31), who completed a Physical Science course as undergraduates, and interviews with teacher educators, professional development providers, and practicing elementary teachers (n=9). Findings illustrate that credential-candidate teachers did not teach Physical Science during their teaching placements. Such findings were further supported by stakeholders. We detail strategies that could support elementary teachers’ teaching of Physical Science. 

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