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1. Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Mathematics and Science: A Cross-Disciplinary Synthesis of Recent DRK-12 Projects

   Miller, D. I.; Pinerua, I.; Margolin, J.; Gerdeman, D. (April 2022, American Institutes for Research)

   Teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a complex, multifaceted construct that is widely seen as foundational to the act of teaching. In this synthesis, we investigated how the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) recent research investments have advanced understanding and supported the development of teachers’ PCK in PK–12 mathematics and science education. In the 5 years from 2011 to 2015, NSF’s Discovery Research PK–12 program (DRK-12) funded or cofunded 27 projects relating to PCK, totaling $62 million awarded. These 27 DRK-12 projects primarily applied correlational/observational and longitudinal methods (rather than quasi-experimental or experimental methods), often targeting teaching in the middle school grades. Our synthesis of empirical findings focused on how these projects studied PCK, including its measurement, development, and relationship to teaching and student learning. Link to PDF: https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/Teachers-Pedagogical-Content-Knowledge-in-Math-and-Science-April-2022.pdf 

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2. Improving Prekindergarten and Elementary Science Teaching: A Synthesis of Recent DRK-12 Program Investment in This Field

   Ferguson, D.; Pinerua, I.; Gerdeman, D. (August 2022, American Institutes for Research)

   Early science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education sets the stage for future STEM learning. The purpose of this synthesis is to understand the findings from investments to improve prekindergarten (preK) and elementary science teaching from projects funded by the National Science Foundation’s Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) program. In the 5 years spanning 2011–15, the DRK-12 program funded or cofunded 25 projects, totaling more than $60 million, related to improving preK and elementary science teaching. Our review identified 25 DRK-12 projects related to improving preK and elementary science teaching funded in 2011–15. We synthesized findings from 25 of those projects that produced products (e.g., peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers) that described the project and outcomes. We synthesized the empirical findings from interventions in four common areas of investment: (a) preservice preK and elementary preparation programs, (b) in-service teacher professional development (PD), (c) instructional materials for preK and elementary teachers, and (d) strategies for diverse learners. Link to PDF: https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/2022-08/Improving-Prek-and-Elementary-Science-Teaching--DRK-12-STEM-August-2022.pdf 

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3. Modeling in Science Education: A Synthesis of Recent Discovery Research PreK-12 Projects

   Margolin, J.; Pinerua, I.; Gerdeman, D. (April 2022, American Institutes for Research)

   The report summarizes the results from recent research and development projects that focused on modeling and simulations in science education. The Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) program of the National Science Foundation funded these projects as part of its mission to support the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in grades PreK12 through innovative educational approaches.1 This report synthesizes findings from 33 articles produced by 18 DRK-12 grants awarded from 2011 to 2015, all of which funded development of resources or instructional practices to support student modeling in PreK-12 science education. This synthesis had two broad purposes: to describe 18 modeling-focused DRK-12 projects with respect to the resources they studied and the methods they used, and to summarize the new knowledge these projects produced related to modeling instruction. Link to PDF: https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/Modeling-in-Scientific-Education-Synthesis-April-2022.pdf 

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4. Collective Argumentation: Integration of Coding into Mathematics and Science Learning

   https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--32375  

   Foutz, Tim; Hill, Roger; Crawford, Barbara; Thompson, Sidney; Conner, AnnaMarie; Kim, ChanMin; Jackson, David (June 2019, In proceedings of the 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.)

   This project, titled Collective Argumentation Learning and Coding (CALC), is based on our belief that if teachers had an instructional approach that allowed them to teach coding alongside mathematics and science in integrated ways, then coding would become a mainstream subject taught in the elementary school curriculum. However, few practicing elementary school teachers have the academic backgrounds that allow them to teach coding in a manner that goes beyond allowing students to learn how to code through trial-and-error experimentation and as an additive learning activity such as an after-school program. Current content and practice standards call for the use of argumentation in the teaching of mathematics and science. This project is focused on extending the collective argumentation framework for the teaching of mathematics to the teaching of coding. Teachers at our partnering school district have completed the first design of a prototype CALC course where they used collective argumentation to learn how to code educational robotics. At the end of this course, the teachers developed lesson plans that were implemented in grades 3, 4 and 5.This paper and conference presentation focused on the research question, how do elementary school teachers use the CALC approach to support their students’ learning of coding, mathematics, and science content and practices? Overall, the implementation of the CALC approach demonstrated the growth of the teachers in their ability to teach coding as a reasoning process and as a means to integrate it into everyday classroom activities. 

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5. Self‐efficacy, agency, and values as predictors of STEM teacher leader identity in urban‐like learning environments

   https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.18347  

   Leonard, Justin; Blondonville‐Ford, Damaries; Grubb, Derrick; Cheng, Diana; Wang, Xiaoyin (February 2025, School Science and Mathematics)

   Abstract Teacher leaders influence their peers by introducing innovative instructional methods and enhancing teaching quality. They have proven invaluable to school principals as they prioritize comprehensive teacher development, bolster teacher effectiveness, and promote teacher retention. Despite their importance, little to no research—prior to the present study—has shed light on the development of teacher leaders and the evolution of their leadership identity. While science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teacher leaders offer a potential remedy for attrition in public schools, a substantial gap exists in understanding how a STEM teacher's self‐efficacy, values, and agency contribute to their transformation into effective STEM teacher leaders, especially in urban‐like learning environments. The present study focuses on STEM teacher leadership identity development and the challenges encountered. It ascertains the interplay between urban‐like learning environments, self‐efficacy, agency, the teacher leader's role within the school, and values in forecasting STEM teacher leadership identity. This research involved 100 in‐service PreK‐12 public school STEM teacher leaders. It yielded significant, positive, and meaningful relations between urban‐like learning environments, self‐efficacy/agency, teacher leader role, values, and STEM teacher leadership identity. These findings can enhance various facets of PreK‐12 STEM education, including educational programming, teacher training, and cultivating STEM teacher leadership. 

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