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1. Identifying NGSS-Aligned Ideas in Student Science Explanations

   Riordan, B.; Cahill, A.; Chen, J. K.; Wiley, K.; Bradford, A.; Gerard, L.; & Linn, M. C. (February 2020, Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Education (AI4EDU@AAAI))

   With the increasing use of online interactive environments for science and engineering education in grades K-12, there is a growing need for detailed automatic analysis of student explanations of ideas and reasoning. With the widespread adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), an important goal is identifying the alignment of student ideas with NGSS-defined dimensions of proficiency. We develop a set of constructed response formative assessment items that call for students to express and integrate ideas across multiple dimensions of the NGSS and explore the effectiveness of state-of-the-art neural sequence-labeling methods for identifying discourse-level expressions of ideas that align with the NGSS. We discuss challenges for idea detection task in the formative science assessment context. 

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2. Teaching Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) in the Pre-College Classroom as a Vehicle for NGSS Implementation

   https://doi.org/10.1557/adv.2017.102  

   Granucci, Nicole; Jenkins, Carol; Bauer, Melanie; Gard, Ashley L.; Pinkerton, Bryn; Broadbridge, Christine (January 2017, MRS Advances)

   ABSTRACT Adoption of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) into the pre-college classroom is an ideal strategy for addressing Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), specifically the Science and Engineering Practices. MSE offers core science and engineering topics that can be incorporated into existing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic (STEM) curricula through teaching modules. Using MSE as a teaching vehicle, the Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (CRISP) conducted a series of small-scale studies of its teacher professional development workshops and a student summer program, along with related teaching modules, in an effort to measure the contribution MSE has on students and K-12 STEM educators. Based on participant survey feedback, CRISP found improvement in students’ MSE knowledge, interests, and career goals. For teachers, in addition to improving their MSE knowledge, they also increased their comfort and confidence in teaching MSE concepts in their classroom. These results provide evidence for the use of MSE modules as productive teaching tools for NGSS Science and Engineering Practices, as well as producing workforce-competitive STEM students. 

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3. Improving STEM education: The design and development of a K-12 STEM observation protocol (STEM-OP).

   Dare, E.A.; Hiwatig, B.; Karatithamkul, K.; Ellis, J.A.; Roehrig, G.H.; Ring-Whalen, E.A.; Rouleau, M.D.; Faruqi, F.; Rice, C.; Titu, P.; et al (January 2021, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   null (Ed.)

   Integrated approaches to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (commonly referred to as STEM education) in K-12 classrooms have resulted in a growing number of teachers incorporating engineering in their science classrooms. Such changes are a result of shifts in science standards to include engineering as evidenced by the Next Generation Science Standards. To date, 20 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the NGSS and another 24 have adopted standards based on the Framework for K-12 Science Education. Despite the increased presence of engineering and integrated STEM education in K-12 education, there are several concerns to consider. One concern is the limited availability of observation instruments appropriate for instruction where multiple STEM disciplines are present and integrated with one another. Addressing this concern requires the development of a new observation instrument, designed with integrated STEM instruction in mind. An instrument such as this has implications for both research and practice. For example, research using this instrument could help educators compare integrated STEM instruction across grade bands. Additionally, this tool could be useful in the preparation of pre-service teachers and professional development of in-service teachers new to integrated STEM education and formative learning through professional learning communities or classroom coaching. The work presented here describes in detail the development of an integrated STEM observation instrument that can be used for both research and practice. Over a period of approximately 18-months, a team of STEM educators and educational researchers developed a 10-item integrated STEM observation instrument for use in K-12 science and engineering classrooms. The process of developing the instrument began with establishing a conceptual framework, drawing on the integrated STEM research literature, national standards documents, and frameworks for both K-12 engineering education and integrated STEM education. As part of the instrument development process, the project team had access to over 2000 classroom videos where integrated STEM education took place. Initial analysis of a selection of these videos helped the project team write a preliminary draft instrument consisting of 52 items. Through several rounds of revisions, including the construction of detailed scoring levels of the items and collapsing of items that significantly overlapped, and piloting of the instrument for usability, items were added, edited, and/or removed for various reasons. These reasons included issues concerning the intricacy of the observed phenomenon or the item not being specific to integrated STEM education (e.g., questioning). In its final form, the instrument consists of 10 items, each comprising four descriptive levels. Each item is also accompanied by a set of user guidelines, which have been refined by the project team as a result of piloting the instrument and reviewed by external experts in the field. The instrument has shown to be reliable with the project team and further validation is underway. This instrument will be of use to a wide variety of educators and educational researchers looking to understand the implementation of integrated STEM education in K-12 science and engineering classrooms. 

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4. K-12 Engineering and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS): A Network Visualization and Analysis

   Reitsma, René F.; Hoglund, Brian Gordon; Chaker, Dua; Marks, Andrea Marks; Soltys, Michael. (June 2020, 2020 ASEE Annual Conference and Expo)

   We present an interactive network visualization of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and its coverage by collections of aligned curriculum. The visualization presents an alternative to the usual presentation of the NGSS as a set of linked tables. Users can view entire grade bands, search for or drill down to the level of individual NGSS standards or curricular items, or display groups of standards across grade bands. NGSS-aligned curriculum collections can be switched on and off to visually explore their NGSS coverage. Viewing the NGSS and associated curriculum this way facilitates navigating the NGSS and can help with assessment of alignments as lacking or anomalous. Modeling the NGSS as a network also allows for the computation of network metrics to provide insight into core characteristics of the network. It also provides for detecting anomalies and unexpected patterns. 

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5. Improving Integrated STEM Education: The Design and Development of a K-12 STEM Observation Protocol (STEM-OP) (RTP)

   Dare, E. A.; Hiwatig, B.; Keratithamkul, K.; Ellis, J. A.; Roehrig, G. H.; Ring-Whalen, E. A.; Rouleau, M. D.; Faruqi, F.; Rice, C.; Titu, P.; et al (January 2021, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   null (Ed.)

   Integrated approaches to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (commonly referred to as STEM education) in K-12 classrooms have resulted in a growing number of teachers incorporating engineering in their science classrooms. Such changes are a result of shifts in science standards to include engineering as evidenced by the Next Generation Science Standards. To date, 20 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the NGSS and another 24 have adopted standards based on the Framework for K-12 Science Education. Despite the increased presence of engineering and integrated STEM education in K-12 education, there are several concerns to consider. One concern is the limited availability of observation instruments appropriate for instruction where multiple STEM disciplines are present and integrated with one another. Addressing this concern requires the development of a new observation instrument, designed with integrated STEM instruction in mind. An instrument such as this has implications for both research and practice. For example, research using this instrument could help educators compare integrated STEM instruction across grade bands. Additionally, this tool could be useful in the preparation of pre-service teachers and professional development of in-service teachers new to integrated STEM education and formative learning through professional learning communities or classroom coaching. The work presented here describes in detail the development of an integrated STEM observation instrument - the STEM Observation Protocol (STEM-OP) - that can be used for both research and practice. Over a period of approximately 18-months, a team of STEM educators and educational researchers developed a 10-item integrated STEM observation instrument for use in K-12 science and engineering classrooms. The process of developing the STEM-OP began with establishing a conceptual framework, drawing on the integrated STEM research literature, national standards documents, and frameworks for both K-12 engineering education and integrated STEM education. As part of the instrument development process, the project team had access to over 2000 classroom videos where integrated STEM education took place. Initial analysis of a selection of these videos helped the project team write a preliminary draft instrument consisting of 79 items. Through several rounds of revisions, including the construction of detailed scoring levels of the items and collapsing of items that significantly overlapped, and piloting of the instrument for usability, items were added, edited, and/or removed for various reasons. These reasons included issues concerning the intricacy of the observed phenomenon or the item not being specific to integrated STEM education (e.g., questioning). In its final form, the STEM-OP consists of 10 items, each comprising four descriptive levels. Each item is also accompanied by a set of user guidelines, which have been refined by the project team as a result of piloting the instrument and reviewed by external experts in the field. The instrument has shown to be reliable with the project team and further validation is underway. The STEM-OP will be of use to a wide variety of educators and educational researchers looking to understand the implementation of integrated STEM education in K-12 science and engineering classrooms. 

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