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1. Customization of curriculum materials as a site for identifying and taking action on shared problems of practice.

   McNeill, K L; Lee, S; Zhang, Y; Moore, A T; Buell, J; Reiser, B; Affolter, R; Fine, C; Moreno_Vera, M A (June 2024, Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2024. Buffalo, USA: International Society of the Learning Sciences.)

   Lindgren, R; Asino, T I; Kyza, E A; Looi, C K; Keifert, D T; Suárez, E (Ed.)

   Science learning reforms require shifting epistemic and power structures so students and teachers build knowledge together within the context of meaningful questions and problems. Curricular customization allows teachers to preserve these reform-oriented goals while adapting for their specific contexts and students. This paper presents three cases from professional learning communities (PLCs) who followed the same curriculum customization model, but with different equity goals: supporting bi/multilingual learners’ ownership of learning, increasing the relevance of curriculum for students, and encouraging more student voices and multiple perspectives. Together, these cases highlight how the collaborative customization model facilitated productive tensions that lead to teacher learning. 

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2. Supporting Collaborative Curriculum Customizations Using the Knowledge Integration Framework

   Wiley, K.; Bradford, A.; Linn, M. C. (January 2019, Computer-supported collaborative learning)

   Teachers are currently facing a major instructional challenge, namely, supporting students to meet the three dimensional learning goals of the Next Generation Science Standards without adequate curriculum materials to do so. In this paper, we report the design and outcomes of professional development activities that support teachers and researchers to collaboratively customize Web-based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) units to help students develop coherent science knowledge. The WISE units and professional development activities were developed using the Knowledge Integration (KI) Framework. We show that the KI framework functioned as an effective scaffold to support teachers in modifying their teaching practice to make curriculum customizations that are evidence-based and aligned with a theory of learning. We discuss how our study results informed the design of an online curriculum customization and implementation interface and offer the principles of the KI framework as design principles for the development of other collaborative professional development endeavors. 

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3. Supporting Teachers to Customize Curriculum for Self-Directed Learning

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-022-09985-w  

   Gerard, Libby; Bradford, Allison; Linn, Marcia C. (August 2022, Journal of Science Education and Technology)

   Abstract Guiding teachers to customize curriculum has shown to improve science instruction when guided effectively. We explore how teachers use student data to customize a web-based science unit on plate tectonics. We study the implications for teacher learning along with the impact on student self-directed learning. During a professional development workshop, four 7th grade teachers reviewed logs of their students’ explanations and revisions. They used a curriculum visualization tool that revealed the pedagogy behind the unit to plan their customizations. To promote self-directed learning, the teachers decided to customize the guidance for explanation revision by giving students a choice among guidance options. They took advantage of the web-based unit to randomly assign students (N = 479) to either a guidance Choice or a no-choice condition. We analyzed logged student explanation revisions on embedded and pre-test/post-test assessments and teacher and student written reflections and interviews. Students in the guidance Choice condition reported that the guidance was more useful than those in the no-choice condition and made more progress on their revisions. Teachers valued the opportunity to review student work, use the visualization tool to align their customization with the knowledge integration pedagogy, and investigate the choice option empirically. These findings suggest that the teachers’ decision to offer choice among guidance options promoted aspects of self-directed learning. 

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4. Developing K-5 Engineering Educators through Authentic Experiences in a Research Laboratory

   Evans, Gayle N; Crippen, Kent; Simmons, Chelsey S; Simmons, Renee N. (March 2018, ASEE Southeast Section Conference Proceedings)

   The University of Florida Multidisciplinary Research Experiences for Teachers (MRET) is a 3- year program bringing together engineering research scientists, K-5 teachers, and industry professionals with the goal to increase interest in and preparation for STEM careers through the incorporation of STEM concepts, practices, and role models into elementary classrooms. MRET includes four elements that are designed to heighten participating teachers’ STEM awareness and expertise: (1) 6-weeks of immersive research experience; (2) curriculum development led by an education expert; (3) exposure to STEM careers through seminars and field trips led by industry professionals; and (4) engineering researcher involvement during curriculum development and implementation. This year-one evaluation is focused on the research question: What elements of the research experience support the project’s goals? and involved a mixed method approach to understanding the experience of six participating elementary teachers and six engineering graduate students who worked together as protégé-mentors in each of three different laboratories. 

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5. Elementary Teachers’ Perceptions and Enactment of Supplemental, Game-Enhanced Fraction Intervention

   https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13111071  

   Hunt, Jessica; Taub, Michelle; Duarte, Alejandra; Bentley, Brianna; Womack-Adams, Kelly; Marino, Matthew; Holman, Kenneth; Kuhlman, Adrian (November 2023, Education Sciences)

   Curricula enhanced through the use of digital games can benefit students in their interest and learning of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) concepts. Elementary teachers’ likelihood to embrace and use game-enhanced instructional approaches with integrity in mathematics has not been extensively studied. In this study, a sequential mixed methods design was employed to investigate the feasibility of a game-enhanced supplemental fraction curriculum in elementary classrooms, including how teachers implemented the curriculum, their perspectives and experiences as they used it, and their students’ resulting fraction learning and STEM interest. Teachers implemented the supplemental curriculum with varying adherence but had common experiences throughout their implementation. Teachers expressed experiences related to (1) time, (2) curriculum being too different, and (3) too difficult for students. Their strategies to handle those phenomena varied. Teachers that demonstrated higher adherence to the game-enhanced supplemental fraction curriculum had students that displayed higher STEM interest and fraction learning. While this study helps to better understand elementary teachers’ experiences with game-enhanced mathematics curricula, implications for further research and program development are also discussed. 

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