Transforming science education through research-driven innovation



Abe Lo


Bio

Senior Science Educator

Abraham Lo, PhD is a Senior Science Educator at BSCS Science Learning, where he designs and studies the efficacy of research-driven instructional materials and professional development programs to promote meaningful science learning for all students. He is co-PI on three NSF-funded projects to support teachers in adopting five-dimensional (5D) assessment and instruction practices (DRL 2010086 and DUE 2343911) and develop a community-driven model to enhance the coherence of preservice science teacher preparation programs (DUE 1725389). In addition, he co-led the design of the OpenSciEd middle school professional learning program and currently helps districts and states develop customized OpenSciEd implementation plans. Prior to BSCS, he was a secondary science teacher and instructional coach. Lo earned his PhD at Northwestern University and earned his BA and MSEd at the University of Pennsylvania.

Selected Publications

Lo, A. S., Bekins, A., Lindsay, W., Martin, A., Newberg, J., Smith, J., Gagnon, R., Knight, J., Knoblock, R., Larm, R., Scott, A., Strode, P., Stennett, B., & Cherbow, K. (2024, Jan). A practitioner’s perspective on engaging in cross-stakeholder collaborations to enhance secondary science preservice preparation programs [Themed Paper Set]. 2024 Association for Science Teacher Education International Conference, New Orleans, LA. bscs.org/STeLLACO2.

Lo, A. S., Glidewell, L., O’Connor, K., Allen, A., Herrmann-Abell, C. F., Penuel, W. R., Wingert, K., & Lindsay, W. (2022). Promoting shifts in teachers’ understanding and use of phenomena in instruction and assessment. In C. Chinn, E. Tan, & Y. Kali (Eds.), Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of the Learning Sciences – ICLS 2022 (pp. 1145-1148). International Society of the Learning Sciences. https://doi.org/10.22318/icls2022.1145.

Lo, A. S., Penuel, W. R., & Wingert, K. (2022). Supporting Teachers in Designing Assessments Aligned to the Vision of the Framework: Findings from Two Design Studies [Conference paper]. 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.

Wingert, K., Jacobs, J., Lindsay, W., Lo, A. S., Herrmann-Abell, C. F., & Penuel, W. R. (2022). Understanding the Priorities and Practices of Rural Science Teachers: Implications for Designing Professional Learning. The Rural Educator, 43(3), 26-40. https://doi.org/10.55533/2643-9662.1338.

Edelson, D. C., Reiser, B. J., McNeill, K. L., Mohan, A., Novak, M., Mohan, L., Affolter, R., McGill, T. A. W., Buck Bracey, Z. E., Deutch Noll, J., Kowalski, S. M., Novak, D., Lo, A. S., Landel, C., Krumm, A., Penuel, W. R., Van Horne, K., González-Howard, M., & Suárez, E. (2021). Developing Research-Based Instructional Materials to Support Large-Scale Transformation of Science Teaching and Learning: The Approach of the OpenSciEd Middle School Program. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 32(7), 780-804. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2021.1877457.

Lo, A. S., Stennett, B., Hvidsten, C., & Askinas, K. (2021). Adapting and Scaling the STeLLA PD Program Conceptual Framework in Preservice Teacher Education Programs [Conference Paper]. NARST 2021 Annual International Conference [Virtual Conference]. bscs.org/STeLLACO2.

Fick, S. J., Arias, A. M., Vo, T., Sherwood, C.-A., Benedict-Chambers, A., & Lo, A. S. (2020). Axes of Support: Explicit to Implicit and Practical to Epistemic. In M. Gresalfi & I. S. Horn (Eds.), The Interdisciplinarity of the Learning Sciences, 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2020 (Vol. 2, pp. 853-854). International Society of the Learning Sciences. https://doi.org/10.22318/icls2020.853.

Penuel, W., Lo, A. S., Jacobs, J., Gardner, A., Stuhlsatz, M. A. M., & Wilson, C. D. (2019). Tools for Supporting Teachers to Build Quality 3D Assessment Tasks [Conference Paper]. NARST 2019 Annual International Conference, Baltimore, MD. http://learndbir.org/resources/tools-for-supporting-teachers-to-build-quality-3d-assessment-tasks.

Lo, A. S. (Producer). (2018). Designing instructional units using the NextGenStorylines Approach to support student sensemaking. Implementing the NGSS. [Webinar] Retrieved from https://nagt.org/nagt/profdev/workshops/ngss_summit/sept2018/index.html.

Berland, L. K., Schwarz, C. V., Krist, C., Kenyon, L., Lo, A. S., & Reiser, B. J. (2016). Epistemologies in practice: Making scientific practices meaningful for students. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53(7), 1082-1112. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21257.

Lo, A. S. (2016). Epistemic aims, considerations, and agency: Lenses for helping teachers analyze and enhance students’ meaningful engagement in scientific practices [Conference Paper]. NARST 2016 Annual International Conference, Baltimore, MD.