NARST 2024
You won’t want to miss the sessions provided by BSCS Science Learning at this year’s NARST Annual International Conference in Denver, March 17-20, 2024! Details listed below, or click here for more information (enter in search bar: BSCS).
March 17
Partnering With Teachers to Localize a Climate Learning Experience for Students
Lindsey Mohan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Emily Harris, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Candice Guy-Gaytàn, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Audrey Mohan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Betty Stennett, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
Achieving the ambitious goals for science education set forth by Framework and the NGSS requires science teaching and learning to connect with student interests, identities, and experiences as youth investigate phenomena in the world. We approached this challenge in the context of supporting youth to cultivate a sense of environmental science agency as they investigate locally relevant climate impacts and solutions. We partnered with 28 high school teachers across the U.S. to help them design and customize a climate change learning experience with locally meaningful phenomena. Teachers were provided with a 10-lesson base unit that engaged students in understanding the mechanisms behind climate change and solutions to rebalance the carbon system. We supported teachers to create a local storyline around the base unit that anchored students’ learning in a local climate impact and culminated in a local climate change action. Teachers reported that their greatest success in the professional development program was learning to create a coherent storyline. Challenges persisted in structuring teacher learning for storyline design work and providing the right support and resources.
Strand
Strand 10: Curriculum and Assessment
Session Details
Partnering with Teachers to Customize Curriculum and Assessment for Meaningful Student Learning
Date and Time
Sunday, March 17 • 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Supporting Teachers in the Selection of Meaningful Phenomena for Assessment Design
Sara Cooper, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Abraham Lo, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
This paper addresses the need for a shift in assessment practices within science education to promote diverse sensemaking. In line with the vision of the NRC (2012)’s A Framework for K-12 Science Education, this study aims to establish a more coherent system of teaching, learning, and assessment that aligns with equitable opportunities for all learners. The paper emphasizes the importance of not only aligning assessments with the three dimensions of the standards, but also taking into account learners’ interests and identities to create meaningful, engaging, and relevant assessment opportunities.
The study focuses on the critical aspect of selecting meaningful phenomena to drive sensemaking. The intervention was a three-month, online professional learning course designed to enhance teachers’ professional design capacity. The research examines 22 secondary science teachers who participated in the course in the fall of 2022. Applying Suárez and Bell’s (2019) framework, the paper categorizes the selected phenomena of teachers’ in-course assessment design. The majority of phenomena selected were “everyday” phenomena and the least represented class of phenomena was culturally significant. Most teachers selected phenomena falling within the natural/cultural framework, however five did not fit the selected phenomena classes framework.
Strand
Strand 10: Curriculum and Assessment
Session Details
Partnering with Teachers to Customize Curriculum and Assessment for Meaningful Student Learning
Date and Time
Sunday, March 17 • 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Examining What Phenomena Matter to Students in a Customizable Unit
Candice Guy-Gaytàn, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Awais Syed, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Emily Harris, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Lindsey Mohan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
NGSS calls for using real world phenomena that matter to students to motivate sensemaking, which presents a challenge when designing curriculum for broad use. Meaningful phenomena may include phenomena with local or global impact that are culturally significant, contemporary scientific, societally relevant, or experienced daily; therefore, what is meaningful for students can differ across individuals and communities. In our project we collaborated with teachers to design a story line unit that included anchoring, investigative, and related phenomena and that also allowed for customizing phenomena to address students’ interests, identities, and communities. In this paper, we present a case study of four fourth-grade students and explore their experiences with designed for and teacher customized phenomena. Analysis of focus group interview data revealed descriptors students used to identify what makes phenomena interesting and meaningful to them. Results suggest that interesting and meaningful phenomena are those that are observable in their daily lives and impactful on their communities. Further analysis will focus on how meaningfulness influences student sensemaking of those phenomena. This case-study paper will be of consequence to researchers and curriculum designers interested in pedagogical supports for customizing units in ways that support student sensemaking while also attending to students interests and identities.
Strand
Strand 10: Curriculum and Assessment
Session Details
Partnering with Teachers to Customize Curriculum and Assessment for Meaningful Student Learning
Date and Time
Sunday, March 17 • 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
BSCS Then and Now: Advancing High Quality Science Education for All Learners
Amy Belcastro, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Jody Bintz, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Kevin Cherbow, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Jenine Cotton-Proby, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Clarissa Deverel-Rico, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Brian Donovan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Daniel Edelson, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Jean Flanagan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Cynthia Gay, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Candice Guy-Gaytán, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Emily Harris, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Cari Herrmann Abell, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Sherry Hsi, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abraham Lo, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Audrey Mohan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Lindsey Mohan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Patricia Olson, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Diego Rojas-Perilla, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Jeffrey Snowden, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Betty Stennett, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Molly Stuhlsatz, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Christopher Wilson, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
BSCS was founded in response to the urgent need to better prepare U.S. science teachers following the Soviet launch of Sputnik. Then, BSCS conducted research and development with scientists and teachers in close partnership to design for more coherence across biology topics and to support meaningful inquiry in a year-long high school curriculum. Thirty years later, the 5Es instructional model emerged from continued research-practice partnerships, guiding the further development of robust instructional materials across multiple projects, districts and institutions. Today, BSCS’s research portfolio spans projects and initiatives to advance high quality science learning, teaching, and leadership development. Contemporary research includes studies of science teachers as they adapt and localize curricula to their diverse audiences; scenario-based assessments that can measure students’ ability to engage in NGSS 3D learning; as well as research on instructional practices from engagement in online and video-based professional learning programs. BSCS’s research also includes design research for out-of-school and STEM learners, community college students, and elementary-aged learners. This structured poster symposium will share a sampling of BSCS’s current research and evaluation findings and engage the NARST community in discussion and reflection on how we can collectively advance high quality science education for all.
Strand
Colorado Science Education Research
Date and Time
Sunday, March 17 • 4:45 PM – 6:15 PM
March 18
Lessons Learned from Designing 5D Professional Learning for Rural Science Teachers
Abraham Lo, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Annie Allen, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Kevin Cherbow, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Sara Cooper, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Loraine Glidewell, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Cari Herrmann Abell, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Keelin O’Connor, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
William Penuel, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Abstract
This research study investigated the extent to which an online course supported rural teachers in developing assessments that provide students with the opportunity to use the 3Ds to explain phenomena or solving engineering problems that engage student interest and support science-linked identity development. The course is an adaptation of a 2-day, in-person workshop and was designed to enhance rural teachers’ access to high quality professional learning. Efforts were made to build community among rural teachers who often lack peers with whom to collaborate. This study documents the specific challenges rural teachers face in designing tasks to elicit students’ understanding of the 3Ds in ways that connect to their interests and identities and how we used what we learned to iterate upon our design to create a more coherent and effective experience for our teachers.
Strand
Strand 10: Curriculum and Assessment
Session Details
Partnering with Teachers to Customize Curriculum and Assessment for Meaningful Student Learning
Date and Time
Monday, March 18 • 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Investigating the Impact of a 5D Professional Learning Course on Rural Teachers’ Assessment Practices
Cari Herrmann Abell, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abraham Lo, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Kevin Cherbow, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Sara Cooper, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
April Gardner, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Keelin O’Connor, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Abstract
This paper explores the efficacy of a revised three-month, online professional learning course designed to support rural teachers in designing five-dimensional (5D) assessment tasks that explicitly attend to students’ interest and practice-linked identity development. We conducted a randomized control study with 55 rural teachers from 13 states. Before and after experiencing the course, teachers submitted an assessment they developed or modified to make it aligned with the 5D vision. The assessments were scored using a rubric we developed to measure the extent to which the teacher-designed assessments aligned with the 5D vision. Overall, treatment teachers significantly outperformed the comparison teachers on their post-test assessments. Treatment teachers shifted away from using phenomena as contexts for demonstrating 3D understanding toward phenomena that drive multidimensional sensemaking. However, greater support is needed to ensure that teachers are making explicit what is puzzling about the phenomena and developing opportunities for students to use the dimensions at the elemental level. These findings show the promise of the online professional learning course in supporting rural teachers to shift their assessment practices toward a 5D vision, but also highlight the challenges teachers face even after experiencing in-depth professional learning.
Strand
Strand 10: Curriculum and Assessment
Session Details
Partnering with Teachers to Customize Curriculum and Assessment for Meaningful Student Learning
Date and Time
Monday, March 18 • 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Moving Genetics Education Beyond Mendel Can Reduce Racial Prejudice
Brian Donovan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Monica Weindling, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Dennis Lee, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Awais Syed, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
Genetics education affects how students explain racial inequality. For example, when students learn about race during Mendelian genetics, they believe more strongly that racial inequality is genetically determined. In contrast, studies tentatively suggest that if students learn about the complexity of genomics and race it can reduce this same belief. In this proposal, we investigate for the first time how different types of genetics instruction affect three different conceptions of race that influence how students make sense of racial inequality: (a) genetic essentialism, (b) racial colorblindness, and (c)social constructionism. Through a pre-registered cluster-randomized trial (N = 1063 biology students in N = 6 states), we demonstrate that the ideal instructional sequence to reduce essentialism, avoid colorblindness, and increase constructionism is to introduce students to the models of Mendelian genetics and then move beyond these models and highlight their limitations using insights from genomics that refute racist assumptions.
Strand
Strand 10: Curriculum and Assessment
Session Details
Moving Towards Equity and Racial Justice
Date and Time
Monday, March 18 • 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Evaluating Student Engagement in Climate Change Education: A Novel Approach to Measuring Environmental Science Agency
Jeffrey Snowden, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Brian Donovan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Lindsey Mohan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Emily Harris, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
Environmental Science Agency (ESA) is a framework that emphasizes the importance of young people leveraging their science learning and participation as a basis for acting on environmental sustainability issues. We are partnering with teachers to design localized climate learning experiences that attend to student interest, identity, expertise, and content knowledge within science classrooms. As part of an ongoing research study, we are using a novel ESA measurement framework to explore how such learning experiences impact the extent to which students leverage their classroom experience as a foundation for the current or future ability to act on environmental sustainability issues in their life or community. We developed and validated three instruments that assess student knowledge of climate change, interest and identity in science, and enjoyment of science roles in the classroom. Using hierarchical random intercept models, we explored the predictive validity of these constructs on students’ foundations for change. Significant within-classroom effects were found for all three measures, underscoring the influential role of teachers in positioning students within their classrooms to foster ESA. Our findings provide valid evidence for the novel ESA measurement framework which emphasizes the complex interplay of knowledge, roles, and identity in shaping students’ foundation for environmental change.
Strand
Strand 14: Environmental Education and Sustainability
Session Details
Education for Sustainable Development
Date and Time
Monday, March 18 • 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Impacting Preservice Teachers’ Classroom Practice Through the Development of Coherent Science Teacher Education Experiences
Kevin Cherbow, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abraham Lo, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Cari Herrmann Abell, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Karen Askinas, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Betty Stennett, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
This study mobilized the [PROGRAM] framework to enhance the effectiveness and coherence of the three university science education programs in the Mountain West. We hypothesized that redesigning teacher education programs in ways that foreground the use of the [PROGRAM] framework would positively impact preservice teachers (PSTs) classroom practices as they participated in student teaching. We worked with these universities (A-C) to plan and implement revisions to their science teacher education programs informed by the framework. We recruited PSTs before (Business-As-Usual) and after (Treatment) each team implemented their revisions. We analyzed video of PSTs student teaching and interviews of project participants. To describe the extent to which PSTs’ classroom practices included [PROGRAM]strategies, we used a Rasch measurement model to estimate measures of classroom practice. University C had the biggest difference in classroom practice measure between the BAU and treatment groups, which suggested that the implementation of University C’s plan impacted PSTs’ classroom practice. Each university differed in the duration and scale of their revisions to their teacher education programs. This may have contributed to the variation in each university’s average classroom practice score. Overall, this study presents a powerful approach to enhance coherence in science teacher education programs.
Strand
Strand 7: Pre-service Science Teacher Education
Session Details
Research in Approaches to Teacher Preparation
Date and Time
Monday, March 18 • 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Exploring the Impacts of Educative Model-Based Biology Instructional Materials on Teacher Outcomes
Cari Herrmann Abell, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Jeffrey Snowden, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Molly Stuhlsatz, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Brian Donovan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Cynthia Passmore, UC Davis School of Education, Davis, CA
Christopher Wilson, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
With the implementation of the multidimensional Next Generation Science Standards, educative instructional materials play a critical role in supporting shifts in instructional practice toward scaffolding students’ multidimensional sensemaking. This study seeks to explore the impact of educative instructional materials in the context of high school biology that support teachers in understanding model-based reasoning as an approach to support students in developing an integrated, multidimensional understanding of science. We conducted a quasi-experimental study with 48 teachers. The treatment group received five days of online professional development and implemented model-based reasoning materials. The comparison group used their business-as-usual materials. Rasch and linear regression models were used to evaluate the impact of the materials on three teacher outcomes. We found a moderate effect on teachers’ science content knowledge, but we did not find an effect on teachers’ confidence in teaching science or teachers’ vision of effective science teaching. Because ambiguity is inherent in a model-based reasoning approach, we explored whether teachers’ need for closure moderated the impact on their content knowledge. However, the model showed no significant moderation. Our findings suggest that using educative biology instructional materials positively impacts high school teachers’ content knowledge about model-based reasoning in biology.
Strand
Strand 7: Pre-service Science Teacher Education
Session Details
Poster Session A
Date and Time
Monday, March 18 • 5:30 PM – 6:15 PM
March 19
The State of Framework-aligned Assessment Tasks: Where are we?
Clarissa Deverel-Rico, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Patricia Olson, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Cari Herrmann Abell, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Chris Wilson, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
The emphasis on an equitable vision of science learning in current science education reform efforts sees students as contributing to knowledge-building through drawing on their rich cultural and linguistic backgrounds while engaging in the three dimensions to make sense of compelling, relevant phenomena. However, this vision will not be fully realized without coherence between curriculum, instruction, and assessment. As a majority of states have now adopted standards aligned to or adapted from the Framework, we see an urgent need for assessments that can support rather than conflict with promoting equitable science learning. In this study, we seek to understand the current state of Framework-aligned classroom assessment tasks. We have amassed 339 middle school tasks, originating from state-level assessment banks and university- or research group-developed tasks. Our preliminary findings from characterizing 104 tasks revealed that the majority of tasks target dimensions of the NGSS or Framework-based standards and include a phenomenon. However, there are challenges in framing phenomena that attend to students’ interests and identities and engage students in three-dimensional sensemaking. Additionally, some phenomena are not based in real-world observations and are not authentic from students’ perspectives, resulting in difficulty for students to make connections of local or global relevance.
Session Details
Roundtable Session 2
Date and Time
Tuesday, March 19 • 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
How Does the Framing of Anchoring Phenomena Affect Student Perception of Interest and Relevance?
Zoë Buck Bracey, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Jamie Noll, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Diego Rojas-Perilla, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Joe Kremer, Denver Public Schools, Denver, CO
Abstract
Developers applying NGSS-aligned instructional models often use student data from national surveys to make decisions about anchoring phenomena. But there is a lot we don’t know about how to interpret data from these surveys. In particular, we know very little about how the framing of phenomena impacts students’ self-reported interest, and/or students’ perceptions of relevance, and if/how student identity moderates this relationship. We have designed a research study to address these gaps in what we know and help disentangle interest from relevance in our interpretation of survey data. We are interested in how framing phenomena either in a local context, as an engineering problem, or by highlighting related social/environmental injustices affects students’ perceptions of relevance/interest. We are also interested in investigating the effect that gender/racial identity might have on this relationship. We propose to carry out this study over the next six months and present the results at a NARST work-in-progress round table next spring.
Session Details
Roundtable Session 2
Date and Time
Tuesday, March 19 • 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Intersection Between Sense of Belonging, Identity and Content from a Genetics Curriculum Based on Race
Dennis Lee, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Monica Weindling, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Awais Syed, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Andy Brubaker, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Jean Flanagan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Robbee Wedow, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Brian Donovan, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
Social belonging in science class has a significant impact on persistence and academic success in STEM. We hypothesize that learning from genetics curricula designed to reduce prejudiced thinking can threaten or affirm student identities, thereby influencing social belonging. Therefore, we conducted a mixed-method study to investigate how learning from a curriculum designed to reduce prejudiced thinking about genetics and race intersects with student identities to influence their social belonging. We collected data through survey methods and interviews with students and teachers. Through analysis of surveys measuring self-reported social belonging, racial, and political identities of students, we find that social belonging grows linearly over the course of the curriculum, and that this growth is not moderated by students’ racial or political identities. Student interviews suggested that social belonging for Students of Color was increased during instruction as these students encountered evidence that their peers were changing their biased beliefs. Altogether, our results suggest that learning about genetics and race from a curriculum designed to reduce prejudice can increase social belonging of students regardless of their racial or political identities. Our results also suggest that curricular content, teacher moves, and social interactions work together to influence social belonging of students during instruction.
Strand
Strand 2: Science Learning: Contexts, Characteristics and Interactions
Session Details
SC-Organized Paper Set
Date and Time
Tuesday, March 19 • 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Preparing Rural Teachers to Design Framework-Aligned Assessment Tasks: Variations in Who Learns and Why
William Penuel, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
Abraham Lo, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
This paper focuses on a professional development program designed to support rural secondary science teachers to design tasks to assess student learning that reflect the vision of A Framework for K-12 Science Education. Our approach is grounded in the idea that designing tasks provides a powerful context for learning, but that teachers’ own prior knowledge, experiences, and identities will shape what they learn, as do the social and material resources that they have available to them. Interviews and assessment tasks collected from teachers in both a design study and experiment served as data to account for variation in who learned what and why in the program. While we found that overall, the quality of teachers’ assessments shifted over time, the results for the experiment were better than for the design study, partly owing to shifts made in tools and coaching and feedback provided in the experiment. A persistent challenge was choosing and problematizing phenomena for assessment. Our sequence of studies shows the potential—as well as intensive labor—associated with iterative design of tools to support teachers in designing assessments aligned with the vision of the Framework.
Strand
Strand 8: In-service Science Teacher Education
Session Details
Related Paper Set
Date and Time
Tuesday, March 19 • 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
March 20
Teachers’ Attention to Student Interest in Selecting Anchoring Phenomena in an Environmental Justice Project
Susan Gomez Zwiep, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Katherine Nilsen, WestEd, Long Beach CA
Jill Grace, WestEd, Long Beach CA
Zoë Buck Bracey, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Ashley Ivelan, WestEd, Long Beach, CA
Abstract
A Framework for K–12 Science Education outlines a vision for science learning anchored in understanding phenomena and solving problems. Through making sense of phenomena, students authentically engage in the real-world practices of science and develop disciplinary understanding. Having students provide input on phenomena to investigate can increase relevance and ultimately support their motivation to learn science over time. In this study, middle school co-development teachers, scientists, and expert science teachers developed grade-level phenomena surveys that pertained to their local, urban California context and aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards’ performance expectations. The phenomena in the surveys focused on justice-centered issues around biodiversity. The process of brainstorming phenomena, selecting phenomena for inclusion in initial surveys, analyzing data collected from students, and modifying phenomena based on these results was documented through field notes and artifacts. Results showed that some grade-level surveys included phenomena that students found interesting that could be included in classroom learning sequences, whereas other surveys required further information in instances where prompts weren’t interesting, or students did not favor certain phenomena over others. This process of phenomena development and revision could help professional learning providers and researchers identify phenomena of interest to historically marginalized students.
Session Details
Roundtable Session 3
Date and Time
Wednesday, March 20 • 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Impacts & Moderation of a Model-Based High School Biology Program on Student Outcomes
Christopher Wilson, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Cynthia Passmore, University of California Davis, Davis, CA
Molly Stuhlsatz, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Cari Herrmann Abell, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Jeffrey Snowden, BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Hessan Ghanimi, University of California Davis, Davis, CA
Patricia Olson. BSCS Science Learning, Colorado Springs, CO
Abstract
This study explores the impact of a year-long high school biology program that generates scientific understanding by providing students with opportunities to engage in modeling. The goal of the project is to study the impact of the program and expand the promise of efficacy and feasibility established in previous work. The perspective that scientific models are sense-making tools is a lever point we use to help teachers transform their science instruction and enhance student learning. We explored impacts of the treatment compared to business-as-usual materials with 48 teachers in Northern California. Findings show both groups of students demonstrated increases in their biology content knowledge, but the increase in the treatment group was significantly greater than the comparison business-as-usual group (p<0.05, Hedges’ g effect size = 0.154). Baseline equivalence was present for the two treatment groups. Of the four moderating variables that were explored, the teacher’s Need for Closure was a significant negative moderator on the student achievement outcome, with teachers with a higher tolerance for ambiguity being more effective.
Strand
Strand 10: Curriculum and Assessment
Session Details
SC-Organized Paper Set
Date and Time
Wednesday, March 20 • 1:45 PM – 3:15 PM
