Technology-Assisted Formative Assessment

Reliable just-in-time assessments are the foundation of informed teaching and learning. Modern electronic technologies assist in the formative assessment process by supporting classroom environments that allow students and teachers to assess learning and providing mechanisms to present information about student learning during instructional sequences. To implement formative assessment practices, students and teachers benefit from rich educational tasks that invite students to share information about their understanding of the lesson while the lesson is occurring in order to nurture productive learning by both teacher and student. Formative feedback is facilitated by technologies such as connected classrooms, videography, online formative quizzes, and manuscript multi-draft editing. Technology-assisted formative assessment represents a powerful option to promote improved classroom communications that support formative assessment practices for teachers in twenty-first century classrooms.

Computer Programming in Elementary and Middle School

Computing has impacted almost all aspects of life, making it increasingly important for the next generation to understand how to develop and use software. Yet, a lack of research on how children learn computer science and an already impacted elementary school schedule has meant that very few children have the opportunity to learn computer science prior to high school. This chapter introduces literature on teaching computer programming to elementary and middle school, highlights three studies that span elementary and middle school, and discusses how programming can be integrated into other content areas and address national standards.

Motivating Inquiry-Based Learning Through a Combination of Physical and Virtual Computer-Based Laboratory Experiments in High School Science

This chapter presents research about a combination of physical experimentation (PE) and virtual experimentation (VE) in computer-based inquiry learning as an instructional value to students' affective domain. For this study, the author has developed a science lesson for promoting interactive inquiry learning, and the researcher investigated whether orchestrating PE and VE in sequential learning affect students' learning perception and science motivation. To evaluate the lesson, questionnaires were used to examine how students perceived the lesson and their perceptions about how the lesson promotes science motivation. The results indicated students' positive perceptions that experiencing the lesson supported cognitive performance, emotional practice, and the social inquiry process. In addition, exposure to the lesson improved students' science motivation for both females and males. This highlights that the combination is an effective way to enhance the effectiveness of high school science learning.

Examining the Levels of Reasoning Used by Urban Elementary Black Girls Engaging in Technology-Enhanced Inquiry

Technological tools such as interfaces, sensors and probeware are increasingly prevalent in science classrooms. With increased prevalence comes a need to improve the research base on how to use technology in ways that maximize student learning. These resources potentially support inquiry-based learning approaches through the collection and transformation of data. Furthermore, by making data trends evident, these technologies have the potential to support construction of scientific explanations and complex reasoning. The purpose of this study was to analyze the levels of reasoning displayed by African American girls engaged in technology-enhanced inquiry so as to better understand the extent to which technology can support scientific literacy. Our results indicated modest gains in the girls' ability to display data and connect data trends to scientific phenomenon. We believe that studying the experiences and learning of students from historically underrepresented backgrounds in STEM is critical for ensuring equitable educational experiences and access to STEM-related professions.

A Qualitative Study of Teachers' Understanding of Sustainability

This qualitative study was focused on exploring how in-service teachers' who were attending a three-day “Educating for Sustainability” workshop made sense of sustainability. Another goal of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions of the portrayal of the three dimensions of sustainability (environment, economy and social equity) in short movies that served as “real world” exemplars of sustainability that were freely available online through YouTube or other websites. Data was collected largely through individual semi-structured interviews, but also through questionnaires and written and drawn documentation. The findings, obtained through the constant-comparative method of coding, indicated that teachers' spontaneous descriptions of sustainability emphasized the environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability, but overlooked the equity dimension of sustainability. The videos helped teachers incorporate the 3E's into their sustainability discussions when all three dimensions were addressed, but when the social equity dimension was missing, then it tended to go unnoticed.

Media Literacy as a Pathway to Bridge the Digital and STEM Divides

One of today's equity challenges is the need to increase media literacy among all students, especially traditionally marginalized students. Media literacy is defined by the way that particular student groups are limited in their engagement with digital resources that promote critical thinking and problem solving. This chapter provides implementation models for seven different types of media projects focused on climate change science that have been successfully piloted with 78 secondary students primarily from impoverished backgrounds. Results show that students' experiences while participating in these projects were transformational. Both the digital and STEM divides were bridged by including science-focus media projects.

Using Reason Racer to Support Argumentation in Middle School Science Instruction

With secondary students reporting that they are not attracted to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) disciplines, educators are turning to games as one strategy to engage students. The goal of integrating games into science learning is to create an excitement difficult to achieve with typical instruction. This chapter reviews games in education, particularly in STEM. Recognizing that teachers often lack the time to integrate role-playing games, the use of casual games is suggested. Casual games are easy to learn and simple to play, and incorporate game features designed to compel students to repeated play. The Reason Racer game addresses the difficult skill of scientific argumentation in a casual, competitive game. Evaluated with more than 700 students, those who played the game at least 10 times during science instruction over 6-weeks improved in every aspect of argumentation, and reported an increase in confidence and motivation to engage in science, compared to those who did not play the game. Readers are walked through the game and the resources in the Teacher Portal.

Technology's Role in Supporting Elementary Preservice Teachers as They Teach

This chapter describes a teacher preparation model incorporating a STEM focused, technology enhanced course and field experiences for preservice teachers. This field-based science method course supports and engages preservice teachers in creating and implementing lessons for early childhood and elementary students enrolled in an afterschool STEM Enrichment Program offered in a diverse urban elementary school. Technology is woven throughout the model, supporting preservice teachers as they build their content knowledge, and research effective practices to teach and assess their students. This model also helps to address the need to enhance STEM instruction in schools and inspire preservice teachers to engage their students in the STEM learning process. Findings from the model's implementation indicates a positive impact on the preservice teachers' understanding of science content and standards, on their pedagogical practices to design STEM lessons based on the revealed understandings of students' knowledge, and on the development of their professional identities.

Using Authentic Earth Data in the K-12 Classroom

Our planet is under intense observation—by satellites, seismometers, buoys, radar, and more. These instruments generate authentic data sets that are freely accessible online, and thus available for K-12 students and teachers to use in STEM classrooms. This chapter examines how teachers engaged in the NASA Endeavor program, a STEM teacher professional development initiative, use authentic online data in their classrooms and the effects of these activities on teaching and learning. Endeavor teachers use data in many ways, including through curriculum programs developed to scaffold earth data sets for use by students. Through qualitative analysis of teacher interviews, teacher course work, student work, and other relevant data, the researchers discovered that employing authentic online data in Endeavor teachers' classrooms helped students to construct explanations based on evidence and make real world connections to science content.

Using Technology to Rethink the Intersection of Statistics Education and Social Justice

A critical consumer is able to ask questions and discern information about data—its collection and analysis, and is able to judge whether conclusions are warranted (GAISE, 2007; Best, 2001). Promoting statistical knowledge by exploring social issues that create disparities helps individuals foster initiative for positive change and engage in equitable practices (Moses & Cobb, 2001; Gutstein, 2006). This chapter explains investigations suitable for use with pre-service/in-service teachers and middle school or high school students. Investigations were structured to help participants: 1) Engage in statistical problem solving using real data; 2) Focus on the process of statistical investigation (Rossman & Chance, 2012); and 3) Consider statistics as a means of promoting social change. A description of investigations and sample artifacts are included.