Barbara Nagle - US grants

9730606 Thier The thirteen SEPUP (Science Education for Public Understanding Project) modules, previously developed, are revised to update the science issues and evidence in the modules, to align them more closely to the science standards and to develop an authentic assessment system for them. The assessment system is based on that used in SEPUP developed course, Issues, Evidence and You. At the request of teachers, an additional module on energy is developed with partial funding from EPRI. The SEPUP (formerly CEPUP) modules have been used nationwide to change the way science is taught and learned primarily in the middle schools. The target of the revised and enhanced modules is grades 7 - 9. A Guide to SEPUP Modules and the Science Standards correlates each module to the Standards and Benchmarks and recommends groupings of modules to address different content areas at different grades. A video on Issue Oriented Science Using SEPUP illustrates for teachers how the modules address standards for content, assessment and teaching and how they can provide access for students with different learning styles. Teachers are involved with the revision and testing. The modules contain suggestions for including educational technology. LAB-AIDS continues to distribute the printed materials and kits.

The issue-oriented and eigth grade courses in life and physical science developed by SEPUP (Science Education for Public Understanding Program) are extended to the sixth grade covering Physics and Earth Science. Students will understand the unique physical characteristics of the Earth in comparison with other planets, the relationship between force and motion, the role gravity plays in planetary processes, how energy in sunlight interacts with the Earth and its atmosphere, the role convection plays in atmospheric, oceanic and geologic processes and how the study of rocks provides evidence of current and past Earth processes and conditions. Each of these topics is considered in the context of making informed, non-emotional, evidence-based decisions that affect students and their families such as global warming, need for space exploration, location of essential, but potentionally dangerous structures, etc. The course materials include kits, printed materials, teacher guides and community outreach tools. The materials are developed by teachers and scientists and are tested in classrooms. Specific learning goals for students are derived from national and state standards. Student assessment is based on the previously developed embedded assessment system. The materials are published and distributed by LabAids.

"Science in Global Issues" (SGI) joins the already published, "Science and Sustainability," to become a two-year integrated science course for grades 9 and 10 incorporating an issues-oriented, guided-inquiry approach to learning. The course, to be available both as a full year course and as modules, focuses on the role of science in addressing the needs of modern society and the use of technology in advancing scientific knowledge. In collaboration with teachers and scientists, specific learning goals related to the science standards are developed. The assessment system, previously used in other SEPUP materials, serves as an indicator of learning, guides the development of activities, and is used as a basis for evaluation and research on how the instruction affects student learning and teacher practice. Students are introduced to and examine key science concepts in the context of personal and societal issues. A primary resource contains images of and data about countries around the world and links to existing simulations of processes. Unit themes include "Tools for Exploring Earth," "Maintaining Diversity," "World Health," and "Fueling the World." Content standards include interactions of energy and matter, matter energy and of living systems, evolution, the cell, structure of atoms and molecular basis of heredity. With SGI, SEPUP has developed a sequenced science curriculum for grades 6-10.

Schools and teachers face unprecedented challenges in meeting the ambitious goals of integrating core interdisciplinary science ideas with science and engineering practices as described in new standards. The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), in collaboration with the University of Connecticut (UConn), and the Lawrence Hall of Science (the Hall), will develop a middle school ecology unit and related teacher professional development that will help high-need and urban middle school students, including English Language Learners, understand these ideas and related practices. Teachers will be supported through professional development that is directly linked to the curriculum and is designed to develop their science content knowledge as well as their knowledge of how to teach the curriculum. The project builds on existing AMNH resources that include video and text passages supported with literacy strategies, online interactive data tools to plan and carry out investigations, and prior research on these resources used with teachers in professional development and with students in classrooms. In addition to serving the schools, teachers and students who directly participate, the project's deliverables include the ecology unit, teacher professional development, assessment tools, and a model for designing such comprehensives science programs that relate to NGSS.

The curriculum unit will be modeled after the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) 5E model that will use the 5 Phases (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate) for students to work through with each of five themes: Ecological Communities, Food Webs, A River Ecosystem, Zebra Mussel Invasion, and Monitoring Human Impact. Teachers will participate in 12 days of professional development that will introduce the program's pedagogical approach (the 5E model) and how it reflects NGSS, with teachers having significant time to learn the science, try out the activities, learn how to facilitate the program, provide feedback on the program as part of the evaluation, and reflect on their practice. The initial approach to the curriculum and teacher professional development will be designed in Year 1 and then iteratively revised and evaluated in Years 2-4 through formative evaluation that focuses on curriculum PD, and measures of student and teacher outcomes. The evaluation will assess the contribution of teacher science and pedagogical knowledge to increases in student knowledge. The evaluation findings and assessment tools developed for the project will provide the foundation for a future efficacy study. The project is one of a relatively small number of projects funded through NSF's DRK-12 program that directly addresses the need for NGSS-related learning resources. The project's learning resources, assessment tools, and model for designing NGSS-related and comprehensive science programs will be shared through professional publications, conference and workshop presentations, and liaison with organizations active in developing new resources bring NGSS into practice.