Philip Bell Learning Sciences & Human Development College of Education, UW

1. All young people should be able to decide their futures. Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for Today’s Students and Tomorrow’s Workforce: Engaging Learners in Disciplinary Practices Philip Bell Learning Sciences & Human Development College of Education, UW

2. UW Institute Mission We create partnerships to envision, develop and study equity-focused educational improvements in areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). ScienceMathInstitute.org

3. Available Online: tinyurl.com/ScienceFramework & nextgenscience.org

4. Quick Background on the Framework & Standards

5. 2003-2006 July 2011 April 2013 The Framework & Standards were reviewed and refined by over 40,000 teachers, scientists, engineers, educational researchers, youth and other stakeholders in K-12 science ed. 1999-2009

6. A New Vision for Science Education The overarching goal…is to ensure that…all students have some appreciation of the beauty and wonder of science; possess sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on related issues; are careful consumers of scientific and technological information related to their everyday lives; are able to continue to learn about science outside school; and have the skills to enter careers of their choice, including (but not limited to) careers in science, engineering, and technology. Online: tinyurl.com/ScienceFramework & nextgenscience.org

7. Principles of the Framework • Children Are Born Investigators • Focusing on Core Ideas and Practices • Understanding Develops Over Time • Science and Engineering Require Both Knowledge and Practice • Connecting to Students’ Interests and Experiences • Promoting Equity

8. Major Educational Goals of the Framework Coherent investigation of core ideas across multiple years of school Students should engage in authentic practices while learning about disciplinary core ideas and making connections to the crosscutting concepts

9. Learning Conceptualized along Three Dimensions—Guided Development of New Educational Standards Standards take the form of performance expectations defined through combinations of elements of the three dimensions that progress across grade levels

10. Dimension 3: Core Ideas Across Four Disciplinary Areas Physical Sciences Matter and its interactions; Motion and stability; Energy; Waves Life Sciences Structures & processes; Ecosystems; Heredity; Biological evolution Earth & Space Sciences Earth’s place in the universe; Earth’s systems; Earth and human activity (including climate change) Engineering, Technology & Applications of Science Engineering design; Links among engineering, technology, science and society

11. Dimension 2: Crosscutting Concepts Patterns Cause and effect Scale, proportion and quantity Systems and system models Energy and matter Structure and function Stability and change

12. Dimension 1: Science and Engineering Practices Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering) Developing and using models Planning and carrying out investigations Analyzing and interpreting data Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering) Engaging in argument from evidence Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information The “science inquiry” approach has been refined to focus on core scientific and engineering practices—specialized ways of engaging in disciplinary knowledge work (ways of investigating, talking, analyzing, representing, communicating). For each practice, the Framework includes a description and outlines the culminating 12th grade learning goals for each. Achieve added grade-banded goals for each practice.

13. Here are Some Issues that May Come Up with a Focus on Practices… • The term “practice” in NGSS it not meant to imply the “repetitive practice of a skill.” Practices are intellectual practices with cognitive, social and cultural aspects. • Engaging learners in practices runs counter to teaching “the scientific method”; the eight practices are not a fixed sequence for students to follow. • Engaging learners in practices means focusing more on active knowledge construction, less on memorization. • Many of the practices increase the language demands for English language learners—who should repeatedly use language in meaningful ways through investigations. • Students will flow back and forth across the practices as they do their investigations. More on this later...

14. The 8 Science & Engineering Practices Read the “science column” from Box 3-2 in the NRC Framework. Mark how familiar you are engaging students in each practice (1-5) and jot down any examples.

15. A Classroom Example

16. Classroom Context • 8th grade physical science classroom • Semester-long curriculum focused on heat, temperature & light • Veteran classroom science teacher (over 30 years experience) • Students work in pairs with computers / probes • Using Computer as Learning Partner andWeb-based Inquiry Science Environment curriculum (http://wise.berkeley.edu)

17. Curriculum Unit: “How Far Does Light Go?” Debate Project • A comparison of two theories: • Light dies out as you move farther from a light source. • Light goes forever until absorbed. • Student activities: • Analyze, categorize, and create evidence • Create arguments involving evidence and claims • Present and debate their argument in class

18. Students construct explanations that link theory to a range of relevant phenomena

19. Making Thinking Visible: Provided students with a way to express, share and refine their arguments • SenseMaker argument maps (Bell, 1997, 2004)

20. Argument maps focus debate discussions on the details of student’s reasoning

21. Classroom debate video An eighth-grade physical science class debating about the nature of light after conducting six weeks of experiments

22. Practice 6: Constructing Explanations (Science) and Designing Solutions (Engineering) Scientific explanations are accounts that link scientific theory with specific observations or phenomena. Scientific theories are developed to provide explanations that illuminate particular phenomena. Students should be engaged with standard scientific explanations, and they should be asked to demonstrate their developing understanding by constructing their own causal explanations—which supports conceptual learning.

23. Practice 7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence The production of scientific knowledge depends on the process of reasoning that requires a scientist to make a justified claim about the world—to construct arguments from evidence. Other scientists attempt to identify the claims weaknesses and limitations. Students should construct scientific arguments showing how data supports claims, help identify possible weaknesses in scientific arguments, and refine their arguments in response to criticism.

24. Practice 7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence By 12th grade, students should be able to… (select list) • Construct a scientific argument showing how the data support the claim. Recognize that the major features of scientific arguments are claims, data, and reasons and distinguish these elements in examples. • Identify possible weaknesses in scientific arguments, appropriate to the students’ level of knowledge, and discuss them using reasoning and evidence. • Identify flaws in their own arguments and modify and improve them in response to criticism. • Read media reports of science or technology in a critical manner so as to identify their strengths and weaknesses.

25. Why Practices? The practices in the Framework are considered to be central to science and engineering. Practices… engage students productively in inquiry, support important learning processes, and help students understand aspects of the science and engineering enterprises

26. The Focus on Practices Can Promote Educational Equity & Social Justice • Practices can… • Support extended, active, and local learning processes that attend to social, cognitive, and cultural dimensions • Provide multiple entry points for learners • Build upon learner interests, everyday language, knowledge, practices, and identities (i.e., an asset-based view) • Promote an expanded view of “What counts as science?” (beyond memorization of content, confirmatory labs)

27. We Should Take Advantage of the Unprecedented Synergy Across the Standards The science and engineering practices have considerable synergy with the practices and skills promoted in Common Core math and literacy standards. Sources: Diagram - Education Week Next Generation Science Standards Tina Cheuk, Understanding Language, ell.stanford.edu

28. Designing Instruction as a “Cascade of Practices”

29. How Can We Engage Learners with the Eight Core Science & Engineering Practices? • Students should have significant experience in sustained investigations where they investigate and produce knowledge about the natural world (NRC, 2007, 2011) • Want to engage them in authentic practices while learning about disciplinary core ideas and making connections to the crosscutting concepts • Practices do not operate in isolation in science. Students should learn how the practices are interrelated over the course of extended investigations.

30. Exemplar 2—Investigating Contemporary Genetics in Educurious: Using DNA Barcoding to Identify an Unknown Species

31. Biology DNA Barcoding Contemporary Approaches to Genetics Protein Folding through Gaming • How do genetics and the environment interact to impact human health? • How do scientists use DNA barcoding to identify species and solve community relevant problems related to specifies identification? • Students: • participate in wet labs to learn concepts, technique, and carry out their own investigations • design and carry out an investigation using DNA barcoding • play Foldit to solve real world protein folding problems • get feedback and discuss their work with science and health professionals • Primary Standards Alignment: • CCSS RST .9-10.1 • CCSS RST .9-10.10 • CCSS WHST .9-10.1 • CCSS WHST .9-10.2 • NGSS: HS.LS-IVT Inheritance and Variation of Traits • NGSS: HS.LS-SFIP Structure, Function, and Information Processing • NRC Framework Practices

32. Case Study: Designing Instruction as a Cascade of Practices Practices do not operate in isolation in instruction. Engage students in an unfolding, overlapping sequence of interrelated practices that make up an investigation — a cascade of practices (Bell et al., 2012).

33. Engaging Students in Engineering Design

34. Two youth at the 2008 Scifest festival during a robotics workshop. There is an increasing demand for citizens who are technologically literate about the built world and who can enter engineering and technology related fields LIFE • Everyday Science & Technology Group http://everydaycognition.org

35. Engineering is Foregrounded Engineering has long been part of science education, but it has been made more visible in the Framework & NGSS. In NGSS… Set of K-12 engineering-focused standards Engineering practices are integrated into the three other science areas (physical, life, earth/space) “[This focus] should help students see how science and engineering are instrumental in addressing major challenges that confront society today, such as generating sufficient energy, preventing and treating diseases, maintaining supplies of clean water and food, and solving the problems of global environmental change.” (NRC 2012, p. 9).

36. Engineering Practices (see right column of Box 3-2) A problem, need or desire defines a problem to be solved Models and simulations are used to analyze systems—to look for flaws or test possible solutions Engineers conduct investigations and collect data to help specify design criteria and to test their designs Engineers analyze data collected to compare solutions under specific constraints with respect to design criteria Mathematical and computational representations of established relationships / principles are integral to design Engineers design solutions through a systematic process (where scientists construct explanations) Argumentation is essential to finding best possible solution by comparing alternatives and evaluating multiple ideas Engineers need to clearly and persuasively communicate their work to produce technologies

37. Long-term and large-scale improvement of STEM education will require significant shifts in practice across communities of educators, researchers, and policymakers. Focus on Four High-Leverage Themes STEM Practices Formative Assessment Cyberlearning Learning Across Settings • Collaborating Organizations: • Exploratorium • Univof Washington Institute for Science + Math Education • EDC • TERC • Univof Colorado, Boulder • Inverness Research Associates

38. To Learn More about the NRC Framework & NGSS Check out the resources on the handout…

40. Summary of Important Changes

41. Select Resources to InformEquity-Focused Implementation Appendix D: “All Standards, All Students” http://life-slc.org/panel/

42. Available: nap.edu

43. Science for All: A New Vision • “The framework is designed to help realize a vision for education in the sciences and engineering in which students, over multiple years of school, actively engage in science and engineering practices and apply crosscutting concepts to deepen their understanding of the core ideas in these fields.” • Framework highlights learning goals for all students related to college, career and citizenship goals for K-12 science education. Online: tinyurl.com/ScienceFramework

44. We Should Take Advantage of the Unprecedented Synergy Across the Standards Sources: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects, p. 7. Common Core State Standards for Mathematical Practice pp. 6-8. A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas, ES-3 and chapter 3: 1-32. Adapted from v4b by Tina Cheuk, Understanding Language, ell.stanford.edu