Supporting Middle School Teachers to Adopt Student-Centered Approaches: Lessons From Combining Next Generation Science Standards and Challenge-Based Learning

• In Event: Supporting Science in Teaching and Learning Contexts

Abstract

Using a multiple case study approach, we examined how and why highly experienced middle school science teachers (average 16 years of teaching experience) in diverse US schools gained a significant appreciation of student-centered learning through participating in a curriculum design project. We found that eleven out of fifteen teachers experienced substantial shifts or expansions in their teaching and curriculum design, understanding of their students as epistemic agents, capacity to attend to students in the classroom, and/or their ideas of their role as a teacher. These changes likely happened because ORGANIZATION and district leaders collaborated with each other and with teachers in earnest, and facilitating intense experiential learning experiences with value-laden content, and consistent opportunities for dialogue and critical reflection.

Authors

• Emi Iwatani, Digital Promise

• Barbara M. Means, Digital Promise

• Maria Romero, Digital Promise