Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes toward STEM (T-STEM) Survey

Instruments

Each of the five Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Elementary Teacher Efficacy and Attitudes toward STEM Surveys (T-STEM) contains six scales (sets of surveys items that most confidently describe a single characteristic of the survey-taker when the responses to these items are calculated as a single result). The first scale is called the Personal STEM Teaching Efficacy Belief Scale (PSTEBS) and consists of Likert-scale questions which ask the respondent about their confidence in their teaching skills. The second scale is called the STEM Teaching Outcome Expectancy Scale (STOES

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What Makes for Powerful Classrooms, and How Can We Support Teachers in Creating Them? A Story of Research and Practice, Productively Intertwined

Publication

This article and my career as an educational researcher are grounded in two fundamental assumptions: (a) that research and practice can and should live in productive synergy, with each enhancing the other, and (b) that research focused on teaching and learning in a particular discipline can, if carefully framed, yield insights that have implications across a broad spectrum of disciplines. This article begins by describing in brief two bodies of work that exemplify these two fundamental assumptions. I then elaborate on a third example, the development of a new set of tools for understanding and

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Measuring the Mathematical Quality of Instruction

Instruments

In this article, we describe a framework and instrument for measuring the mathematical quality of mathematics instruction. In describing this framework, we argue for the separation of the mathematical quality of instruction (MQI), such as the absence of mathematical errors and the presence of sound mathematical reasoning, from pedagogical method. We argue that conceptualizing this key aspect of mathematics classrooms will enable more clarity in mathematics educators’ research questions and will facilitate study of the mechanisms by which teacher knowledge shapes instruction and subsequent

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Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire: Toward Valid and Meaningful Assessment of Learners’ Conceptions of Nature of Science

Instruments

Helping students develop informed views of nature of science (NOS) has been and continues to be a central goal for kindergarten through Grade 12 (K–12) science education. Since the early 1960s, major efforts have been undertaken to enhance K–12 students and science teachers’ NOS views. However, the crucial component of assessing learners’ NOS views remains an issue in research on NOS. This article aims to (a) trace the development of a new open-ended instrument, the Views of Nature of Science Questionnaire (VNOS), which in conjunction with individual interviews aims to provide meaningful

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Transformative Experience: An Integrative Construct in the Spirit of Deweyan Pragmatism

Publication

A sentiment held by Dewey and shared by other educators is that learning should enrich and expand everyday experience. However, this goal has not been a focus of research. In this article, I propose transformative experience as a construct capable of reflecting this goal and functioning as an empirical research construct. I discuss the theoretical grounding for this construct in the work of Dewey and define it in terms of three characteristics: (a) motivated use, (b) expansion of perception, and (c) experiential value. In doing so, I describe how transformative experience integrates current

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Beliefs and Expectations about Engineering Preparation Exhibited by High School STEM Teachers

Instruments

BACKGROUND If we are to effect change in teacher practices and decision making regarding instruction, college preparation, and career success in engineering, then knowledge of teachers’ beliefs and expectations about engineering needs to be understood. PURPOSE(HYPOTHESIS) The primary purpose was to develop a statistically reliable survey instrument to document teachers’ beliefs and expectations about pre-college engineering instruction, college preparation, and career success in engineering, called the Engineering Education Beliefs and Expectations Instrument (EEBEI), and to compare teachers’

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An Instrument to Measure Students’ Motivation and Self‐Regulation in Science Learning

Instruments

Students’ motivational beliefs and self‐regulatory practices have been identified as instrumental in influencing the engagement of students in the learning process. An important aim of science education is to empower students by nurturing the belief that they can succeed in science learning and to cultivate the adaptive learning strategies required to help to bring about that success. This article reports the development and validation of an instrument to measure salient factors related to the motivation and self‐regulation of students in lower secondary science classrooms. The development of

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Tackling Science Instruction Through “Science Talks” and Service Learning

Publication

Many preservice teachers struggle in science courses and foster anxieties regarding science instruction in their future classrooms. Providing time and support for preservice teachers to teach science in an after-school classroom through service learning allows them to build a science learning environment outside the formal school day. In this alternative learning space, student dialogue can enhance learning in science while also improving preservice teachers’ confidence and enthusiasm to teach science. SCI-TALKS, a program that integrates service learning and science methods instruction

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