Next Generation Science Standards

School districts throughout California will soon need to decide which curriculum course model to adopt for high school science.  This article provides an overview of four potential course models for high school.  Regardless of the course model eventually selected, to achieve the NGSS goal of “All standards, All students,” we highly recommend that California school districts adopt a 3-year science graduation requirement.  If the NGSS are intended to improve science education and prepare all students for college and career, it cannot be done effectively or equitably if only two years of science are required for high school graduation.

Increased student diversity in classrooms and the need for equitable STEM opportunities for all, creates an impetus for educators to establish inclusive and equitable environments and use teaching practices that facilitate meaningful learning for all students in science education. This article offers a three-part framework for combining inclusive philosophy, the science and engineering practices, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The article is intended to help teachers and teacher educators universally design science education to level the science learning field through access and equity for all students, including students with disabilities. We advocate for the use of four practices: creating an inclusive community of science learners, planning for big ideas over time, engaging students in sense-making through model-based inquiry, and engaging students in cooperative learning and science talk. Science teachers can use these practices to universally design science education and enhance science learning and STEM interest for underrepresented students. In the article, we provide visuals and tools for teachers to support implementation of the universally designed science practices.

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) [Achieve, Inc. [2013]] represent a broad consensus that teaching and learning expectations must change. Rather than memorizing and reciting information, students are now expected to engage in science practices to develop a deep understanding of core science ideas. While we want to share in the optimism about NGSS, the standards are not a silver bullet for transforming science classrooms. They are, instead, another reform document designed to suggest opportunities for students to actively engage in knowledge construction themselves—to be doers of science, rather than receivers of facts. A foundational contradiction underlies these efforts— while we want students to do science, we seem to mean that students should mimic practices others have selected as important to learn, and content others have selected as foun-dational. As a result, students are rarely positioned with epistemic agency: the power to shape the knowledge production and practices of a community [Stroupe [2014] Science Education 98:487–516]. We argue that unless the field tackles significant questions around precisely how students can be active agents in knowledge construction, we will likely continue to implement learning environments that position students as receivers of scientific facts and practices, even as classrooms adopt NGSS. In this conceptual analysis article, we unpack the construct of " epistemic agency " and its relationship to the NGSS, using a vignette to illustrate how students are typically positioned in researcher-developed curricula. The vignette, which describes a seventh-grade class exploring which of two lakes is more at risk for invasion by the spiny water flea, provides an

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were designed to address poor science and math performance in United States schools by inculcating globally competitive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics literacies relevant to participation in future society. Considering the complex network of influences involved in the development of the NGSS, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate how educational values are embedded in the discourse of the standards. Using critical discourse analysis and content analysis, we evaluated how themes related to (i) performance, (ii) accessibility, and (iii) innovation and creativity are discursively constituted in the NGSS. Our analysis indicates the NGSS prioritizes: measurable and reproducible performances; the standards appear to be based on a conception of accessibility closely aligned with equality, and self-investment, and; innovation and creativity are discursively constituted as attributes that can be developed through specific, prescribed practices. We discuss these findings in relation to the goals of the NGSS and potential teaching and learning outcomes resulting from education based on the standards.

Scientific research exploring ocean acidification has grown significantly in past decades. However, little science education research has investigated the extent to which undergraduate science students understand this topic. Of all undergraduate students, one might predict science students to be best able to understand ocean acidification. What conceptions and misconceptions of ocean acidification do these students hold? How does their awareness and knowledge compare across disciplines? Undergraduate biology, chemistry/biochemistry, and environmental studies students, and science faculty for comparison, were assessed on their awareness and understanding. Results revealed low awareness and understanding of ocean acidification among students compared with faculty. Compared with biology or chemistry/biochemistry students, more environmental studies students demonstrated awareness of ocean acidification and identified the key role of carbon dioxide. Novel misconceptions were also identified. These findings raise the question of whether undergraduate science students are prepared to navigate socioenvironmental issues such as ocean acidification.

The Next-Generation Science Standards (NGSS) challenge primary teachers and students to work and think like scientists and engineers as they strive to understand complex concepts. Teachers and teacher educators can leverage what is already known about inquiry teaching as they plan instruction to help students meet the new standards. This cross-case analysis of a multiple case study examined teacher practices in the context of a semester-long professional development course for elementary teachers. We reviewed lessons and teacher reflections, examining how kindergarten and first grade teachers incorporated NGSS scientific and engineering practices during inquiry-based instruction. We found that most of the teachers worked with their students on asking questions; planning and carrying out investigations; analyzing and interpreting data, using mathematics and computational thinking; and obtaining, evaluating and communicating information. Teachers faced challenges in supporting students in developing their own questions that could be investigated and using data collection strategies that aligned with students’ development of number sense concepts. Also, some teachers overemphasized the scientific method and lacked clarity in how they elicited and responded to student predictions. Discussion focuses on teacher supports that will be needed as states transition to NGSS.

Science Education is at a crucial point in America.  Because of perceived shortfalls, changes are currently being made both at elementary and secondary levels that may change not only how science is taught, but what is taught in science.  International tests indicate that America is doing fairly well at teaching scientific facts, but it is not a clear leader.  However, until a better way to determine the effectiveness of education systems in creating free thinkers who can problem-solve is developed, it is unwise to claim that American science education is inferior.  The No Child Left Behind approach to teaching science tends to promote factual knowledge but not necessarily thinking skills.  Inquiry Based Learning promotes the scientific method.  STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is the new method that emphasizes practical applications for science and will likely bring new funds and energy into science curriculum but could also be used to censor minority opinions on some scientific topics.  While some think there is need of more censorship of certain topics such as creationism and denial of a climate crisis, these topics allow students to practice analyzing differing viewpoints and evaluating arguments.  Though the courts have decided that Creationism has little place in the classroom, at least one in eight science teachers use it as a way to promote critical thinking in the classroom.  Instead of criticizing science teachers for the way they teach and pointing to international test scores as evidence that they are not doing their job, people need to recognize that the goals of American science teachers are different than those of other countries.  Science teachers in America face, not only the task of teaching students content knowledge but also teaching them to analyze differing viewpoints on controversial topics that relate to science.

This paper examines important recent developments in STEM education, especially related to science education in the United States (U.S.). This examination begins with an abbreviated introduction of the newest science standards documents in the U.S., with a specific focus on the structure and main priorities of these documents. This is followed by an explanation of why priority in the standards is given to teachers engaging students in science and engineering practices to use disciplinary scientific ideas in explaining phenomena and solving problems. Finally, attention is briefly given to how these standards documents hold promise for acting as leverage points within the complex U.S. educational system for positively influencing the disconcerting issues consistently reported in national studies of U.S. classrooms.

The CCSS and the Next Generation Science Standards have described discipline-specific literacy skills needed to successfully engage with science concepts, and science assessments ask students to use language in many and varied forms to mediate their science thought and actions and prove mastery of content. Yet many science teachers have not been prepared with skills that help them recognize the ways literacy is integral to the discipline of science, much less integrate it. This research explored the experiences of three classroom science teachers as they worked to enact overlapping ELA and science standards inherent in CCSS and NGSS through inquiry-based instruction. The 4Es heuristic framed analysis of classroom observations of instruction, teacher interviews, and surveys. Ways the teachers utilized inquiry-based instruction to Engage their students, Elicit/Engineer their literacies, and Examine and Evaluate discipline-specific

Sociocognitive theory [Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of
thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall; Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social
cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44, 1175–1184. doi:10.
1037/0003-066x.44.9.1175; Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive
theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human
Decision Processes, 50, 248–287. doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90022-L]
accords high importance to the mechanisms of human agency
and how they are exercised through self-efficacy. In this paper, we
developed and validated the McGill Self-Efficacy For Inquiry
Engagement (McSELFIE) instrument with undergraduate students
in natural science disciplines. We defined inquiry engagement as
carrying out the practices of science (POS) that are supported by
students’ personality characteristics (SPCs) and that result in
achieving inquiry-learning outcomes (ILOs). Based on these
theoretical perspectives, the McSELFIE is a 60-item, learnerfocused
survey that addresses three components that are
theoretically important for engaging in scientific inquiry: (a) SPCs,
(b) ILOs, and (c) POS. Evidence for construct and content validity
were obtained by using experts’ judgments and confirmatory
factor analysis with a sample of 110 undergraduate students
enrolled in science disciplines. Internal consistency of the factors
and instrument was also examined. The McSELFIE instrument is a
reliable and valid instrument for measuring science
undergraduate students’ self-efficacy for inquiry engagement.
Matched pairs analyses were conducted among the instruments’
factors. Students reported the highest self-efficacy for openness,
applying knowledge, and carrying out investigations. Students
reported the lowest self-efficacy for extraversion, understanding
metacognitive knowledge, and planning investigations.
Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

ABSTRACT Across the country, states are adopting and implementing either Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) or new state standards inspired by NGSS. Educators and researchers play a key role in the reform process as we design professional development (PD) and curriculum to support teachers in transitioning to NGSS. In this time of transition, close analysis of NGSS classroom enactments in elementary school can help us design better supports. Our study uses the framework of teacher adaptive expertise (TAE) to conduct a qualitative content analysis of five different fourth-grade teachers enacting the same NGSS lesson, Producing Electricity. To accomplish our analysis, we first synthesized existing literature and refine a working model of TAE in the field of elementary science education. In applying the lens of TAE to our data, we also develop a model of teacher routine expertise (TRE). We empirically illustrate three characteristics of TAE in our study: allowing student agency, adapting to student emergent understanding, and facilitating student-centered science discourse. Our study shows how different teachers use TAE and TRE moves in varying degrees when enacting the same lesson. Our results indicate that TAE moves align with NGSS shifts in the elementary science classroom while TRE moves reflect a more traditional science classroom. Our results have implications for the design of in-service teacher supports during this time of reform.

Sociocognitive theory [Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; Bandura, A. (1989). Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 44, 1175–1184. doi:10. 1037/0003-066x.44.9.1175; Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 248–287. doi:10.1016/0749-5978(91)90022-L] accords high importance to the mechanisms of human agency and how they are exercised through self-efficacy. In this paper, we developed and validated the McGill Self-Efficacy For Inquiry Engagement (McSELFIE) instrument with undergraduate students in natural science disciplines. We defined inquiry engagement as carrying out the practices of science (POS) that are supported by students’ personality characteristics (SPCs) and that result in achieving inquiry-learning outcomes (ILOs). Based on these theoretical perspectives, the McSELFIE is a 60-i...

Observation‐based ecology (OBE) generates critical knowledge about the health of ecological systems and human impacts on these systems. Systematic observations of organisms and processes from an early age can help children develop ecological knowledge and skills, and deepen their connection to the natural world. Yet recent educational reforms may privilege other scientific and en- gineering practices (SEPs) over OBE methods. We used lexical analysis of Next Generation Science Standards documents to identify instances of observational methods suggested in the SEPs and ecology‐related performance expectations (PEs). We identify where observations are in- cluded and omitted in these documents. Only 16 of the 175 (9%) learning progression descriptions for the SEPs explicitly mention observations. Nine out of 142 (6%) PEs related to ecology require observations. OBE opportunities were par- ticularly scarce in middle and high school years, and missing entirely from PEs for disciplinary core ideas related to ecosystems and human impacts on ecosystems. We con- sider how these missed opportunities may constrain place‐ based learning in natural environments, and reflect on implications for educators, students, and nonhuman others.

This randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of an elementary school service-learning program, Connect Science (CS), on classroom practices and students' science achievement, civic engagement, and social skills. Fourth grade teachers were enrolled into intervention versus control conditions resulting in 41 classrooms (20 intervention) with 868 students (423 intervention). Intervention group teachers taught CS and control group teachers taught “business-as-usual” science over a 14–22 week period. CS had a positive impact on classroom practices (Next Generation Science Standards and CS practices). Analyses showed positive impact of CS on science achievement and energy attitudes and behaviors. Use of CS practices mediated the relation between CS and energy attitudes and behaviors. Improved social skills were evident in conditions of high fidelity of implementation.

Crystal lattice structure searching by Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and first-principles structural optimization have been used to explore polymorphs of BC2N, possessing sp3 hybridization, under a varying applied hydrostatic pressure. Two low Gibbs free energy structures were identified: one with a primitive orthorhombic structure and Space Group, Pmm2, and the other with a primitive tetragonal structure and Space Group, P m2. Dynamical and mechanical stabilities of the Pmm2, orthorhombic BC2N (o-BC2N) structure were established using its phonon dispersions and elastic constants. The bulk modulus of this predicted BC2N phase was 377.15 GPa, which indicates a super-hard compound. The material is brittle with a B/G ratio of 0.911 and a low degree of elastic anisotropy with a Universal Elastic Anisotropy Index of only 0.774%. Calculations of the electronic band structure demonstrated that the material is a direct band gap semiconductor with a band gap of 1.731 eV at zero applied pressure. The band gap increases monotonically with increased applied pressure and saturates to a value of about 1.756 eV above 1500 kbars; the hydrostatic pressure coefficients associated with this process were determined.