In the March issue of NSTA Reports,  Dr. Robert Yager shares his perspective on the six domains for teaching and assessing science learning in the Educated Opinions column.
“A View of the Importance of Six Domains for Teaching and Assessing Science Learning”
By Robert Yager
Four years ago, the National Science Education Standards (NSES) resulted from the collective brainpower of thousands of concerned science educators from around the world at a cost of $7 million. Sadly, little has changed since then. Alan McCormack, 2010–2011 NSTA President, and I have proposed six “domains” as a way to get the attention of teachers and students and to encourage them to experiment with school science programs as they try to move to the “more emphasis” conditions central to the NSES. These “domains” can be used to explain how the eight facets of science content (as defined by the standards) affect people’s everyday lives. Teachers, schools, and state departments of education rarely focus on all eight when considering the science curriculum and how it should look and what teachers need to do for the reforms to succeed. It is rare to find state standards that even mention these major changes. It is important for all science educators to identify the specific features that indicate real changes central to current reform efforts.  Read the full article here.
What do you think: Can the six domains improve science learning in your classroom/school/district? Why or why not?