JoinProfessional Learning Institutes
Houston National Conference on Science Education • April 2
Transform Your Teaching Through Curriculum-Based Professional Learning
Strengthen your content knowledge, while learning effective, research-based approaches that increase equitable participation and student achievement in the classroom at NSTA’s Professional Learning Institutes! During these immersive, half-day learning sessions, educators and leaders will explore how the choice of instructional materials can serve as a foundation for successful implementation of state standards. Join colleagues and leading experts in science education, professional learning, and instructional materials development for an opportunity to discuss important and timely topics in depth.
PLI registration (select from one of eight) includes...
- one half-day session
- invitation to a free, boxed-lunch session
- an additional morning or afternoon PLI can be purchased at the price of $65.
You must be registered for the 2022 Houston National Conference on Science Education in order to register for a Professional Learning Institute.
PLI Schedule
Morning
Saturday, April 2 • 8:00-10:45 AM CT
OpenSciEd Storyline Units: Supporting Three-Dimensional Learning Linked to Students’ Interests, Ideas, and Questions
Learn how the NextGen Science Storylines approach is implemented in the OpenSciEd Middle School Science Program. Storylines are coherent from the students’ perspective, where students see their science work as making progress on questions and problems their classroom has committed to address, rather than simply following directions from textbooks or teachers. Participants will experience key Storylines routines as a learner, reflect on them as an educator, and learn how they embody principles of equitable instructional design. As part of the reflection, participants will have the opportunity to analyze student work and classroom video. Examples will be drawn from Unit 6.4, “What Causes Earth’s Surface to Change?” and other middle school OpenSciEd units.
Key Takeaways
- How the OpenSciEd Storylines Instructional Model implements phenomenon-driven, three-dimensional science learning that connects to students’ own ideas and questions.
- How the OpenSciEd Storylines Instructional Model supports teacher learning and development.
- How the OpenSciEd Storylines Instructional Model supports equitable instruction.
SPEAKERS
Daniel Edelson
Executive Director, BSCS Science Learning
Brian J. Reiser
Professor of Learning Sciences, Northwestern University
Saturday, April 2 • 8:00-10:45 AM CT
Project-Based Learning: Principles to Sustain Student Learning and Teacher Change In Practice
Have you wanted to implement a Project-Based Learning (PBL) unit in your classroom? Come engage in a PBL unit to learn the features of PBL and apply the principles of Multilingual Learner-PBL (ML-PBL) to support student engagement, social emotional learning (SEL), and equity. ML-PBL integrates ELA, math, and NGSS and provides supports for MLs language development.
Key Takeaways
- How features of PBL and the NGSS work together;
- Strategies for using formative, informal and summative assessment to guide teaching;
- Discourse supports for responsive teaching; and
- Making “principled adaptations” in ML-PBL.
SPEAKERS
Emily Adah Miller
co-PI, Multiple Literacies in Project-based Learning
Sue Codere
Multiple Literacies in Project-Based Learning (ML-PBL) Project Director, CREATE for STEM at Michigan State University
Sam Severance
Assistant Professor of Science Education, University of California
Joe Krajcik
Professor of Science Education, Michigan State University College of Natural Science
Saturday, April 2 • 8:00-10:45 AM CT
Developing Instructional Materials Aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards for All Students, Including Multilingual Learners
The purpose of the session is to present our conceptual approach to developing yearlong NGSS-designed instructional materials that integrate science and language for all students, especially multilingual learners.
Key Takeaways
- Our conceptual framework integrates science and language with all students, including multilingual learners.
- Our design process leverages the synergy of NGSS performance expectations, phenomena (with a focus on local phenomena), and students (with a focus on multilingual learners).
- Our instructional materials benefited from teachers as co-participants while promoting their professional learning.
SPEAKER
Okhee Lee
Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, New York University
Saturday, April 2 • 8:00-10:45 AM CT
Curriculum Leadership for Next Generation Science
High-quality instructional materials (HQIM) designed for next generation science can make a difference in the quality of equitable science teaching and learning throughout the system and for all learners (i.e., for all leaders, teachers, and students). So how can HQIM designed for next generation science help? How can local leaders take a systems approach to the selection, broad and effective implementation, and sustained improvements offered by such materials?
Participants, working in teams or small groups, will consider these questions, system drivers, and key elements of curriculum leadership that result in effective, scaled, and sustained practices consistent with the vision of science teaching and learning set-forth by NRC’s Framework for K-12 Science Education.
Key Takeaways
- Leadership to promote the vision of science teaching and learning set-forth by NRC’s Framework for K-12 Science Education requires close examination of the system to uncover and attend to barriers and ensure systemic supports for improvement.
- Some aspects of our current system are supportive of the changes required to fully embrace new standards and approaches to teaching and learning; others are barriers and present challenges to achieving this vision of science teaching and learning.
SPEAKERS
Jody Bintz
BSCS Science Learning
Jenine Cotton-Proby
BSCS Science Learning
Susan Gomez Zwiep
BSCS Science Learning
About the Speakers
Jody Bintz
Jody Bintz serves as BSCS Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships and Professional Learning and as co-director of the NEXUS Academy for Science Curriculum Leadership. She works primarily in the areas of leadership development and teacher professional learning. Jody designs, studies, and leads programs to develop organizational leadership capacity, particularly as related to implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Jody serves as co-principal investigator of an efficacy study of the professional development program, Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis (STeLLA), and its impact on high school biology student learning and teacher practice. She also leads the professional learning and leadership development components of a study of STeLLA scale up and sustainability in grades 4 and 5 with partner organizations and schools from across Kentucky and Tennessee.
Susan Codere
Susan Codere is the Multiple Literacies in Project-Based Learning (ML-PBL) Project Director at CREATE for STEM at Michigan State University where she manages curriculum development, review, revision, and sharing; professional learning; assessment; and research activities. Before joining the ML-PBL Team, Sue served as the Project Coordinator for standards development in the Michigan Department of Education. She served as the Lead State Representative from Michigan on the NGSS development team, and coordinated Michigan’s NGSS Internal Review and implementation planning processes. Sue served as the Project Coordinator for the development and implementation of Michigan’s High School and Grade Level Content Expectations in Science, Mathematics, English Language Arts, and Social Studies. She works closely with colleagues across the state to support standards implementation and promotes career and college readiness through literacy across the content areas. Sue holds BS degrees in Secondary Science Education and Medical Technology from Michigan Technological University and an MS degree in Microbiology and Immunology from Michigan State University.
Jenine Cotton-Proby
Jenine Cotton-Proby is a Science Educator in the Professional Learning division of BSCS Science Learning. Prior to joining BSCS, she served for 19 years as an AP and IB Chemistry teacher in the same school district she attended as a student. Her passion for leading professional learning prompted her to move to BSCS Science Learning where she is currently part of several professional learning projects and involved in the organization’s commitment to equity and social justice. She lives in Waldorf, Maryland with her family and enjoys the culture and museums in the Washington, DC area.
Daniel C. Edelson
Daniel Edelson is a curriculum and software developer, educational researcher, and advocate for education reform. In his work, he draws on current research to develop products and programs that address the challenges of implementing effective teaching and learning in real-world settings. Since 2015, he has been the executive director of BSCS Science Learning, a nonprofit research and development center for science education. From 2007-2014, he was the vice president for education at the National Geographic Society. Prior to that, he was a faculty member in Learning Sciences and Computer Science at Northwestern University for 15 years.
Joe Krajcik
Joe Krajcik is currently the principal investigator and co-principal investigator to design assessments and curriculum materials aligned with the Next Generation of Science Standards (NGSS). He served as lead writer for developing Physical Science Standards for the NGSS and the lead writer for the Physical Science Design team for the Framework for K – 12 Science Education. He currently recently completed two randomized control studies to test the efficacy of project-based learning to support student learning and social emotional learning. Joe has authored and co-authored curriculum materials, books, software and over 100 manuscripts, and he makes frequent presentations at international, national and regional conferences. Joe served as president of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), from which he received the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education Through Research Award in 2010. He received the 2014 George G. Mallinson Award from the Michigan Science Teachers’ Association for overall excellence of contributions to science education over a significant period of time. Joe was elected to the National Academy of Education in 2019, an honor reserved for the nation’s most outstanding scholars in education. In 2020, Joe received the prestigious McGraw Prize in Pre-K-12 Education and in 2021, Recipient of the 2021 International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE) Prize for Excellence in Educational Design and Development. Joe is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Educational Research Association. He was honored to receive a Distinguished Professorship from Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea in 2009 and Guest Professorship from Beijing Normal University in Beijing, China in 2002. In 2005, Joe was the Weston Visiting Professor of Science Education at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. He spent 21 years at the University of Michigan before coming to MSU in 2011. The University of Michigan recognized Joe for his commitment to graduate student education by presenting him with the Faculty Award for Distinguished Graduate Mentoring. Prior to receiving his Ph.D., Joe taught high school chemistry and physical science in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for eight years.
Okhee Lee
Okhee Lee is a professor in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. She was a member of the NGSS writing team and served as leader for the NGSS Diversity and Equity Team. She was also a member of the Steering Committee for the Understanding Language Initiative at Stanford University. Her research involves integrating science, language, and computational thinking with a focus on multilingual learners. Her latest work focuses on justice-centered STEM education to address pressing societal challenges using the case of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Emily Adah Miller
Emily Adah Miller is the co-PI for Multiple Literacies in Project-based Learning. She is a lead writer for the Diversity and Equity Team on the Next Generation Science Standards, a member of the NGSS writing team, and writer of multiple peer-reviewed research articles. She is an author of the best-selling teacher practice book, NGSS for All, and upcoming practice book Crosscutting Concepts, both with NSTA Press and Okhee Lee. Before academia, Emily taught for two decades in multiple grades Pk-9th grade, as an ESL and Bilingual Resource science specialist in Wisconsin at Title I schools. She served as an associate researcher on an NSF Teacher Professional Development grant with the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research where she collaborated with WIDA to design Discourse Tools aligned with the ELPD Framework, and recently co-chaired the adoption of the new ELD standards in Wisconsin. Emily’s research interests are examining opportunities for sensemaking for underrepresented students in PBL science contexts, and how teachers can build on these opportunities to develop practices that support their students.
Brian J. Reiser
Brian J. Reiser is professor of learning sciences at Northwestern University. Dr. Reiser heads the NextGen Science Storylines project, which establishes researcher-teacher teams to develop NGSS-designed storyline units, in which students help manage the trajectory of their science knowledge building. Dr. Reiser is a leader in the OpenSciEd Developer’s Consortium, working with 10 state education agencies to create and field test a complete set of robust, research-based, open-source middle school science instructional materials that are aligned to the Framework and NGSS. Reiser served on the NRC committees authoring the reports A Framework for K-12 Science Education (the framework that guided the development of NGSS), Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards, and Guide to Implementing the Next Generation Science Standards, and has partnered with multiple states to help design and implementing NGSS professional learning programs.
Sam Severance
Sam Severance is an Assistant Professor of Science Education at the University of California, Santa Cruz. A former middle and high school science teacher, he develops K-12 science education materials and studies how they can support learners in having more meaningful and empowering STEM learning experiences. His work includes a focus on the process of designing STEM materials. He explores how to productively leverage the expertise of groups often excluded in design work in order to achieve more effective design spaces and more inclusive research-practice partnerships. Sam also examines how to support the implementation of STEM innovations, particularly how to sustain them over time and bring them to scale across education systems and spaces. His work has appeared most recently in Teachers College Record and the Journal of Science Teacher Education.
Jim Short
Jim Short is a program director within the Carnegie Corporation of New York's Education program, where he manages the Leadership and Teaching to Advance Learning portfolio. Jim oversees grantmaking aimed at preparing and supporting teachers and school and system leaders for learning environments that enable students to develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions they need for future success.
Susan Gomez Zwiep
Susan Gomez Zwiep began her career in science education as a middle school science teacher in Los Angeles where she spent over 12 years working in urban schools. Prior to joining BSCS, Susan worked at California State University, Long Beach as a Professor of Science Education. Susan has also worked as a Regional Director for the K-12 Alliance@WestEd, providing high-quality professional development in science and mathematics for K12 educators, including the CA NGSS Early Implementer Initiative. Susan consistently works toward establishing equitable access for all students to rigorous, inquiry-based science instruction and supporting teachers in their journey to become advocates for students, science education, and their own professional development.