March 24, 2022
Thought Leadership

NARST 2022- March 30th, Morning

March 24, 2022
Thought Leadership

Teacher change of practice during Project-based science learning enactment: Case Studies across diverse contexts

Date: March 30, 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Discussant: Sam Severance, UC, Santa Cruz

Presider: Joseph S. Krajcik, MSU

Panelists: Miranda Fitzgerald, Tingting Li, Cory Miller, Emily Miller, Selin Akgun, Katy Easley, Susan Codere

SESSION DESCRIPTION

This poster session uses case studies to illustrate the day-to-day changes in classroom practices that created the positive results of a large-scale efficacy study (Authors, in press). The research project spanned three universities, two states, and involved 46 schools with 2371 students and demonstrated that students develop science knowledge and social-emotional learning with the intervention of project-based learning curriculum and professional learning. However, large-scale research obfuscates the teacher and classroom shifts that engender this result. The case studies provide insights from diverse districts to explore (a) challenges that schools face during enactment, (b) day-to-day shifts in classrooms and, (c) teachers’ efforts to adjust the curriculum to align with other initiatives. 

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Research

Equity-Centered Project-Based Learning

Cheng, B.H., Clark, T.L., Allen C.D., Garcia, A.G., and Scipio, D. (2023) Equity-Centered Project-Based Learning. Lucas Education Research. This paper provides a background on recent research related to learning and instruction, focusing on two mechanisms essential to deeper learning: (1) inclusion of authentic learning contexts and (2) valuing student voice as part of instruction. The […]

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Research

Including teachers in the social justice equation of project-based learning: A response to Lee & Grapin

Adah Miller, E., Makori, H., Akgun, S., Miller, C., Li, T., & Codere, S. (2022). Including teachers in the social justice equation of project-based learning: A response to Lee & Grapin. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 1– 7.

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Research

The Impact of Project-Based Learning on AP Exam Performance

Harnessing a cluster randomized controlled trial, we estimated the impact on students’ advanced placement (AP) examination performance of a project-based learning (PBL) approach to AP compared with a lecture-based AP approach.

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Research Award

Equity-Centered Learning Environments (ECLEs) 

LER funded four research teams who are engaged in ongoing research addressing equity and student-centered learning in educational contexts across the country.

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Research Award

Democratic Knowledge Project

The Democratic Knowledge Project is a project-based learning civics initiative that includes a year-long 8th-grade civics curriculum, Civic Engagement in Our Democracy.

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Research

Mapping Enabling Conditions for High-Quality PBL: A Collaboratory Approach

This paper explores enabling conditions for scaling high-quality project-based learning (PBL) to understand factors that influence how PBL spreads, whether and how it can be sustained and the extent to which it informs meaningful change in schools.

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Research

Designing Project-Based Learning Curricula

This paper provides instructional designers with guidance on how to design high-quality PBL curricula, drawing on the LER research base, the learning science literature, and best practices from the field. To provide developers with guideposts that can inform design decisions, the paper describes a set of design principles that can support the creation of content-rich, student-centered experiences.

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Research

Interdisciplinary Education: Literature Review and Landscape Analysis  

Related to project-based learning, interdisciplinary education can create more relevant learning experiences for all students. This report, produced by RTI International for Lucas Education Research, explores the field of interdisciplinary education through an extensive literature review and landscape analysis. In both parts of the report, RTI examines the definitions of interdisciplinary education; how, where, and why the approach is practiced; and finally the existing research, resources, and structures for interdisciplinary education.

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Research

Motivating Teaching, Sustaining Change in Practice

Miller, E.C., Severance, S., and Krajcik, J. (2021). Motivating Teaching, Sustaining Change in Practice: Design Principles for Teacher Learning in Project-Based Learning Contexts, Journal of Science Teacher Education, 32:7, 757-779 In A Framework for K-12 Science Education, researchers call for teachers to make dramatic shifts in practice – and sustain in these changes in practice […]

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Research Award

Enabling Conditions Collaboratory

The Enabling Conditions Collaboratory brought together four research teams to work towards understanding the conditions that support high-quality PBL.

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