Elementary Education and Teaching Commons^™

Giant Tree Versus Ipad Kids: Reflecting On Childhood Outdoor Play, Then And Now., Minsun Shin

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Childhood play experiences, particularly outdoor play, positively affect children’s holistic development and well-being. This qualitative study examined teacher education students’ perceptions through retrospective reflection on their own childhood play experiences in the past (then) compared to contemporary children’s play at present (now) to recognize the value of childhood play. Ten student teachers enrolled in various teacher education programs at one university participated in this study. Analyzing a drawing task and interviews revealed that participants recalled outdoor play as their favorite childhood play experiences, engaging in unstructured and child-initiated activities, taking risks, and creating their own rules. These outdoor experiences not …

Computational Thinking In Stem Teaching: Preservice Teachers' Conceptualizations And Practices, Wei Wei, Jesse Ha, Kimberley Gomez, Anuradha Ghosh

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Within a two-year urban teacher residency program at [University], which focuses on training high school teachers to incorporate computational thinking (CT) into STEM education with an emphasis on equity, this study delves into how these preservice teaching residents (TRs) understood and applied CT in high school STEM settings. Based on our initial thematic content analysis of ten 30-minute artifact-based interviews, teachers' understanding and application of CT could be categorized in two ways: 1) One group of teachers showcased clear, explicit knowledge of CT and actively incorporated it into their instruction; 2) Another group, despite their evident understanding of CT, subtly …

Exploration Of Cognitive Engagement Patterns In Online Environments With Multiple External Representations, Man Su, Michelene T.H. Chi, Tomohiro Nagashima, Justin Gole, Yue Xin, Jesse Ha

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This study investigates learners' cognitive engagement patterns in an online, self-directed learning environment enriched with multiple external representations. Participants interacted with scaffolded online modules with prompt questions designed based on the Interactive, Constructive, Active, and Passive (ICAP) framework. Data was collected through students' responses to knowledge tests, question prompts, and student-module interaction videos. A diversity in students' engagement patterns was observed which led to different learning outcomes. Findings reveal that constructive responses to prompt questions are associated with improved learning outcomes. Video analyses show that high achievers also engage in careful reading of instructional texts and purposeful simulation manipulation. This …

A Computational Thinking And Equity-Centered Urban Preservice Residency Program's Impact On Stem Teachers, Jesse Ha, Wei Wei, Kimberley Gomez, Anuradha Ghosh

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Situated in an urban teacher residency program at the University of California, Los Angeles, that aims to prepare high school teachers for integrating computational thinking (CT) into equity-focused STEM teaching, this paper investigates the impact of the STEM+C3 program on preservice teachers' conceptualizations and integration of CT in classrooms. Our analysis of 10 interviews suggests that the STEM+C3 program had an overall positive impact on teaching residents' (TRs) understandings of equity-centered practices in CT pedagogy with a few teachers demonstrating shallower understandings. Most TRs were able to characterize identity and positionality while only a few were able to characterize diversity, …

Preparing Preservice Resident Teachers For Equity-Centered Computational Thinking In Stem (Stemect) Education, Jesse Ha, Wei Wei, Kimberley Gomez

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

While computational thinking (CT) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education has been gaining momentum, there is a shortage of qualified teachers, especially in low-income schools that primarily serve minority students. STEM+C3 seeks to ameliorate the problem by establishing an urban teaching residency program that prepares teaching candidates to integrate CT and equity-centered practices. The project aims to understand the impact of the program on teaching residents and their students' perceptions of equity and CT.

Investigating The Efficacy Of An Ontological Framework For Teaching Natural Selection Using Agent-Based Simulations, Man Su, Michelene T.H. Chi, Jesse Ha, Yue Xin

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Integrating agent-based models (ABMs) has been a popular approach for teaching emergent science concepts. However, students continue to find it difficult to explain the emergent process of natural selection. In this study, we employ an ontological framework-the Pattern, Agents, Interactions, Relations, and Causality (PAIR-C)-to guide the design of the ABM simulation module. This study examines the effects of the PAIR-C ABM module versus the Regular ABM module on fostering students' understanding of natural selection. Drawing on pre-posttest data, we found that students in the Intervention group had a better causal understanding when explaining natural selection than the Control group. This …

Theorizing Collective Praxis Rooted In Epistemic Disobedience And Responsibility, Mayida Zaal, Nushrat J. Hoque, Manar Hussein, Chedia Ayari, Maheen Ahmad, Amir Billups, Nagla Bedir

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

As researchers and educators, we are committed to engaging in critical participatory action research (CPAR) that raises our critical consciousness, disrupts colonial structures, and is responsible – epistemically and ethically – to the communities to which we belong (Ayala, et al., 2018; Guishard, 2009; Torre & Fine, 2011). In this manuscript, we write about the epistemological and theoretical reflections of our critical research collective, how we unpacked our colonial yokes, and how those reflections shaped our research and informed our collective praxis (see Figure 1). The evolution of our collective praxis is the central focus of this paper. We describe …

Accessible Computational Thinking In Elementary Science, Jeremy Bernier, Francheska Figueroa, Jesse Ha, Janice Mak, Man Su, Lin Yan, Brian Nelson, Lautaro Cabrera, Kristina Kramarczuk, Yue Xin, Diane Jass Ketelhut, Ebony Terrell Shockley

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Computational thinking (CT) is ubiquitous in modern science, yet rarely integrated at the elementary school level. Moreover, access to computer science education at the PK-12 level is inequitably distributed. We believe that access to CT must be available earlier and implemented with the support of an equitable pedagogical framework. Our poster will describe our Accessible Computational Thinking (ACT) research project exploring professional development with elementary teachers on integrating computational thinking with Culturally Responsive Teaching practices.

Guardians Of Tomorrow: A Compelling Simulation For Understanding Sustainability, Luis E. Pérez Cortés, Jesse Ha, Man Su, Brian Nelson

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

We describe the theoretical rationale, design features, and potential implications of the Augmented Reality (AR) simulation we are developing called GuARdians of Tomorrow. In this simulation, users experience ramifications of sustainability-related issues by hypothesizing, testing, and perceiving threats of current action (and inaction) on local environmental context in the future through AR. This work will lead to productive discussions about theory-based simulation design for situating long-term, macro impacts of sustainable development into students’ local contexts.

Their American Dream, Danne Davis

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Centuries before W.E.B. DuBois named the colorline—i.e., racism—as the problem of the 20th century, skin color stratification was a persistent phenomenon. In 1983 Black feminist, scholar, and Pulitzer Prize winning author Alice Walker termed “colorism” as “prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their [skin] color”. Using the tools of genealogy, I conducted a critical family history of my parents, Lem and Mae’s, pursuit of their American Dream. Such exploration digs deep to decipher the nexuses of a family’s evolution. Dr. Maya Angelou routinely shared stories about her past to impart the importance of embracing one’s history. …

Misunderstandings Of Teachers Applying Icap Theory Into Practice, Jesse Ha, Man Su, Michelene Chi, Catherine Cullicott

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Interactive-constructive-active-passive (ICAP) is a theory of learning that differentiates students' engagement primarily on behavior. ICAP postulates that interactive engagement is superior for learning than constructive engagement. This paper discusses misconceptions of teachers during a 5-year project that attempted to translate ICAP into instruction. Teachers successfully implemented active mode but struggled to design appropriate constructive or interactive lessons.

Diagnosis Of Misconceptions With Coherent Underlying Structure In Learning Diffusion, Man Su, J. Yohan Cho, Brandon Vanbibber, Jesse Ha, Michelene Chi

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This classroom study, involving 149 high school students, investigates structure, coherence and frequencies of misconceptions students have while learning diffusion via a simulation. The results show that misconceptions are not random ideas, but rather have underlying structures and can be systematically characterized by the PAIR-C framework, which aims to help students understand the nature of emergent processes embedded in their school curricula. The article concludes with a discussion of implications to foster deeper understanding of misconceptions from a systematic, structured perspective.

Active Solidarity: Centering The Demands And Vision Of The Black Lives Matter Movement In Teacher Education, Edwin Mayorga, Bree Picower

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

In the era of Black Lives Matter (#BLM), urban teacher education does not exist in isolation. The White supremacist, neoliberal context that impacts all aspects of Black lives also serves to support antiblackness within the structures of teacher education. In this article, the authors, who are grounded in a race radical analytical and political framework, share a vision of what it means to be an urban teacher who actively understands and teaches in solidarity with #BLM. The authors unpack their theoretical framework and the vision of #BLM while examining the state of teacher education in this era of neoliberal multiculturalism. …

What’S To Be Learned? A Review Of Sociocultural Digital Literacies Research Within Pre-Service Teacher Education, Ana Karina De Oliveira Nascimento, Michele Knobel

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This circumscribed review analyzes recent sociocultural, qualitative research in digital literacies within pre-service teacher education. It focuses on what teacher educators are doing with respect to working with pre-service teacher education students and digital literacies conceived more in terms of social practices than as proficiency in using education technology tools. Analysis suggests digital literacies within pre-service teacher education are typically linked to out-of-school practices in order to help facilitate student teachers' take-up of digital literacies in their own classrooms. The studies also suggest that projects that encourage and support collaboration are well received by pre-service teachers and seem to result …

Putting Physics First: Three Case Studies Of High School Science Department And Course Sequence Reorganization, Douglas Larkin

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This article examines the process of shifting to a “Physics First” sequence in science course offerings at the level of the school district in the United States. This curricular sequence reverses the more common U.S. high school sequence of biology/chemistry/physics, and has gained substantial support in the physics education community over the past few decades. Using qualitative case study methodology, the present study focuses on the lessons learned in three school districts that successfully rearranged their course offerings and made physics a ninth grade subject for all of its students. Findings show that in all districts, the shift was undertaken …

Scaling Up Teacher Professional Learning: How To Grow Teacher Knowledge While Growing School Networks, Emily J Klein, Reva Jaffe Walter, Meg Riordan

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This research reports data from case studies of three intermediary organizations facing the challenge of scaling up teacher learning. The turn of the century launched scaling up efforts of all three intermediaries, growing from intimate groups, where founding teachers and staff were key supports for teacher learning, to large multi-state organizations. The authors drew on data from three earlier qualitative studies of professional development at Big Picture Learning, Expeditionary Learning, and the Internationals Network, and reveal some of the benefits and challenges of taking teacher learning to scale.

Teacher Educators Using Encounter Stories, Danne Davis, Janna Jackson Kellinger

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Many prospective teachers are unaware of the encounters that Black, heterosexual women or White lesbians face. Here, we present encounter stories-individual narratives of poignant encounters and interactions that we have experienced with people unlike us-to identify with and ultimately draw on their experiences. Subsequently, the narratives become data that not only inform our work as teacher educators and scholars but also are used to shape prospective teachers' understanding of inimitable difference. Despite the heralded affirming visibility of Michelle Obama and Ellen Degeneres, oppressive practices and perspectives against Black women and lesbians continue. Our encounter stories are put forward as qualitative …

Structures And Strategies For Science Teacher Education In The 21st Century, Douglas Larkin

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

In order to determine the ways in which teacher preparation programs will need to change in order to meet the needs of preparing STEM teachers in the near future, it is necessary to ascertain what STEM teacher preparation programs are actually doing in the present. This article presents a comparative analysis of six different science teacher education pathways in order to portray, compare, and contrast the structures and strategies used by each. The central premise is that there is much to learn from what is already being done in this field from the different visions of science teacher education currently …

“Why Don’T We Learn Like This In School?” One Participatory Action Research Collective’S Framework For Developing Policy Thinking, Mayida Zaal, Jennifer Ayala

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

This article explores the ways in which schools and communities can create conditions whereby youth can develop and strengthen policy thinking as they pursue advocacy, action, and participatory policy making. Based on a participatory action research (PAR) project created to address the implications of New Jersey’s high school graduation requirements, this framework engages young people in critical policy analysis. Utilizing PAR as a critical pedagogy, we consider the curricula and structures that could nurture policy thinking, as we involve young people in deep critique, analysis, and knowledge production towards community concerns. We describe four dimensions of policy thinking and propose …

Educating The Children Of Immigrants In Old And New Amsterdam, Maurice Crul, Jennifer Holdaway, Helga A.G. De Valk, Norma Fuentes, Mayida Zaal

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

Because many migrants to the United States and Europe have limited formal education, school systems are challenged to avoid the reproduction of inequality in the second generation and to enable the children of immigrants to enjoy the opportunities available to their native-born peers. This study assesses how well two school systems meet this challenge by considering the experience of second-generation Moroccans in Amsterdam and Dominicans in New York City (originally known as New Amsterdam)—two groups that differ in terms of ethnicity and religion, but who share a similar socioeconomic position. The parents in both cases are predominantly low-wage labor migrants …

Neglected In Their Transitions: Second Generation Muslim Youth Search For Support In A Context Of Islamaphobia, Mayida Zaal

Department of Teaching and Learning Scholarship and Creative Works

In the Netherlands, anxieties about immigrants, Islam, and the preservation of Dutch values have amplified fears of Muslim youth despite the public discourse of tolerance. While the burgeoning second-generation of Dutch-born Muslim youth faces discrimination in the public sphere, the labor market, and school, they search for services to support their efforts to navigate the formally tracked system of schooling. This dissertation reports on a year-long, qualitative study conducted in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Research questions focused on second-generation Muslim youth (mostly of Moroccan origin) and their experiences in youth programs created to support their educational needs.

The study employed ethnographic …