Designing coherent science education : implications for curriculum, instruction, and policy

This edited collection synthesizes current research on the most promising methods and models for designing coherent science instruction. Arising from the National Science Foundation-funded Delineating and Evaluating Coherent Instructional Designs for Education (DECIDE) project, this volume combines the insights of researchers from two Centers for Teaching and Learning. The book offers principles and criteria for design of instruction leading to coherent understanding of science. It discusses how courses can help students interpret contemporary scientific dilemmas like global warming and take full advantage of technology. Too often in today's science classes, students learn isolated facts rather than connections among ideas and are unprepared to apply scientific thinking and principles outside of checking off answers on standardized tests."Designing Coherent Science Education" demonstrates how effective instruction prepares learners to connect scientific principles to the schoolyard and beyond. "Designing Coherent Science Education" offers policy recommendations to transform science courses so that they meet the needs of all students and lure more students into scientific careers. The collection further addresses how to use technology in the classrooms to design coherent science instruction.