Science Learning Progressions

New science education standards build upon research-based cognitive models of how learning unfolds over time. Guided by the 2011 U.S. National Research Council framework for science education (1), the most recent draft of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is briefly open for public comment (2). Key goals of this effort (3) include (i) reducing coverage to a select set of "big ideas" (e.g., atomic molecular theory, biodiversity, energy); (ii) providing a progression to facilitate coherence in learning of these ideas over the course of schooling; and (iii) promoting a practice-oriented approach to inquiry-based science learning.

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[4]  R. Giere How Models Are Used to Represent Reality , 2004, Philosophy of Science.

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[6]  W. Sandoval Understanding Students' Practical Epistemologies and Their Influence on Learning Through Inquiry , 2005 .

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[8]  Michael Ford,et al.  Disciplinary Authority and Accountability in Scientific Practice and Learning , 2008 .

[9]  Joseph Krajcik,et al.  Contextualizing instruction: Leveraging students' prior knowledge and experiences to foster understanding of middle school science , 2008 .

[10]  Aaron Rogat,et al.  Learning Progressions in Science: An Evidence-Based Approach to Reform. CPRE Research Report # RR-63. , 2009 .

[11]  Jeffrey T. Steedle,et al.  Supporting valid interpretations of learning progression level diagnoses , 2009 .

[12]  Leema K. Berland,et al.  Making sense of argumentation and explanation , 2009 .

[13]  Cindy E. Hmelo-Silver,et al.  Learning progressions: Aligning curriculum, instruction, and assessment , 2009 .

[14]  Ravit Golan Duncan,et al.  A Learning Progression for Deepening Students' Understandings of Modern Genetics across the 5th-10th Grades. , 2009 .

[15]  Bruce Alberts Reframing Science Standards , 2010, Science.

[16]  Ann E. Rivet,et al.  Developing a Construct-Based Assessment to Examine Students' Analogical Reasoning around Physical Models in Earth Science. , 2012 .

[17]  Richard Lehrer,et al.  Seeding Evolutionary Thinking by Engaging Children in Modeling Its Foundations. , 2012 .

[18]  Amelia Wenk Gotwals,et al.  Learning progressions in science : current challenges and future directions , 2012 .

[19]  Paul Adams,et al.  Next Generation Science Standards , 2013 .