Final Report on Activities Supported by Department of Energy Grant No. DE-FG02-02ER63397, 2002-August 31, 2005

The grant supported four projects that involved professional development for teachers and enrichment programs for students from under-funded and under-served school districts. The projects involved long-term partnerships between Hampshire College and the districts. All projects were concerned with the effective implementation of inquiry-based science learning and its alignment with state and national curriculum and assessment standards. One project, The Collaboration for Excellence in Science Education (CESE), was designed to support research on the development of concepts in the physical sciences, specifically energy and waves. Extensive data from student interviews and written essays supported the neo-Piagetian hierarchical complexity theory of this area of conceptual development. New assessment techniques that can be used by teachers were also developed. The final report includes a full presentation of the methods and results of the research.