JOURNAL ARTICLE • September/October 2024 • by Alex Gerber & Heather Milo
Since the release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), students are expected to learn science according to the three-dimensions (DCI, SEP, CCC). In order for teachers to support the three-dimensional learning of their students, they need high-quality professional learning.
This article outlines the NGSS Content Academy, a professional learning approach that focuses on Ambitious Science Teaching to support teacher and student three-dimensional science learning. Based on “What’s Consistent About Matter,” a fifth-grade unit from the ISP’s mySci program and designed by ISP Instructional Specialists Heather Milo and Alex Gerber, the model provided a cohort of 20 elementary (grades 3-5) teachers from various school districts four professional learning sessions followed by three action periods to “try on” strategies in their classrooms.
During these sessions teachers:
- Experienced ambitious strategies as learners;
- Connected theory to practice;
- Collaborated meaningfully with colleagues;
- Reflected deeply on their implementation of strategies; and
- Made cross-curricular connections with many of the introduced strategies.
In addition to providing a detailed overview of these professional learning sessions and suggestions for supporting teachers in implementing ambitious science teaching strategies, Milo and Gerber share primary findings:
- The sessions led to a change in teacher practice that was evident through the artifacts they collected during the “try-on” periods; and
- When teachers have opportunities to actively participate in and “try on” ambitious science teaching strategies, they have more confidence and feel more prepared to engage their students in meaningful, three-dimensional science learning.
Learn more about the ISP’s Sci314, a program that engages educators and instructional leaders in research-informed practices that support meaningful student sense-making in science.