Tag Archives: FOSS

MoHSES project capstone research published

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The final, capstone study from the MoHSES project has been published in the May issue of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching. This comparative research investigates the implementation and 3rd-grade students’ model-based learning associated with two versions of the FOSS Water unit. The study provides evidence that students experiencing the project-developed, model-based version of the curriculum showed greater gains in their model-based explanations for water-related phenomena than did students experiencing the standard version of the unit. These findings reflect many years of hard, collaborative work with truly amazing elementary teachers to develop effective resources to support model-based science teaching and learning. This manuscript was a significant team effort that I am very pleased to see in print.

Baumfalk, B., Bhattacharya, D., Vo, T., Forbes, C.T., Zangori, L., & Schwarz, C. (2019).  Impact of model-based curriculum and instruction on 3rd-grade students’ scientific explanations for the hydrosphere. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56(5), 570-597.

Article published in Science Education

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A new paper was published in the July issue of Science Education.

Zangori, L. & Forbes, C.T. (2014). Scientific practices in elementary classrooms: 3rd-grade students’ scientific explanations for seed structure and function. Science Education, 98(4), 614-639.

This research focuses on 3rd-grade students’ scientific explanations for plant-related phenomena as part of the FOSS Structures of Life curriculum module across multiple classrooms.  Drawing from a diverse array of data, the study explores connections between teachers’ conceptions, their observed instructional practices, and student.  The study provides evidence that teachers’ professional ideas and pedagogical reasoning about evidence-based explanation in science – a crucial scientific practice highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards – play an important role in their instructional practices to support students’ explanation-construction in the classroom.

2013 Forbes Group presentations

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The group has been busy this past year presenting empirical research from the PIESC3, RAES, and MoHSES projects at NARST, AERA, and other conferences, as well as invited talks at Florida State University and the Lawrence Hall of Science. Recent presentations include:

Sabel, J., Forbes, C. T., & Zangori, L. (2013, November). Design of an integrated teaching and learning biological sciences course for prospective elementary teachers. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Biology Teachers, Atlanta, GA.

Zangori, L., Forbes, C.T., & Schwarz, C. (2013, November). Elementary students’ model-based explanations about the water cycle. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the School Science and Mathematics Association, San Antonio, TX.

Biggers, M., Forbes, C.T., & Zangori, L. (2013, April).  Elementary teachers’ ideas about, planning for, and implementation of learner-guided and teacher- guided inquiry.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Biggers, M., Forbes, C.T., & Zangori, L. (2013, April).  Investigating variations of inquiry in elementary science classrooms: Establishing validity/reliability of a modified observation protocol. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Forbes, C.T. (2013, April). Supporting teachers to attend to students’ ideas in elementary science learning environments: The Reflective Assessment for Elementary Science in Iowa (RAES-Iowa) project. Invited presentation at the Lawrence Hall of Science, Full Option Science System (FOSS) group.

Forbes, C.T., Biggers, M., & Zangori, L. (2013, August). Teachers’ pedagogical reasoning about students’ sense-making in elementary science learning environments.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the European Association of Research in Learning and Instruction, Munich, Germany.

Forbes, C.T., Lange, K., Möller, K., Biggers, M., Laux, M., & Zangori, L. (2013, April). A comparative study of early learners’ engagement in scientific practices in the U.S. and Germany.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Forbes, C.T., Long, K J., Kennedy, C.A., Bancroft, J., Soldat, C., Biggers, M., & Sabel, J. (2013, April).  Supporting elementary teachers’ learning to use formative assessment for science: The RAES- Iowa professional development model.   Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Forbes, C.T. (2013, March). Multifaceted approaches to research and development on elementary students’ formulation and evaluation of scientific explanations. Invited presentation at Florida State University College of Education.

Zangori, L., Forbes, C.T., & Biggers, M. (2013, April).   Elementary students’ explanation construction of seed structure and function: A concurrent mixed methods study.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Zangori, L., Forbes, C.T., & Biggers, M. (2013, April).   Elementary teachers’ use of science curriculum materials to foster explanation construction.   Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

Zangori, L., Forbes, C.T., & Biggers, M. (2013, April).  Elementary teachers’ use of science curriculum materials to promote students’ sense making: An embedded mixed methods study.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA

Visit to the Lawrence Hall of Science

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IMG_0559This month, I was invited to the Lawrence Hall of Science where I gave an invited talk to the FOSS team.  While attending AERA in San Francisco, graduate students Mandy Biggers, Laura Zangori, and I made the trip to Berkeley to share research and programming from RAES-Iowa project and learn more about the work being conducted by the FOSS group.  Thanks to Kathy Long for inviting us and making it such an enjoyable visit.

RAES-Iowa Year 1 Summer Institute

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In the summer of 2012, 36 3rd-6th grade teachers from 4 area districts and 14 buildings joined RAES project team members Cory Forbes, Christopher Soldat, Jeanne Bancroft, Kathy Long, Charlie Stanier, Mandy Biggers, Jaime Sabel, and Laura Zangori for 7 days of collaborative work to begin learning to use Reflective Assessment, a formative assessment strategy developed by the Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) for use with FOSS science modules. The summer institute focused on the Earth science content strand, within which teachers engaged with relevant content as learners, experimented with engaging in ‘high-leverage’ formative assessment practices, and planned to begin implementing Reflective Assessment in their enactment of their Earth science modules in the 2012-2013 academic year. We want to again thank all project partners, including the University of Iowa (UI) Colleges of Education and Engineering, Grant Wood Area Education Agency (GWAEA) and Van Allen Science Teaching Center (VAST Center), LHS at the University of California-Berkeley, the UI Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research (CGRER), Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD), Washington Community Schools (WCSD), Clear Creek Amana Community School District (CCACSD), Highland Community School District (HCSD), and St. James School. A special thanks go out to Mark Brockmeyer and the Iowa City Schools for allowing us to hold the Summer Institute at the ICCSD Educational Services Building and to Kim Lange for joining us in July (while visiting from Germany) and providing helpful feedback.

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RAES-Iowa project funded

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RAESlogoThe Reflective Assessment for Elementary Science in Iowa (RAES-Iowa) project has been funded. More information about the project can be found here. I am thrilled to be working with an amazing group of project partners from the University of Iowa and CGRER, GWAEA and the VAST Center, FOSS at the Lawrence Hall of Science, and elementary teachers from the Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD), Washington Community Schools (WCSD), Clear Creek Amana Community School District (CCACSD), Highland Community School District (HCSD), and St. James School on this project. The first workshops for teachers begin June 13 in Iowa City!