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Offers resources for project-based learning (PBL) in STEM, focusing on real-world applications and collaboration.

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PBL leads to deeper understanding and greater retention of content knowledge

PBLWorks offers online and in-person Project Based Learning workshops and courses for educators seeking to give their students more. Whether you are new to Project Based Learning, advancing your practice, teaching in-person, or facilitating PBL curricula online, we have a path just for you. Pick your pathway and explore how to get started today...

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Project Based Learning for all. We build the capacity of teachers and school leaders to design and facilitate quality Project Based Learning.

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Comprehensive resource hub for STEM and other content areas.

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Emphasizes modeling teamwork, a skill often underdeveloped in recent cohorts. Coaches should encourage teachers to dedicate time to explicitly teach and practice teamwork.

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Guest post by Julie Lyons November 2, 2021
Do you remember the scene in the movie Tangled where Rapunzel is reflecting on her recent actions and oscillating between joy and frustration? Take that scene and place Rapunzel in a STEM classroom. Funny scene when it is Rapunzel, but can you relate? That can be the range of teacher emotions in some STEM lessons.

Would you like to spend more time on the joy side and less on the frustration side of STEM teaching? Me too! Let's talk about classroom management strategies in the STEM classroom. I hope you finish reading this feeling like you can "let your hair down" and truly enjoy all of your future STEM lessons!

The following is a guest blog post Julie Lyons, a STEM and Technology teacher for Grades PK - 5 in a Maryland private school. She previously taught 3rd and 4th grade and college technology classes. Her family, traveling, and always asking questions are a few of her favorite things! Read on to learn her top 10 tips for classroom management for STEM teachers!

Unique Challenges of Managing a STEM Classroom

STEM is an inventive, creative, thought-provoking process. Creative processes are usually not linear. They are curvy, winding, and often back-track again and again or take a tangent on a completely new path. In a STEM classroom, we take this creative process, throw into the mix a bunch of supplies, choice of partners (who we may or may not enjoy working with), and open-ended projects that lead to a sometimes chaotic environment!

How do we manage all of this as a teacher trying to foster a creative STEM process yet maintain learning objectives and behavioral order in our classrooms?

Here are my top 10 tips for classroom management!

Tip 1: Get to know your students

How good does it feel when a professor or teacher really knows you? We all like that feeling of belonging and being seen and heard. I have learned so much about football, not because I particularly like football, but many of my students do. Knowing what team won over the weekend connects you to them at the start of a lesson.

So many classroom management behaviors can be smoothed over or short-circuited by really connecting with our students. Learn your students' personalities by finding out not only their strengths and weaknesses but also their interests. Cater lessons to their interests and be sure to give them opportunities to shine in their strengths.

One year I had a struggling reader, but she had impeccable scissor cutting skills. I asked her during a STEM challenge to be the scissor assistant. She shined in her strength and really helped her struggling classmates! When students feel like you "know-know" them and still enjoy teaching them, it creates buy-in to open their minds to learning and cooperating.

Vivify also has this great blog post on using students' interests to connect to STEM careers. Many are also struggling with distance learning so I recommend these great activities here !

Tip 2: Give teacher-led choice.

Students love making decisions, but make sure you are in control. When you are offering several choices that all lead to the same outcome, students sense they have made their own decision. Most students really like that feeling and will work hard to continue to be allowed to choose.

Choice in selecting partners for STEM challenges can sometimes work. I usually reserve this choice for shorter STEM challenges. I always have pre-organized groups of 2 and 3 ready to go when I know we need to get some STEM learning done in a timely fashion.

When I choose partners, I try to give other choices like which STEM role they would like to have in their group or if they would like to test their challenge inside or outside. However, you decide to give choice, make sure to think through the options so that no matter what choice students pick, they will have a productive learning experience.

Tip 3: Positive words

Positive words. Always. That's my classroom management style.

I squash the negative behaviors by calling out all of the good. It's amazing how fast groups will get quiet for instructions or when I compliment a quiet group and sharing the positive behavior. In addition, I lollipop my "extra" helpers. The ones who go above and beyond and choose to help a classmate without me asking. I want students to become natural problem solvers and team players.

Tip 4: Model how to work as a team

I try to keep things humorous and demonstrate all of the behaviors that would make a team un successful. Come up with names for those behaviors, like Can't-stop-talking Cathy. Then I ask students to help me model great teamwork.

In addition, I give roles to each team member. I use these role names:

Supplier: supply gatherer, organizer & returner

Reader: read the task & read brainstorming

Recorder: record testing info

Videographer: video building, tests & any other points of interest.

For groups of 3, I combine Reader and Recorder. The whole group does brainstorming/blueprinting and records what the recorder wrote down. This often leads to some great discussion in the groups of what occurred during their tests.

Lastly, we take the next class period (or whenever we finish testing) to view every group's videos and share results along with glows and grows - things we did great and things we could work on.

Tip 5: Assign seats

Assign seats, tables, desks, whatever your STEM classroom set up looks like. Everyone needs a space to call home to feel comfortable in the classroom. Even if it's shared with 14 other classes of students. Though we don't sit in our assigned space for very long during each class, students know it's there if they need a home base.

Tip 6: Portable Nametags

We create our name tags the first week of school. I like the simple nametag tents. Inside, we glue and write codes for all tech logins, apps, and our computer/iPad number. Everything stays organized in one place so it's easy to move seats if needed and great for when a substitute teacher is in the room!

A bonus nametag activity is to turn it into a STEM challenge by creating these light-up from VivifySTEM!

Tip 7: Signs everywhere

Anything that I have to repeat more than 3 times, I make into a sign!

Sounds silly, but once kids know where to look, they begin to help their classmates too. This is troubleshooting 101 - know where to find your info. I make signs for login information, passwords, pre-assigned groups per grade, STEM rules, and the STEM process. During a lesson, I will also display information digitally on my smartboard such as design constraints or a supply list.

Click here to download my STEM Activity rules poster!

Tip 8: Clear consistent routines.

The activities may change, but the flow of the class stays familiar. For example, I begin each class with kids sitting on the carpet for opening instruction. I close class the same way with a few moments of reflection on the lesson. We do this even on days when we are in the middle of a STEM project and the students want to just keep working. Routine is important and really helps with classroom management!

Tip 9: Build in clean up time

Set a timer for 5 - 10 minutes before class ends so you have built-in clean-up and re-cap time. We often get in the creative flow, and time just slips away. Then we are hurrying to clean up the mess of supplies before the next class.

Instead, introduce cleaning as a part of engineering. Engineers need to keep tidy workspaces when creating to keep track of supplies and for safety. Plus it helps set us up for success in the next STEM class if we know that all of the supplies are returned. Hurry always makes everyone's behavior harder to tolerate.

Tip 10: Quiet think time

STEM can be exciting and loud. But, it is also okay to have a quiet break. It is okay to do independent activities. It's okay to think in our own heads and not share right away. I like 15 minutes of silent think tank time for my older grades. I have even done independent STEM activities for one class and then brought groups together with their independent ideas for the next class. This really helps accommodate the different personalities and needs of my students!

Bonus: Tip 11 - Always have a plan B

My plan B is Legos. Sometimes lessons just do not go as we planned, and they turn into more chaos than creativity. So I punt on the lesson and pull out the Legos!

Ask students to build something related to the STEM challenge you were working on. I keep Legos pre-sorted into bins, ready to go if needed. I divide up the students into partners, spread them out around the room, and let them build. This gives me a few moments to reassess and see how best to proceed forward.

I hope these tips help in your classroom. I feel each year we start off with a rookie team, and it takes a bit to get our team playing the same STEM game. Here's to a year full of joy-filled STEM a-ha moment classrooms!

Tagged: STEM, STEM Classroom, Classroom Management

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10 Tips for Managing a STEM Classroom - Vivify STEM

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STEM is an inventive, creative, thought-provoking process. But it also involves a lot of supplies, choice of partners (who we may or may not enjoy working with), and open-ended projects that lead to a sometimes chaotic environment!

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Offers actionable strategies for integrating STEM pedagogy effectively

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Practice Brief 16 -- Topics:Assessment InformalEd Instruction
Research Brief: The Informal Formative Assessment Cycle as a Model for Teacher Practice

Ruiz-primo, M. A., & Furtak, E. M. (2007). Exploring teachers' informal formative assessment practices and students' understanding in the context of scientific inquiry. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(1), 57-84. doi:10.1002/tea.20163

Summary

Informal formative assessment in the classroom takes place when a teacher elicits student thinking and makes immediate use of this knowledge in instruction. In this study, researchers studied three teachers with varying informal assessment practices to explore the nature of informal formative assessment and its connection to student learning.

Authors:

BY VANESSA DE LEON & ANNIE ALLEN - MAY 2015

Theoretical Background

Formative assessment (FA) refers to assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning, allowing teachers to use knowledge of student understandings to inform their ongoing instruction (Black, 1993). Ruiz- Primo and Furtak claim that formative assessments can be seen as falling on a continuum from formal to informal. They define informal formative assessments as ongoing strategies that help teachers acquire information from students that can immediately be used in instruction. In the table below (adapted from p. 60 in their paper), the authors usefully distinguish informal and formal formative assessment strategies.

The authors offer a model of "assessment conversation" (Duschl & Gitomer, 1997) in which teachers elicit, recognize, and use student thinking and engagement during instruction. They identify four parts of this informal formative assessment cycle, which they call an "ESRU Cycle".

Teacher Elicits Response

Student Responds

Teacher Recognizes Student Response

Teacher Uses Student Response

Differences Between Formal and Informal Formative Assessment Practices
Formal: Designed to provide evidence about students' learning

Gathering

Interpreting

Acting

Teacher Collects or brings together information from students at a planned time

Teacher takes time to analyze information collected from students

Teacher plans an action to help students achieve learning goals

Example: giving quizzes or embedded assignments

Example: reading student work and providing written comments to all students

Example: writing or changing lesson plans to address the state of student learning

Informal: Evidence of learning generated during daily activities

Eliciting

Recognizing

Using

Teacher brings out or develops information in the form of a verbal response from students

Teacher reacts on the fly by recognizing students' responses and comparing them to accepted scientific ideas

Teacher immediately makes use of information from the students during the course of the ongoing classroom narrative

Example: asking students to formulate explanations or to provide evidence

Example: repeating or revoicing students' responses

Example: asking students to elaborate on their responses, explaining learning goals, promoting argumentation

Research Design

Using the "assessment conversation" model, the authors set out to address two research questions: (1) Can this model help to distinguish the quality of informal assessment practices across teachers? (2) Can the quality of teachers' informal formative assessment practices be linked to student performance? The authors studied the classroom assessment conversations of three 6th/7th grade science teachers. Teachers video recorded lessons they taught in a physical sciences unit using an inquiry-based curriculum, Foundational Approaches to Science Teaching (FAST).

The authors analyzed informal classroom assessment conversations to see how they fit with the ESRU cycle (Elicit, Student Response, Recognize, Use). Additionally, the researchers measured student learning with a multiple choice pre-test and a 38- item multiple-choice test after the investigation was completed. Researchers concluded that teachers who had whole-class conversations that were more consistent with the ESRU cycle had higher learning gains for students. Notably, it was the final step of the cycle (Use) that was vital for gains to be made.

Classroom Example of an Informal Assessment Conversation

This transcript is excerpted from Danielle's class shown in Table 7 in Ruiz-Primo & Furtak, 2007, p. 73:

1. Danielle: So the first three things you want to do, very important things, you want to label your vertical axis, you want to label your horizontal axis, and then you want to give the whole graph a title. And we've done that.

2. So, taking a look at this, am I ready to go? Can I start plotting my points?

3. Student: No.

4. Danielle: Why not?

5. Student: You didn't...

6. Danielle: What do we need to do? Eric?

7. Student: Put the scale.

8. Danielle: The scales. What do you mean by scales?

9. Student: The numbers.

10. Danielle: "The numbers." Good. Excellent. I liked that you used the word "scales," it's a very scientific word. So, yes, we need to figure out what the scales are, what we should number the different axes.

Reflection Questions

Read and reflect on this transcript from Danielle's classroom from Ruiz-Primo & Furtak's article. Where do you see the steps of the ESRU cycle in action? What is each step accomplishing for the teacher and for the students?

What examples of this kind of formative assessment can you think of from your own or others' classroom practice? Which aspects of the ESRU cycle are easier and which are more challenging to accomplish?

What strategies do you use to give voice to all students in these kinds of informal assessment conversations?

What supports do teachers need to enact robust informal formative assessment in their classrooms?

Implications for Practice

For teachers: We suggest that less attention be paid to rote procedures in the science classroom, and more attention be paid to knowledge generation in order for students to fully experience scientific inquiry. Further, we suggest that instructional responsiveness-i.e., teachers' ability to take students' ideas and use them to inform instruction and guide learning based on their existing understandings-is essential.

For teacher education and professional development: We suggest that content knowledge alone is not enough to conduct informal formative assessment. Rather, attention to the stages of the ESRU cycle is vital. Additionally, being explicit with pre- and in-service teachers about the differences in a ESRU model versus a traditional IRE/F model (Teacher Initiation, Student Response, Teacher Evaluation/Feedback) of classroom discussion is important for eliciting information to improve student learning. As a result, it is imperative that teachers are provided with the tools necessary to integrate assessment into the course of daily instruction to enact inquiry-based reforms.

Related Briefs

Related Research

Black, P. (1993). Formative and summative assessment by teachers. Studies in Science Education, 21, 49-97.

Duschl, R.A., & Gitomer, D.H. 1997. Strategies and challenges to changing the focus of assessment and instruction in science classrooms. Educational Assessment, 4, 37-73.

Attending to Equity

Formative assessment practices gives students chances to get meaningful feedback in a low-stakes environment, which supports their learning and helps them develop confidence in their ability to express their understanding.

Give voice to all students in order to fully engage students in inquiry-based lessons and effectively implement informal formative assessment practices with them.

Welcome and integrate students' own experiences as part of the learning environment and development of knowledge.

ALSO SEE STEM TEACHING TOOLS

STEM Teaching Tools content copyright 2014-22 UW Institute for Science + Math Education. All rights reserved.
This site is primarily funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Award #1920249 (previously through Awards #1238253 and #1854059). Opinions expressed are not those of any funding agency.

Work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Others may adapt with attribution. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Opinions expressed are not those of any funding agency.

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Research Brief: The Informal Formative Assessment Cycle as a Model for Teacher Practice : StemTeachingTools (en-US)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Practice Brief 16 -- Topics:Assessment InformalEd Instruction Ruiz-primo, M. A., & Furtak, E. M. (2007). Exploring teachers' informal formative assessment practices and students' understanding in the context of scientific inquiry. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(1), 57-84. doi:10.1002/tea.20163 Informal formative assessment in the classroom takes place when a teacher elicits student thinking and makes immediate use of this knowledge in instruction.

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Enables real-time feedback to adapt instruction, ensuring students are ready for more complex concepts. Examples include:

Colored sticky notes for self-reporting comprehension levels.

Observing student interactions.

Open-ended questioning.

Utilizing rubrics for assessment clarity.

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Practice Briefs on Topic: "Assessment"

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Topics: Enter your email below to receive periodic updates about new tools. This is a low-volume email list, and we promise not to share your address with others. Tweets by @STEMTeachTools

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Designed for building conceptual understanding in math. Key features:

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Provides tools for educators to align STEM instruction with NGSS standards, including lesson plans and implementation guides.

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Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning

Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards

THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF SCIENCE LEARNING

Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

Crosscutting Concepts help students explore connections across the four domains of science, including Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering Design.

When these concepts, such as "cause and effect", are made explicit for students, they can help students develop a coherent and scientifically-based view of the world around them.

Science and Engineering Practices describe what scientists do to investigate the natural world and what engineers do to design and build systems. The practices better explain and extend what is meant by "inquiry" in science and the range of cognitive, social, and physical practices that it requires. Students engage in practices to build, deepen, and apply their knowledge of core ideas and crosscutting concepts.

Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) are the key ideas in science that have broad importance within or across multiple science or engineering disciplines. These core ideas build on each other as students progress through grade levels and are grouped into the following four domains: Physical Science, Life Science, Earth and Space Science, and Engineering.

More about 3D Learning

GET TO KNOW

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K-12 science content standards. Standards set the expectations for what students should know and be able to do. The NGSS were developed by states to improve science education for all students.

A goal for developing the NGSS was to create a set of research-based, up-to-date K-12 science standards. These standards give local educators the flexibility to design classroom learning experiences that stimulate students' interests in science and prepares them for college, careers, and citizenship.

Get to Know the Standards

IMPLEMENT

The NGSS call for a three-dimensional approach to K-12 science instruction. This represents a significant transition from previous state standards. That's why effective implementation demands a great deal of collaboration and patience among states, districts, schools, teachers, and students.

Thoughtful and coordinated approaches to implementation will enable educators to inspire future generations of scientifically literate students. That is the vision of the NGSS. This website provides a range of high-quality resources that empower educators, administrators, parents, and the general public to help bring this vision to life.

Find Tools and Resources

WHY

Science-and therefore science education-is central to the lives of all Americans.

A high-quality science education means that students will develop an in-depth understanding of content and develop key skills-communication, collaboration, inquiry, problem solving, and flexibility-that will serve them throughout their educational and professional lives.

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Home Page | Next Generation Science Standards

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Improving Science Education Through Three-Dimensional Learning Quick Search Next Generation Science Standards Within the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), there are three distinct and equally important dimensions to learning science. These dimensions are combined to form each standard-or performance expectation-and each dimension works with the other two to help students build a cohesive understanding of science over time.

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Digital STEM curriculum for K-12 aligned with NGSS, focusing on hands-on learning and assessment tools.

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Our Mission Is
STEM Education Increase Scores, Inspire Tomorrow's Leaders, and Close the Achievement Gap

Created by Teachers,
for Teachers Research-proven, 5e-based, and Adaptable to Any Classroom

Built for
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We know that it takes time for teachers to adjust to a new curriculum. That's why we personally train them throughout the entire implementation process. We remain available to answer your questions, even after the adoption of STEMscopes. For teachers interested in deepening their STEM knowledge, we offer a variety of self-paced STEM certification programs through our partnership with the National Institute of STEM Education (NISE).

Learn More

Go Deeper: Insights on Education

Distance learning, learning loss, and the impact of COVID-19 have permanently reshaped education. After gathering experts from across the industry, actionable resources, and instructional guidance tips, we've centralized all the need-to-know information to support teachers and students through these tough times. Explore each area of interest below:

Results Oriented From Humble Beginnings to International Acclaim

We take a scientific approach to our curriculum, refining, recalibrating, and adjusting it in light of concrete evidence. Improvements are based on data-driven results and teacher feedback. STEMscopes was designed to serve teachers and students, so we are always adapting to their changing needs. This strategy makes us dependable and effective. It's the reason over 8 million students (and counting) across the country use our curriculum.

Strength in Numbers

50 States

3,000+ School Districts

26,000+ Schools

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The Leader in STEM Education | STEMscopes

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STEMscopes™ is a comprehensive suite of results-oriented STEM curriculum and professional development solutions used by more than 8 million students and 600,000 teachers across all 50 states. Created by educators for educators, STEMscopes is highly adaptable, affordable, and supports instruction in any kind of learning environment. STEMscopes was developed by Accelerate Learning Inc.

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Offers resources and activities for STEM teaching, with a focus on inquiry-based learning and real-world science applications.

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Offers real-life examples to introduce new STEM concepts effectively.

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Provides real-world problem scenarios tied to STEM standards

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Edheads: Activate Your Mind with FREE Educational Games & More

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Students reinforce their knowledge that DNA is the genetic material for all living things by modeling it using toothpicks and gumdrops that represent the four biochemicals (adenine, thiamine, guanine, and cytosine) that pair with each other in a specific pattern, making ...

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Ignite STEM learning in K-12 - TeachEngineering

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Free, K-12, NGSS standards-aligned STEM lessons and hands-on activities for teaching elementary, middle and high school science, engineering design and math. Search by concepts or specific Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to Ignite STEM learning in K-12.

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Comprehensive STEM curriculum with digital resources and professional learning support.

Audience: Teachers, curriculum developers

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Experience a variety of powerful and engaging resources designed to fuel a cultural shift around STEM teaching and learning. Teachers will become effective STEM instructional leaders and students will gain valuable critical-thinking and solution-seeking skills for life. Students will activate their inner explorers, propelling them to success in college, careers, citizenship, and beyond.

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STEM Education Curriculum and STEM Textbooks | Discovery Education

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Experience a variety of powerful and engaging resources designed to fuel a cultural shift around STEM teaching and learning. Teachers will become effective STEM instructional leaders and students will gain valuable critical-thinking and solution-seeking skills for life. Students will activate their inner explorers, propelling them to success in college, careers, citizenship, and beyond.

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Offers lesson plans, video tutorials, and online activities developed by STEM experts.

Audience: Teachers, STEM mentors

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Find virtual STEM resources for students, parents educators, and mentors.

DoD STEM education experts have provided resources for virtual learning - with many designed specifically for independent participation due to COVID-19 in-person instructional limitations.

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DoD STEM education experts have provided resources for virtual learning - with many designed specifically for independent participation due to COVID-19 in-person instructional limitations. Your filter or search returned no results. Please try again.

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A collection of videos and resources addressing STEM curriculum and instructional strategies. Audience: All Educators, researchers

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Hundreds of free, standards-aligned STEM lesson plans and activities for all grade levels.

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Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE)

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Free STEM Lesson Plans for K-12 Teachers - ORISE

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ORISE offers free lesson plans and STEM resources for K-12 teachers to help their students embrace science, math and technology subjects.

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Offers simulations, videos, and lesson plans covering Earth science, space exploration, and climate. K-12

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Find Next Gen STEM learning opportunities for students in multiple settings - in school, afterschool programs informal institutions like museums and science centers, and at home.

NASA Express Newsletter Sign-up

Are you looking for the latest NASA resources for teachers, parents, caregivers, and students? Subscribe to the NASA EXPRESS newsletter to get the latest NASA STEM opportunities delivered to your inbox every Thursday.

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get social with nasa stem engagement

Discover More STEM Topics From NASA

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NASA offers a wide array of unique experiences for educators designed to engage K-12 students nationwide in the agency's missions, people, and resources.

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Provides real-world STEM curricula with interactive missions and career connections. K-12

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Features over 1,000 project ideas, simulations, and tools for science fairs and classroom experiments. k-12

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Provides immersive STEM simulations and virtual space missions for students. K-12

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Free, research-based simulations for science and math, ideal for K–12 classrooms.

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A digital library offering over 1,500 NGSS-aligned, hands-on engineering lessons and activities. Audience: K–12 teachers, curriculum developers​

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October 2022 Editor's Pick

Create a sure-to-impress flashing birthday card or design a light-up holiday card-all with paper circuits! In this activity, students are guided through the process to create simple paper circuitry using only copper tape, a coin cell battery, a light-emitting diode (LED) ...

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Ignite STEM learning in K-12 - TeachEngineering

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October 2022 Editor's Pick Create a sure-to-impress flashing birthday card or design a light-up holiday card-all with paper circuits! In this activity, students are guided through the process to create simple paper circuitry using only copper tape, a coin cell battery, a light-emitting diode (LED) ...