Feeling overwhelmed by all there is to see and do at an NSTA conference on science education? Join us for an interactive exploration through the conference app and NSTA’s social media. By the end of the session, you will know just how to get the most from your conference experience in addition to bu

test SCST 1.1 Engaging 1st- and 2nd-Year College Students with Science and Engineering Near-space experiments (NSEs) using high-altitude ballooning are offered to engage 1st- and 2nd-year college students to foster learning through science and engineering practices. NSEs are student-generated to build off students’ curiosities, perspectives, expressions, and sense of discovery. SCST 1.2 Fostering the Information Literacy of Community College Anatomy & Physiology Students Many students experience difficulty locating, evaluating, using, and communicating reliable information. Strategies to foster information literacy among A&P students will be presented. Students demonstrated an increased ability to evaluate claims and improved self-perception of critical thinking. SCST 1.3 Developing Literacy in the Science Classroom: Strategies that Transcend Grade Levels Literacy strategies that foster speaking, writing, reading, and listening engage students in the content, identify misconceptions, and optimize teachers’ instructional time. College science students identified Carousel and ABC brainstorming as their favorite literacy activities.

SPEAKERS:
Derrick Nero (University of Nebraska Omaha: Omaha, NE), Renee Clary (Mississippi State University: Mississippi State, MS), Cheston Saunders (Southeastern Community College: Whiteville, NC)

COESEE - Join us to learn more about assessment of elementary science learning using elementary learning stories.

TAKEAWAYS:
Creating student learning stories can help support assessment in elementary classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Molly Ewing (The Charles A. Dana Center: No City, No State)

test SCST 2.1 Comparing learning outcomes across different course delivery methods: face-to-face, online and video conferencing Do students learn better in a face-to-face, online or video conference course? The COVID-19 pandemic provided opportunity to help answer this question by allowing comparison of student learning outcomes in a human anatomy course taught using each of these modalities over the course of the pandemic. SCST 2.2 Digital Media Assignments in Online Geoscience Classrooms: Engaging Students and Building Community Digital media assignments allow students to share knowledge in nontraditional ways. This presentation showcases online geoscience courses that use media assignments, includes discussion of advantages and challenges and components required for creation of multimedia assignments for online class. SCST 2.3 Quality Matters: Our Experiences in Building Online College Courses to be Quality Matters-certified Quality Matters (QM) is an organization that ensures quality control in online instruction. Two professors will discuss the process for QM certification in their online courses. This presentation will discuss experiences and lessons learned to better assist others in the QM review process.

SPEAKERS:
Renee Clary (Mississippi State University: Mississippi State, MS), Thayne Sweeten (Utah State University: , UT), Athena Nagel (Mississippi State University: Mississippi State, MS)

Calling all ASTE California members! All researchers and educators are invited to share their current research, project, or teaching resources with ASTE members.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will provide networking and sharing space for ASTE California members with all other researchers and educators to share their own practices, research, and gather new ideas for research and teaching.

SPEAKERS:
Gina Childers (Texas Tech University: Lubbock, TX)

test SCST 3.1 Political Ideology in Geosciences: Strategies for Teaching n Divisive Times In an age of polarizing political ideologies, teaching geoscience is increasingly difficult. This presentation will demonstrate various strategies to teach about "controversial" topics which could provoke dissention, opposition and conflict in an online Environmental Science course. SCST 3.2 College Science Teaching in the “New Normal”: Students’ Attitudes and Preferences to Optimize Science Learning After 2+ years of the COVID-19 pandemic, college science classrooms—and students’ knowledge base and attitude—evolved to a “new normal.” Content analysis of end-of-semester survey data reveal what continues to work in upper-level college science classrooms, and techniques now rendered ineffective. SCST 3.3 All of the Above: Strategies for writing better multiple-choice questions that assess higher order thinking. We present and discuss several strategies for developing well written multiple-choice questions that can assess higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.

SPEAKERS:
Christa Haney (Mississippi State University: Mississippi State, MS), Renee Clary (Mississippi State University: Mississippi State, MS), Donald French (Oklahoma State University: Stillwater, OK), Tarren Shaw (The University of Oklahoma: Norman, OK)

Are you a preservice teachers’ instructor? Learn how NSTA's digital resources, virtual experiences, and online community can help your students become the BEST teachers they can be. We will discuss what’s available on the NSTA website and how to easily access it with your own Class Landing page.

TAKEAWAYS:
Preservice teachers using NSTA as a Textbook (or as instructional materials supplement) create a library of resources, grow their network of professional colleagues, and enhance their content and pedagogical knowledge of science.

SPEAKERS:
Flavio Mendez (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

This is session #4 in the PL Committee CCCs Pathway and is designed to support K-12. The crosscutting concepts provide a consistent language for student communication. When teachers’ assessment prompts are designed with the crosscutting concepts, the focus of student thinking can be directed to different aspects of the phenomenon or, the system being investigated. Patterns may be used as evidence to support explanations or arguments for the causes of a phenomenon. Participants will explore the progression of Crosscutting Concepts throughout a student’s K-12 career. They will consider phenomenon and discuss several appropriate prompts that bring different CCCs to the forefront (patterns, scale, systems). Participants will engage with the process of developing assessment prompts which use the Crosscutting Concepts to initiate student sensemaking responses.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participant will leave with resources that guide their development and use of Crosscutting Concepts to focus student sensemaking on assessments. These can be integrated with assessments prompts which are aligned to Science and Engineering Practices and Disciplinary Core Ideas.

SPEAKERS:
Leah Litz (Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium: No City, No State), Christopher Soldat (Grant Wood Area Education Agency: Cedar Rapids, IA)

What do science, mathematics, social studies and reading/language arts instruction have in common? See how content methods faculty modeled content integration to provide preservice teachers with the tools to teach an integrated, science-focused investigation during their methods field experience.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will take away ideas for collaborating with colleagues to model integration across disciplines, preparing preservice teachers to use integration to ensure time for high-quality science instruction in the K-3 classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Kay Kelly (University of Dayton: Dayton, OH)

Students in the first semester of the General Chemistry sequence participated in a peer-teaching exercise and were subsequently evaluated for information retention and test anxiety. Students participating in peer-teaching scored on average 20% higher on a final exam question.

TAKEAWAYS:
Students participating in peer-teaching scored on average 20% higher on a final exam question than those who participated in a non-peer-teaching review. This increased retention was shown to carry over into the subsequent semester in students participating in General Chemistry II.

SPEAKERS:
Donald Carpenetti (Craven Community College: New Bern, NC)

Starting with a 3D learning target will ensure you build a lesson that includes a strong connection between Disciplinary Core Ideas, Science and Engineering Practices, and Cross-Cutting Concepts.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will create 3D learning targets and outline lessons that guide students through sense making instruction as they explore scientific content.

SPEAKERS:
Kelly Suarez (Northwest ISD: Fort Worth, TX), Courtney Toht (Northwest ISD: Fort Worth, TX)

Join our roundtable of preservice and novice teachers to discuss experiences interning and as a first year teacher. Hear their stories and ask questions!

TAKEAWAYS:
Preservice teachers can be better prepared to student teach and begin their first jobs by hearing stories from and asking questions of preservice and new teachers who have just experienced interning or their first year.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Governor (University of North Georgia: Dahlonega, GA), Rebekkah O'Beollain (The Ohio State University: Columbus, OH), Mutiara Syifa (Illinois State University: Normal, IL), SOPHIA JEONG (The Ohio State University: Columbus, OH), Tasha Thomas (University of Houston Clear Lake), Erika Reeves (Bodies STEM Early College Experience Teacher: Columbus, OH), Lizz Holtz (Glenn C. Jones Middle School: Buford, GA), Konrad Peterson (Kansas State University: No City, No State), Kenneth Herrenbruck (Kansas State University: No City, No State), Kimberly Staples (Kansas State University: Manhattan, KS)

What does the research say about effective science teaching? Learn how to build a strong pedagogical foundation while integrating science across the curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
An overview of research-based practices in teaching science for the beginner and resources for research-based instructional practices.

SPEAKERS:
Laura Robertson (East Tennessee State University: Johnson City, TN), Donna Governor (University of North Georgia: Dahlonega, GA), Dominick Fantacone (SUNY Cortland: Cortland, NY), Kimberly Staples (Kansas State University: Manhattan, KS), Lorraine Ramirez Villarin (University of North Georgia: Dahlonega, GA)

Misinformation has reached epidemic proportions. Thankfully, science has found a solution, inoculation theory, which applies the logic of vaccines to misinformation. This presentation focuses on active inoculation, in which students learn the techniques used to mislead by creating misinformation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use active inoculation to protect their students from misinformation, such as designing an advertisement for a health pseudoscience product and creating conspiracy theories. Creating misinformation is a fun and effective way to learn the techniques used to mislead.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Trecek-King (Thinking Is Power)

This presentation explores a general-education science class designed to teach critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy skills. Focusing on science’s process over its findings can empower students to evaluate claims and make wiser decisions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to teach the skills of critical thinking, information literacy, and science literacy by providing their students with a structured toolkit to evaluate claims (FLOATER), including pseudoscience in their classroom, and having their students create misinformation.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Trecek-King (Thinking Is Power)

Each year new teachers join districts ready to work with students. Navigating district initiatives, curriculum, parents and student learning can be overwhelming. To support new teachers, Northwest ISD developed New Teacher Academy, a unique, on-going PD to help retain teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn the components of New Teacher Academy and how to implement strategies focused on brand new and new to district teachers in order to support teachers and increase retention.

SPEAKERS:
Courtney Toht (Northwest ISD: Fort Worth, TX), Kelly Suarez (Northwest ISD: Fort Worth, TX)

Creating connected learning pathways for youth starts with connecting and supporting their educators. Learn about essential elements of building learning ecosystems and stories of the collaborative work that is coming out of Learning Ecosystems Northeast's Connected Learning Ecosystems.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about essential elements of building supportive learning ecosystems. Local educator leaders will share stories of some of the collaborative and complementary work that is coming out of Learning Ecosystems Northeast's Connected Learning Ecosystems.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Spooner (Van Buren District Secondary School), Diana Allen (Sanford Junior High School: Sanford, ME), Molly Auclair (Gulf of Maine Research Institute: Portland, ME)

Pre-service teachers! Participate in this session to learn how NSTA Resources can provide the skills and knowledge needed to apply for and be successful in any teaching opportunity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Pre-service teachers will get a thorough overview of all the resources and materials available in our NSTA Library and professional development opportunities to strengthen their resume and build confidence when seeking teaching positions.

SPEAKERS:
Flavio Mendez (NSTA: Arlington, VA), Angela Webb (James Madison University: Harrisonburg, VA), Jacob Hayward (Siloam Springs Middle School: Siloam Springs, AR)

This presentation explores how to use the FLOATER toolkit (Falsifiability, Logic, Objectivity, Alternative explanations, Tentative conclusions, Evidence, Replicability) to teach students how to evaluate claims. FLOATER is featured in the Checkology® lesson “Evaluating Science-Based Claims.”

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to use the FLOATER toolkit.FLOATER summarizes many of science’s essential characteristics, so it could form a useful foundation for science courses. Using it to evaluate pseudoscience helps students learn the characteristics of good science.

SPEAKERS:
Melanie Trecek-King (Thinking Is Power)