This full day course will introduce and immerse participants in the Next Generation Science Assessment (NGSA) design approach including unpacking dimensions, developing integrated dimension maps, articulating learning performances, identifying phenomena, and designing tasks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the steps for designing 3-dimensional tasks that align with NGSS performance expectations, take into consideration students’ diverse backgrounds, and create their own tasks at the grade level and science topic of their choice.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Krajcik (CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University: East Lansing, MI), Christopher Harris (WestEd)

Learn a design process for creating three-dimensional assessment tasks that support instruction and student learning. Participants will be introduced to each phase: unpacking dimensions, developing integrated dimension maps, articulating learning performances, identifying phenomena, and designing tasks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the steps of a systematic process for designing three-dimensional tasks that align with NGSS performance expectations, take into consideration students’ diverse backgrounds, and can be used in classrooms to provide information to teachers and students to improve learning.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Krajcik (CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University: East Lansing, MI)

Over the last few years, access to digital resources to capture student understanding of chemistry concepts has greatly increased. This technological shift, along with a focus on the use of storylines to engage students in chemistry, provides an opportunity to implement digital interactive notebooks. Through the use of various on-line platforms, student beliefs and understanding can be documented and tracked over the course of a storyline. Digital notebooking is a dynamic process that integrates different learning experiences to challenge and reinforce student understanding. This method actively engages students in a manner that encourages discussion and collaboration. Support is built into the digital notebook for absent students and those that need additional resources to understand a concept. This session provides an overview of the digital interactive notebook creation, along with guidance for educators to take this process and use phenomena relevant to their students.

TAKEAWAYS:
This session will provide a brief overview of how I use digital interactive notebooks in my classroom, along with guidance on how educators can begin the process of building their own. Resources and editable chemistry notebooks will be shared that focus on different chemistry phenomena.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah English (Sweet Home High School: Amherst, NY)

What would it look like if we designed all aspects of the assessment system to prioritize impact on instruction and students? Traditional ideas about assessment systems describe assessment systems in the ideal world, where state summative assessments have the smallest footprint, and meaningful classroom assessments are the most important component. However, in practice, we know this is not always the case–because of the stakes and funding attached to large scale testing (both perceived and real), assessments that are not meant to inform instruction end up shaping a lot of the decisions educators make about student learning. In this session, we will discuss how we rectify this in assessment system design, including examples and implications for state, district, and classroom assessments. The session will include opportunities for participants to inform the development of policy documents to inform assessment system development.

TAKEAWAYS:
Systems of assessment can center students and instruction, and simultaneously surface trustworthy information for decision-making – if they are intentionally designed to do so.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Cooper (Contextus), Kelley Aitken (Winchester Public Schools: Winchester, VA)

One of the most powerful skills we can develop in our students to practice scientific literacy when they leave our classroom is the skill of critically evaluating information. This is particularly pertinent today with an uncharted landscape of misinformation and social media. We will share our experience as high school science teachers of explicitly incorporating the NGSS Scientific Practice of Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating information (SEP8) into our classrooms with proficiency-based assessment. We will share the research that influenced our work, resources that include scaffolds, activities, and assessments, and lastly, reflections and strategies after having explicitly taught and assessed evaluating information. After our first year teaching this scientific practice, we asked ourselves, "How had we not taught this skill before!?"

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will be provided with a framework and resources to help students engage in arguably the most important skill needed for them to continue to develop their scientific literacy outside of and after school -- to critically evaluate information for themselves and for a functioning democracy.

SPEAKERS:
Brett Erdmann (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Thomas Wolfe (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL)

Interest and identity are key for supporting meaningful science learning for students (NRC, 2012), yet traditional secondary science assessments do not invite students to bring their sensemaking repertoires and interests to assessment tasks. This session shares a research-driven, “five-dimensional” (5D) process for assessment design that grounds students’ interests and identities as co-equal dimensions to the 3 NGSS dimensions. Participants will use 5D Assessment tools to create more meaningful and equitable assessments that better leverage the assets that students bring and support students as knowers and doers of science. Participants will examine features of meaningful, phenomenon-driven assessments and adapt a community survey tool they can use in classrooms to elicit information about their students’ interests and identities. We will share how they can use this information to guide the development of a “5D” assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators engage with the 5-D Assessment Project's tools to elicit and use information about students' interests and identities to design meaningful, phenomenon-driven assessment opportunities. Work with examples of meaningful assessment aligned to the elements of the NGSS.

SPEAKERS:
Abraham Lo (BSCS Science Learning: Colorado Springs, CO), Sara Cooper (Contextus)

In this interactive session, we share important lessons learned through our work with states, educators, and developers to support equitable systems of science assessment. These lessons can help us develop better 3D assessment tasks, processes, and systems that lead to better outcomes for learners. With over a decade of assessment evaluation and design experience, our team is excited to share ideas for how to improve the 3D assessment design process. These lessons range from shifting assessment development to focus on 3D sensemaking to thinking holistically about unpacking and design to taking an assessment system lens throughout the development process. We will engage participants in activities that demonstrate our lessons learned and connect to how these lessons lead to equitable curriculum-anchored assessment systems. The resources and processes shared in this session are applicable to K-12 science learning. The session will be interactive.

TAKEAWAYS:
Three-dimensional assessment design is tricky -- come join us to discuss how we can take a systems approach and develop better 3-D assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Kelley Aitken (Winchester Public Schools: Winchester, VA), Sara Cooper (Contextus), Dawn Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL)

After the pandemic, we wanted to bring in as many hands-on, real-life chemistry experiences to our students as possible. After watching labs through a screen and sending materials home, our team had a new passion to get as many labs and investigations in as possible! What that passion evolved into was working on non-traditional assessments that required students to plan and carry out an experiment for an assessment in addition to the labs during class time instead of the traditional “in your seat” with paper and pencil assessment. We wanted to give our assessment meaning and bring purpose back to the labs. Presenters will share several different formats that we have tried as we went through year one of implementing SEP3 Planning and Carrying Out an Investigation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Presenters will share how they developed non-traditional assessments related to SEP3 Planning and Carrying Out Investigations in their standards-based grading chemistry curriculum. Presenters will share recommendations/challenges for teachers to think about as they implement SEP3 in their classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Nathan Gustin (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Karen O'Connor (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Ashley Rose (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), John Deppong (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Kristen One (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL)

It is often thought that a makerspace activity is something that is nice to do with students, but not a necessity. Yet when makerspace activities are integrated into daily instruction, it can open many avenues that promote an inclusive classroom. This workshop will focus on strategies and ways to use makerspace to promote student voice and choice for areas of concept development, empathy-driven problem solving, and assessment. Participants will explore the key elements of makerspace and examine ways to use makerspace challenges to support sense-making. The discussion will also focus on the idea that makerspace activities can nudge all students to consider multiple ways of solving problems, thus enhancing their “out of the box” thinking. As part of this session, participants will explore different strategies in using makerspace to introduce a phenomenon, model a phenomenon, and assess students' understanding on three different dimensions of learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Explore makerspace challenges and activities as a means to provide student voice and choice in how they make sense of a phenomenon, a solution to a problem, and core ideas while demonstrating their understanding of core ideas as a means of assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Michele Detwiler (Gary Adult High School: Tampa, FL)

SPIN, a FREE web-based notebook created with funding by NSF, has 4 customizable lessons for data-focused investigations in Physics on Centripetal Force, Ohm’s Law, Pendulums, and Impact. Teachers can also input their own lessons into SPIN. One of the teachers who created the lessons in the notebook will be presenting. During the first 30 minutes, presenters will give teachers accounts in SPIN and show how students can use the notebook and the metacognitive support features such as the Communication Hub, I’m Stuck button, and SPAARC prompts. Experiences of teachers and students who have used SPIN will be discussed. In the final 30 minutes, teachers will customize a lesson in SPIN or input their own lessons with help from the presenters. By the end of the session, teachers will be able to use SPIN effectively with the ability to share the notebook with all of the teachers at their school. Use of SPIN is entirely free and is found at https://spin.cehd.gmu.edu/login.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to use SPIN to download and edit a lesson from the Global Marketplace or create their own lesson in SPIN. Teachers who have used SPIN note that it has helped their students understand data practices explicitly.

SPEAKERS:
Erin Barrett (Physics Teacher: Purcellville, VA), Erin Peters-Burton (George Mason University: Fairfax, VA)

Sensemaking with the three dimensions is the focal construct we want to measure in science assessments - not the phenomenon or problem or the three-dimensions. Making sense of phenomena and/or problems is how students show us they can use the three dimensions to figure out something. This is what we want to assess and how we will really know that students understand the three dimensions. Yet, centering sensemaking in assessment design is difficult and often sensemaking is missing in assessments. Join us for a deep dive into sensemaking and 3D assessment. In this interactive session, participants will engage with exemplary examples of sensemaking in assessment tasks and practice foregrounding sensemaking in assessment design. The resources and processes shared in this session are applicable to K-12 science learning. The session will be interactive.

TAKEAWAYS:
Leave with examples of 3-D sensemaking in assessment tasks and activities for building better assessments that elicit student sensemaking.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Cooper (Contextus), Kelley Aitken (Winchester Public Schools: Winchester, VA)

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, teachers have had to restructure how they teach. When schools closed, teachers were given multiple options and had to pick one. Many schools chose the Google Classroom option as it was the easiest for some schools to set up, but didn't allow for inclusivity with every student both in and out of the room. Using examples from my own Chemistry and fully virtual Applied Digital Skills classes, I will show how Microsoft Teams can give both the teachers and students a hub for all their presentations, notes, assignments, and even assessments. It allows teachers the ability to grade assignments and for students and parents to see those grades within the platform. It also allows for teachers to keep track of students' mental health and insights that can be shared with parents or councilors about students' habits on their computer. This may not be a science specific topic, but it works so well for managing a science classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will know how to use Microsoft Teams to host virtual lessons, create postings students can read and interact with, create and grade assignments, and how to check in with the emotional needs of students.

SPEAKERS:
Jill Elder (Assumption High School: Louisville, KY)

Presenters will discuss how a partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and the SIU STEM Education Research Center @ Carbondale, IL built a 100% IL-developed Science Assessment. There was a concerted effort by SIU to include willing and qualified IL educators to score constructed responses and item development. It proved to be a powerful professional learning experience. Participants improved their understanding of NGSS (Illinois Learning Standards in Science (ILS-S/NGSS) and classroom practices. Participants report this experience was rewarding personally and professionally, and their classroom instruction benefited students. We will present participant survey data and testimonials to support our claims. Teachers often say there is a lack of meaningful and rewarding NGSS/science professional learning opportunities. We found the Illinois Science Assessment Project is one of the few. We suggest other states, agencies consider the same.

TAKEAWAYS:
Meaningfully including in-service educators in developing your state assessment will transform the black box of large-scale summative assessment to a joint endeavor that will see teacher buy-in and professional development increase, and student learning and scores go up.

SPEAKERS:
Harvey Henson (Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Carbondale, IL), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

Positioning phenomena and problems in ways that elicit sensemaking from students requires that they are problematized—in other words, that phenomena are presented in a way that highlights a productive uncertainty for students to figure out. Sensemaking requires that there is something authentically uncertain to the students engaged with the task in which they need to make sense of. When a phenomenon-based scenario is problematized, it enables sensemaking by focusing thinking on an authentic, productive uncertainty central to the phenomenon that requires the targeted dimensions (i.e., assessment targets) to figure out. In this session, participants will analyze examples of highly compelling tasks that support problematizing by students as they represent their sensemaking. The resources and processes shared in this session are applicable to K-12 science learning. The session will be interactive.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage with a range of assessment scenarios to figure out what it means for a task to be problematized.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Cooper (Contextus), Dawn Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL)

Explore the comprehensive assessment system that accompanies the OpenSciEd high school program. This comprehensive system includes opportunities for formative, summative, self, and peer assessment. The session will guide participants through the multiple assessment types and will explore in depth electronic exit tickets and transfer tasks. Electronic exit tickets give teachers an opportunity to formatively assess students' three dimensional thinking at key points in each unit. Transfer tasks are summative assessment opportunities that give students an opportunity to transfer what they have learned in the unit to a novel scenario. Both of these assessment opportunities include teacher and student routines to support student thinking and instructional action.

TAKEAWAYS:
In OpenSciEd HS, the assessment system is structured to support teachers in assessing all three dimensions of the NGSS through formative, summative, peer, and self assessment opportunities.

SPEAKERS:
Zoe Buck Bracey (Senior Science Educator and Director of Design for Justice: Colorado Springs, CO), Michael Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL), Kate Henson (University of Colorado Boulder: Boulder, CO)

Too often teachers spend valuable time creating performance tasks in science to encourage sensemaking in their students and to make student thinking more visible. This session will highlight available OER resources that have been compiled across multiple sites. Using these tasks as a starting point, participants will explore ways to adapt these tasks to meet the needs of their classroom. Participants will learn strategies for increasing rigor, providing different levels of support, and providing opportunities to increase student engagement through student voice and choice.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants in this session will leave with an understanding of the OER tasks available for classroom use and strategies to adapt these tasks for their classroom. Strategies will include examples of support for scaffolding, giving meaningful feedback, and increasing student voice and choice.

SPEAKERS:
Kelley Aitken (Winchester Public Schools: Winchester, VA)

Using the Disciplinary Core Ideas and a research-based “citizen science” approach, science educators contributed their own test items, and also helped to revise existing test items in order to address crucial issues such as difficulty, gender, and racial/ethnic bias that were present in the item analysis characteristics. We share the analysis and results of these efforts so that educators can assess their own test items to be more inclusive of all students understandings in one of the dimensions of the 3-D approach to learning. Learn what changes contributed to improvement of the item as well as what types of changes or revisions made the item worse than before. We also share results of field testing of these items in student classrooms and discuss the importance of incorporating students’ misconceptions into the response choices to capture their true understanding of science concepts as outlined in the DCIs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn to evaluate assessment questions that you use to assess students’ sensemaking of elements outlined in the NGSS DCIs. Are the questions free of bias, not too difficult, indicative of overall student performance? Do they include common misconceptions that students hold? Access a free resource.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Crockett (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA)

In this session, participants will consider three alternatives to traditional multiple-choice pre-assessments: modeling, self-documentation, and class discussions. We will discuss the purpose of pre-assessments as a critical data point for instructional planning, especially with many schools moving towards PLC structures around data cycles. We will see examples of these three alternative strategies for pre-assessment (which can also be used as formative assessment structures). For each assessment structure, we will discuss how to collect and use data. Authentic examples will be provided from the presenter’s middle school and high school classrooms.The session will synthesize and apply ideas from the following ACESSE Stem Teaching Tools: Modeling #8 / self-documentation #31 / class discussions #6, #35 / using pre-assessments #15, #18, #25, #34, #37. These STEM teaching tools will be shared with participants to continue their learning beyond the 60-minute session.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to use different assessment formats to collect data without relying on multiple-choice questions. The assessment formats allow students to use knowledge & experiences of a phenomenon or science idea while providing meaningful information to guide instructional choices.

SPEAKERS:
Stephanie Alderman-Oler (Washington High School: Kansas City, KS)

This course is designed to introduce participants to the Next Generation Science Assessment (NGSA) design approach including unpacking dimensions, developing integrated dimension maps, articulating learning performances, identifying phenomena, and designing tasks.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn the steps of a systematic process for designing 3-dimensional tasks that align with NGSS performance expectations, take into consideration students’ diverse backgrounds, and can be used in classrooms to provide information to teachers and students to improve learning.

SPEAKERS:
Joseph Krajcik (CREATE for STEM Institute, Michigan State University: East Lansing, MI), Christopher Harris (WestEd)

A key goal of this work is to consider how NGSS assessments can be developed and used to advance equity. This framework draws upon interdisciplinary research and best practices to describe student-centered systems of science assessment. The framework explicitly connects what the field has learned about supporting students in becoming confident, savvy, scientific thinkers with best practices in measuring, monitoring, and providing feedback toward multidimensional science expectations.Participants will receive an equity framework for assessment that has been intentionally designed to help users (1) identify features of high-quality tasks, (2) examine effective assessment implementation practices, and (3) interrogate how assessments are used to support the diversity of students who engage in science learning in finding success. This equity framework has been used with teachers to (re)design assessments to be equitable for their population of students. The resources and processes shared

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will use a newly developed equity framework to consider multiple ways to center equity in assessment tasks and systems. Participants will use this equity framework to analyze example assessments for alignment to multiple equity goals.

SPEAKERS:
Sara Cooper (Contextus)

Educators have struggled with maintaining student engagement in science, especially as students transition from primary to middle school and upper grades (Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2012). With the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, teachers are looking for curricula to support its implementation. Two curricula, mySci 5E and OpenSciEd storylines, were compared in terms of student academic achievement and attitudes toward science. The research questions were: (1) To what extent is there a difference between achievement in science by eighth grade students experiencing the OpenSciEd storyline science curriculum and those experiencing MySci 5E as measured by end of unit assessment scores? (2) To what extent is the difference between attitudes towards science by eighth grade students experiencing the OpenSciEd storyline science curriculum and those experiencing MySci 5E as measured by My Attitudes Toward Science (MATS) surveys (Hillman et al., 2016)?

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will hear about the results of the study and potential impacts of the perception of coherence on students’ academic achievements and attitudes toward science. Implications for future research will be discussed.

SPEAKERS:
Nina Blanton (Educator: , MO), Nicole Vick (Northwestern University)

The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions maps out learning progressions based on the Framework for K–12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The 62 maps in the Atlas organize all of the elements from standards on a particular topic (e.g., modeling, patterns, or definitions of energy) on a single page. The elements from grades K–2 are at the bottom of the page, and those from grades 9–12 are at the top. Arrows connect elements to indicate how ideas in a particular topic build on each other and how elements in different topics connect to one another. Studying the maps in the Atlas and the additional resources in the appendixes can provide educators with new insights about the standards. This session will provide an overview of how to read a map, the other features of the Atlas, and how educators can use this powerful navigational tool to develop and implement curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn how to read the maps and use other tools in the Atlas to understand and interpret standards, and plan instructional sequences as part of their work in curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Ted Willard (Discovery Education: Silver Spring, MD)

Sponsoring Company: STEMscopes by Accelerate Learning

CER gets students to explain phenomena in a scientific way. Let’s use investigations to demonstrate how to use data collection to drive data-based conclusions. Guide students in how to think deeper, write scientifically, & incorporate vocabulary that strengthens their understanding of a phenomenon.

SPEAKERS:
Margo Dye (Accelerate Learning Inc.: Houston, TX)

Understanding complex science standards in elementary school often depends on the amount of background knowledge children have. One way that teachers can help students develop their schema before beginning a new science unit is to provide children with opportunities to build their prerequisite knowledge. This is particularly important when meeting the needs of a diverse group of learners. This session will center around upper elementary curriculum. It will include examples of short (5-10 minute) hands-on activities that can be used in the classroom to help children expand their schema before beginning to learn new science standards. Examples of pre-teaching activities: Ecosystems and Environments: Sorting seeds for a seed dispersal lab. The children notice features of the seeds. Force and Motion: Test the ramps before the activity and discuss independent variables such as ramp height and surface. Earth Systems: Use a sponge puzzle in water to model how tectonic plates move.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with several examples of short, 5-10 minute long, hands-on activities to use in their classroom to help children develop their schema. They will also see examples of student's thinking and sensemaking in science notebooks.

SPEAKERS:
Stacy Sharp-Adamson (Bell Prairie Elem School)

Student engagement and performance in science and math, especially in underserved populations, have declined as a result of the pandemic and the switch to remote learning. Traditional teaching methods have had to evolve in the face of these new challenges. This work describes how project-based learning (PBL) is woven into the scope and sequence of high school Chemistry. Assessment is a departure from a points-based to a standards-based grading system. Students are evaluated based on their mastery of four different standards: inquiry, design, analysis, and communication. Examinations that test for content are enhanced with inquiry-based problems that connect Chemistry to real life. Students are expected to take responsibility for their own performance, to seek help when needed and to advocate for themselves. The work presented will include classroom strategies, project ideas that promote equity, and samples of assessments and student work.

TAKEAWAYS:
The work presented will include classroom strategies and project-based learning ideas with samples of student work. It describes a standards-based assessment that focuses on the acquisition and mastery of skills as an alternative to a traditional points-based grading system.

SPEAKERS:
Caroline Gochoco-Tsuyuki (Archbishop Riordan High School: San Francisco, CA)

Research has shown that student acceptance of evolutionary theories are impacted by cultural factors as well as knowledge of biology and the nature of science. The information technology age is an important change in our culture as Americans in the last 2 decades. The poster will present a comparison of influences on acceptance of evolution in 2000 and 2023. Culturally competent educators must understand and respect multiple cultural ways of knowing in their instruction and assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Research has shown that student acceptance of evolutionary theories is impacted by cultural factors, as well as knowledge of biology and the nature of science. Culturally competent educators must understand and respect multiple cultural ways of knowing in their instruction and assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Taylor Alicea (Parkview High School: Springfield, MO), Julie Mayne (Evangel University: Springfield, MO)

This study aimed to understand how a STEM course and immersive environment improved pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy and motivation to implement STEM. Self-efficacy and motivation were measured using the proposed tool before and after they attended a semester-long course centered around engineering design activities, research, and pedagogy over three years. Additionally, post-graduation data was collected as pre-service teachers entered the first three years of their teaching careers. Findings suggest that a course focusing on combined research, pedagogy, and modeling in an immersive environment improves motivation and self-efficacy, and carries over into a career. However, motivation and efficacy diminish as post-graduation time increases. Implications from this study could improve professional development design and practice. Lastly, this research can inform EPPs, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, and policymakers about how to motivate classroom teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
A STEM course focused on research, pedagogy, and modeling in an immersive environment improved STEM efficacy and beliefs of pre-service elementary teachers that carried over into careers. However, motivation and efficacy diminished as post-graduation time increased.

SPEAKERS:
Shannon Dadd (Troy University: Troy, AL)

Standards-based grading shifts the focus from traditional grades to a mastery of specific learning objectives. SBG is a comprehensive approach that focuses on identifying and communicating clear learning objectives to students and assessing their progress based on these objectives. We will discuss how SBG can be used in a chemistry classroom to promote student learning outcomes throughout sample storylines. We will explore the benefits of using SBG, including increased student engagement, motivation, and ownership of learning. We will also discuss the challenges of implementing SBG and strategies to overcome them. By attending this presentation, chemistry educators will gain a better understanding of how SBG can promote student learning outcomes for ALL students in their classrooms. They will also gain practical ideas and strategies for implementing SBG in their own chemistry classrooms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Standards-based grading doesn't have to be scary or time intensive. Teachers will learn how SBG strategies can be used in the classroom to make assessing NGSS storylines equitable and centered on learning.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Gustafson (Millard South High School: Omaha, NE)

Implementing a practice based approach within a science methods course has the power to positively impact the science teaching self-efficacy of pre-service elementary teachers (Flores, 2015). Designing and implementing a performance based final as a culminating experience within a science methods course is an example of such a practice based approach. In addition to submitting a 5E lesson plan with all the accoutrements, pre-service elementary teachers planned, rehearsed, and facilitated a 'Science Friday" event at a local elementary school. This "Science Friday" event included six classrooms, two from each grade (Grade 3-5), where the pre-service elementary teachers facilitated a science lesson that included a 4-station hands-on, minds-on activity. All of the pre-service elementary teachers who participated in the performance final found the "Science Friday" experience to be a "value added" experience that positively impacted their perception of their science teaching self-efficacy.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave this poster session with knowledge of how to implement a performance-based final within a science methods course that effectively promotes the science teaching self-efficacy of pre-service elementary teachers.

SPEAKERS:
Trish Arnold (Minnesota State University, Mankato: Mankato, MN)

The session will give teachers an opportunity to see examples of the rich and meaningful three-dimensional assessment that are called for by the NGSS. This session, as a result, will include 20 minutes of audience participation in student hat and 20 minutes for examining student responses in order to make sense of student thinking. Participants will leave the session with access to a library of high-quality instructional 3-D assessment that they can use in their own classrooms. The agenda for this session is: • A discussion of what makes assessments useful for teaching and learning (5 min) • A discussion of the difference between 3-D, 2-D, and 1-D assessments (5 min). • An opportunity for participants to experience an example of high-quality 3-D assessment (20 min) • An overview of a tech tool that teachers use to access and use a library of these assessments (5 min) • Questions (5 min)

TAKEAWAYS:
Characteristics of high-quality three-dimensional assessments include: (1) can be used to examine how students use a DCI, CC, and SEP to figure something out, (2) easy to administer and take, and (3) include tools that lead to useful insights about student thinking.

SPEAKERS:
Todd Hutner (The University of Alabama: Austin, TX)

Engage in a mini design sprint to develop curriculum-aligned exit tickets. Together, we will use an equity framework and Universal Design to create exit tickets that support equitable sensemaking and 3-D science learning. We will coach you through a process to develop exit tickets that assess your students’ experiences and sensemaking. This workshop will focus on areas that support their learning such as: metacognition and reflection, applying their learning to a new phenomenon, connecting to their experiences and expertise outside of the classroom, and student experience in the learning environment. We will bring in examples of curriculum-anchored assessment using open source curricula. You will walk away with a set of exit tickets to assess student experience in 3-D learning that will give you information to inform instruction and support equitable classroom assessment practices.

TAKEAWAYS:
Gathering evidence of student experiences through short assessment opportunities can help build meaningful relationships with students and provide rich information to inform instructional moves.

SPEAKERS:
Calvin Atkins (Bellingham High School: Bellingham, WA), Colleen LaMotte (Middle School Science Teacher: Shorline, WA), Jenna Mobley (: White Salmon, WA)

Based on the work of Andrew Ho and Margaret Heritage, this session will outline the four major “quadrants” of the assessment matrix and review the nature and the stakeholders for each. We focus then on the process of moving from a structured Formative Assessment Process to an Invisible Formative Assessment Process, and benchmarks for delivering high-quality assessment alongside high-quality instruction.

Lastly, we will focus on the NGSS specific requirements for classroom-based assessment and align it to the Herron scale of inquiry to ensure that our assessment process is inclined in the same direction as our instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Implementation of inquiry-based standards and the shift to a more inquiry-based classroom requires a clear vision of the assessment opportunities and processes classroom teachers will need to engage in and administrators will need to support and review.

SPEAKERS:
John White (Breakthrough Technologies: , IL)

The Next Generation Science Standards promote students doing science. Being able to assess them while they are engaged in the "doing" is essential. Attendees will take a deep dive into the SEPs and learn how to create rubrics that they can use to assess the SEPs while walking around and observing students as they work. The result? Higher student engagement and less papers to grade. This session is led by Dr. Carol Baker, NGSS Writer.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will create a rubric that can be used in their classroom to authentically assess the SEPs.

SPEAKERS:
Carol Baker (NGSS: Orland Park, IL)

Use our new Tending to Student Work Workbook to analyze student work and see how student work can be used to inform instruction, revise feedback and scoring guides, and inform revisions to assessment tasks. Together we will develop an understanding of what it means to tend to student work in caring ways by figuring out what we need to see in student work and how to see student work through an asset-based lens seeking all facets of student thinking. We will work together to find value in student’s non-target thinking and leverage this thinking. Teachers from Washington’s S.A.G.E. project will share their experiences of tending to student work and the impact it has had on their teaching, learning, and assessment. The session will be interactive.

TAKEAWAYS:
Recognizing the assets students bring to an assessment task is critical for understanding how to move their thinking forward. Leave with tools you can use in your classroom to tend to student work in caring ways that lead to stronger relationships.

SPEAKERS:
Calvin Atkins (Bellingham High School: Bellingham, WA), Colleen LaMotte (Middle School Science Teacher: Shorline, WA), Jenna Mobley (: White Salmon, WA)

Develop your knowledge, skills, and confidence to lead your school or district toward successful NGSS assessment development. We will share one district’s journey to engage teachers in developing NGSS-aligned common assessments focused on SEPs, access, and equity.

TAKEAWAYS:
Develop your knowledge, skills, and confidence to lead your school or district toward successful NGSS assessment development with a focus on SEPs, access, and equity.

SPEAKERS:
Julia Smith (Riverside Unified School District: Riverside, CA)

Participants will gain experience evaluating student learning across the three dimensions using authentic student work samples. Discussion will focus on lesson-level three-dimensional performance expectations and what counts as evidence of student understanding for the three dimensions targeted by the assessment task. We will also use data collected from these student work examples to identify patterns/trends teachers can use to inform instruction to ensure all students have access to science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants gain experience using the NSTA Student Work Analysis Protocol (open educational resource) and can share the protocol and application with colleagues in their school/district.

SPEAKERS:
Zoe Evans (Bremen City Schools: Bremen, GA), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

SPIN, a FREE web-based notebook created with funding by NSF, has three customizable lessons for data-focused investigations in Earth Science on Sunspots, Tides, and Hurricanes. Teachers can also input their own lessons into SPIN. One of the teachers who created the lessons in the notebook will be presenting. The first 30 minutes presenters will give teachers accounts in SPIN and show how students can use the notebook and the metacognitive support features such as the Communication Hub, I’m Stuck button, and SPAARC prompts. Experiences of teachers and students who have used SPIN will be discussed. In the final 30 minutes, teachers will customize a lesson in SPIN or input their own lessons with help from the presenters. By the end of the session, teachers will be able to use SPIN effectively with the ability to share the notebook with all of the teachers at their school. Use of SPIN is free and is found at https://spin.cehd.gmu.edu/login. Biology, chemistry, and physics also available.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to use SPIN to download and edit a lesson from the Global Marketplace or create their own lesson in SPIN. Teachers who have used SPIN note that it has helped their students understand data practices explicitly.

SPEAKERS:
Kevin Cabaniss (Teacher, Science), Erin Peters-Burton (George Mason University: Fairfax, VA)

Come experience ways to appraise student work transparently that supports and encourages students wanting to continue the sensemaking process as opposed to thinking an assessment is the end of the learning process. We will begin by looking at multiple pieces of student assessment work, looking for the facets of understanding they present in their work. We will consider different methods of providing feedback and the impact on sensemaking and learning these different methods result in. We will look at different tools that have been created over the last five years to support students actively participating in the appraisal process. Participants will use the experience to begin thinking about the shifts in their appraisal system they would like to try with their students. Teachers from Washington’s S.A.G.E. project will share their experiences of reimagining the purpose of feedback and grading student work, and the impact it has had on their teaching, learning, and assessment.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will engage with authentic student work and consider different methods of providing feedback that is equitable and supports students wanting to share where they are in their sensemaking. Participants will leave with some ‘tools’ they can use in their classroom to provide caring collaboration.

SPEAKERS:
Jenna Mobley (: White Salmon, WA), Colleen LaMotte (Middle School Science Teacher: Shorline, WA), Calvin Atkins (Bellingham High School: Bellingham, WA)

Our students make sense of science and construct their ideas from many experiences, then use that “knowledge” as a foundation for their learning. However, it may not always be a solid foundation. We can help students develop their science knowledge through a deeper understanding of the misconceptions they hold, using phenomena, observation, sensemaking, and robust assessment. We can then assess students’ ideas and misconceptions in the sciences at various grade levels creating and using research-based assessments, understanding the importance of including their ideas in those assessments. When each item contains a choice between a scientifically correct answer and a common, widely-held, student misconception, we can more accurately evaluate our students’ true understanding of the DCI components of the NGSS.

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn how to work with misconceptions that students hold in order to incorporate those into useful assessments. Use students’ sensemaking to discover ways to get at those ideas, and share your students’ misconceptions, hear others as well, and build research-based assessments.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Crockett (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA)

Making the move from a traditional grading system to a standards based grading system can be an overwhelming task. It was especially challenging for two of Stevenson High School’s largest teams: AP biology (10 teachers) and accelerated chemistry (18 teachers). We will share how we came up with our standards and our success criteria for teaching skills and scoring student work. We will also share how those standards and success criteria have changed over the last four years. Attendees will be able to view our assessments, look at student work, and then score sample assessments. Presenters will also share several different calibration strategies that have worked for our larger team, ranging from Google jamboards, Google slides, and Google forms.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will walk away with a scaffolded way to determine the skills they want to assess in their course and how they can begin to develop success criteria. Attendees will also take away some strategies for how to calibrate their scoring.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen One (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Nathan Gustin (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Karen O'Connor (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL)

Curriculum compacting replaces content that students already know with new content, enrichment options, or other activities. It can be effective for: students who have already mastered the material and those students that may learn material quickly. Research shows that students who received compacted curriculum scored significantly higher on achievement posttests than their peers who received "all of the work" with no compacting. On my team, we compacted curriculum for several units last year and our mastery scores drastically improved on STAAR from prior years. Compacted curriculum allowed our GT (and advanced) learners to have an opportunity for enrichment rather than learning things they already knew. Participants will be receiving resources and examples of curriculum compacting in science. They are encouraged to ask questions throughout. During the session, attendees can look at their own curriculum to determine where in their science units (and when) they could try compacting.

TAKEAWAYS:
1) Attendees will learn WHAT Curriculum Compacting is and WHY it is so important in the science classroom. 2) Attendees will be shown HOW to begin compacting in their classrooms. 3) Attendees will walk away with resources to help them begin compacting, and will be given opportunities to ask questions.

SPEAKERS:
Sandra Rodriguez (Katy ISD: Katy, TX)

N/A

TAKEAWAYS:
Students experience learning in widely variable ways due to different factors. Our guide to practical measures—which includes many examples—shows how quick, goal-driven assessments can meaningfully guide how learning is experienced—in a classroom and even across an educational system. #NSFfunded

SPEAKERS:
Philip Bell (University of Washington: Seattle, WA), Bill Penuel (: Boulder, CO), Deb Morrison (Educator and Learning Scientist: Seattle, WA), Tiffany Neill (Research Scientist: Oklahoma City, OK)

In this hands-on workshop, you will engage in an "assessment FOR learning" activity called Video Modeling. Video Modeling is a teaching technique developed at the intersection of multiple goals: (1) for students to build a strong foundation in disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) while engaging in 3-D learning, (2) to have students cooperatively & actively explain concepts, but to do so as a formative assessment that welcomes failure and reflection, and (3) to have students develop more ownership and agency along with SEL skills. Participants will understand the learning research Video Modeling is designed from, participate in the activity "as students", and see reflections, strategies, and action research from my experience of teaching and revising this method throughout my teaching career.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers can add to their toolbox an "assessment for learning" framework that can be employed with any DCI from any content area to support student engagement in the scientific practices and crosscutting concepts.

SPEAKERS:
Thomas Wolfe (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL)

At its core, differentiation stems from the recognition that individual learners arrive in classrooms each day with ranging knowledge, experiences, abilities, ways of thinking, curiosities, and dispositions. A one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning undermines the potential of all students to achieve successfully, yet we struggle with how to meet the needs of individual students in our classrooms. Similarly, we know that one-shot workshops are not an effective means of professional development (PD). Yet, we continue to provide one-shot workshops to teach and rarely, if ever, do we consider how PD may need to be differentiated for teachers. We may differentiate by focusing on different content areas, grade levels, or contexts, but rarely do we take time to look at what individual teachers need. Just like students, we need to consider the individual needs of all teachers. This session will provide several strategies for differentiating PD for teachers.

TAKEAWAYS:
Differentiation is not just for the classroom, it is also a component of designing effective professional learning.

SPEAKERS:
Brooke Whitworth (Clemson University: Clemson, SC)

Participants will gain experience evaluating student learning across the three dimensions using authentic student work samples. Discussion will focus on lesson-level three-dimensional performance expectations and what counts as evidence of student understanding for the three dimensions targeted by the assessment task. We will also use data collected from these student work examples to identify patterns/trends teachers can use to inform instruction to ensure all students have access to science learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants gain experience using the NSTA Student Work Analysis Protocol (open educational resource) and can share the protocol and application with colleagues in their school/district.

SPEAKERS:
Zoe Evans (Bremen City Schools: Bremen, GA), Kristin Rademaker (NSTA: Arlington, VA)

N/A

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn about a detailed 9-step process for conceiving, developing, testing, refining, and using 3-D science assessments focused on social justice phenomena and topics. Open education resources that support this assessment development process will also be shared. #NSFfunded

SPEAKERS:
Philip Bell (University of Washington: Seattle, WA), Bill Penuel (: Boulder, CO)

I will walk the audience through a landing page of my scale development for grading based off of Marzano’s book of scales for NGSS. I will explain how to convert the 0-4 grade into percentages for conventional grading systems. I will walk them through how to allow students to self-assess their knowledge gain based on objectives and putting those objectives into ladders of curriculum sequence. I will also explain how to use benchmark sheets for the Science and Engineering Practices that match their SEP part of the scale. I will also share the books and websites I gained my knowledge from, so attendees can develop their own mental model of the system for Standards-Based Grading and Learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
You will walk away with a landing page that lays out a system that can be your starting point into SBG & L in the three dimensions, with many resources contained within.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Gall (Science Teacher and MTSS Facilitator)

Explore tools you can use with students to help them visualize and create their science content. With Canva, Adobe Express, and Book Creator, you can allow students choice in the action and expression of their science content knowledge, supporting UDL in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Bring creativity into your 5'E classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Katherine Fielding (Prince William County Schools)

Digital notebooking is a tool that can support both teaching and learning and can be utilized for a variety of purposes. The time during this 60 minute session will be split between the presenters sharing information including examples of various ways to implement digital notebooks that align with research-based best practices and participants having time to plan and prepare usage for their own setting. Teachers will leave with ready-to-use takeaways to assist them in empowering students to not only learn content more independently but also reflect on their learning path and level of understanding to gear up for future success. Teachers will also be able to explore how the notebooks provide quick access to each student's progress in learning and the ability to give feedback when and where it is needed.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will leave this session with a digital notebook template and the knowledge and resources to create and implement one successfully, as well as a framework that coicides with the use of a digital notebook and fits any curriculum to allow for students to have influence on their learning.

SPEAKERS:
Vera Hayslip (7th grade Science: Cincinnati, OH), Kelly Hartings (Indian Hill Middle School: CINCINNATI, OH)

In 2019, The Louisiana Department of Education was awarded an Education, Innovation, and Research(EIR) grant titled “Improving Pre-Engineering and Computer Science Education through Micro-Credentials”. As one of very few EIR grants awarded to a state education agency, we have had the opportunity to blend both research and practice through multiple lenses as we engage teachers and students across our state. The project has served as a mechanism for the research team to examine how job embedded professional development impacts the practices of our teachers, the content delivery in our classrooms, and its effects on student learning. We plan to share key take aways, including insights into the writing and revision process, how the series took shape over time, and preliminary outcomes from the qualitative measures utilized. This may be of interest to participants considering portfolio based assessments as a means of improving professional learning within their own context.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will gain insight from the perspective of a state agency into the process and key learnings from a four-year project focused on portfolio-based assessments in STEM.

SPEAKERS:
John Underwood (Louisiana Department of Education: No City, No State)

In May 2008 a group of educators exanimated current research and the critical role that teacher leaders play in education. Upon reviewing this data, they believe that teacher leadership is the most powerful method to promote effective and collaborative teaching practices leading to student success. The Teaching Leadership Exploratory Consortium developed the Teacher Leader Model Standards. This set of seven domains describes the knowledge base and skills needed by a teacher leader to assume a leadership role in all aspects of education. In this session participants will examine and discuss the Teacher Leader Model Standards. Digging into the standards they will describe key actions and practices for each of the seven domains. Participants will be asked to reflect on their role as a teacher leader and select one of the domains to focus on as they begin or continue their work as a teacher leader.

TAKEAWAYS:
Digging into the standards, participants will describe key actions and practices for each of the seven domains. They will be asked to reflect on their role as a teacher leader and select one of the domains to focus on as they begin or continue their work as a teacher leader.

SPEAKERS:
Jenne VandePanne (Michigan Technological University/Newaygo Public Schools: Newaygo, MI), Jessica Wagenmaker (Holton Middle School: Holton, MI)

Join us for a speed-sharing session on the latest research in secondary science education and how it can be applied to the classroom. This is a great opportunity to learn about the latest research and how it can help you make a difference in your students' learning.

STEM IRL: STEM Trailblazers for children of color
Addressing inequity in STEM professions starts with exposing students to current minority trailblazers in the field. If students see successful people who look like them, they can begin visualizing themselves in those roles, which can ignite a spark of curiosity and lead to a future in STEM.

Curricular Interventions to Improve Rural High School Students' Relatability to Scientists
Scientist Spotlights homework assignments that feature non-stereotypical scientists can help students see their possible selves in science. Students that author assignments on diverse scientists improve their science identity more than students that complete teacher-authored assignments.

Connecting electrochemistry to materials science: From modeling redox reactions to exploring materials science with dye-sensitized solar cells
Presentation of lab-based modeling approach to metal-metal ion (“single replacement”) reactions. Discussion of ways to integrate materials science concepts, specifically electrochemical cells and dye-sensitized solar cell construction, into the chemistry curriculum.

TAKEAWAYS:
Hear from experts in the field about innovative approaches to teaching science, as well as practical tips for improving your own practice.

SPEAKERS:
Christa Buccola Henriquez (MS 363 The Academy for Personal Leadership and Excellence: Bronx, NY), Fabiola Perez (Student: Edwardsville, IL), Maurina Aranda (Assistant Professor: Edwardsville, IL), Aaron Musson (Omaha Public Schools: Omaha, NE)

Teachers and students are still adjusting to life in a post-pandemic classroom. There were many educational impacts in the wake of school closings during the pandemic. One of these was a dependence on technology that still lingers in the classroom today. While technology is important, it cannot replace the impact of a classroom environment that supports collaborative, student-centered, personalized learning. Teachers and students need to refresh themselves on how to engage in experiential learning again and how setting the right tone in your classroom can develop a supportive classroom environment. In this session, we will discuss different strategies and activities to build relationships with our students, how to incorporate student-centered learning, and how student engagement leads to motivation.

TAKEAWAYS:
The main takeaway from this session is a collection of engagement strategies and best practices to use in a classroom setting to establish a classroom culture supportive of student-centered, personalized learning.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Norwood (Sangaree Middle School: Ladson, SC)

Our science department began transitioning to a standards-based grading system during the 2018-2019 school year with all courses using standards-based grading in 2020-2021. We teach the Physics and AP Physics 1 courses and will share our experiences preparing for and implementing standards based grading in both of those courses. Our department uses the science and engineering practices as the standards on which we score student proficiency. Our session will outline our philosophies on grading and reporting, our journey into and through standards based grading, and provide practical resources and tips on how to implement standards based grading in a 3D classroom. We plan on sharing our scaled learning skills on which we assess proficiency as well as our success criteria. We will share examples of assessments along with associated student work. Our session will allow time for small group discussions as well as a Q&A portion.

TAKEAWAYS:
How do you implement SBG in a physics course? In an AP course? How do you weave in the SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs? We’ll answer these questions and more while we share our philosophy, formative and summative assessments, sample student work, tips and tricks to make it work, and what to avoid.

SPEAKERS:
Andy Fitz (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Josh Bozeday (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Kristy Wrona (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL)

Sponsoring Company: Stile Education

N/A

SPEAKERS:
Shawna Jensen (Stile Education: Portland, OR)

SPIN, a FREE web-based notebook created with funding by NSF, has three customizable lessons for data-focused investigations in Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. Teachers can also input their own lessons into SPIN. One of the teachers and one of the researchers who created the lessons in the notebook will be presenting. Teachers will see how SPIN works and how students can use the notebook and the metacognitive support features such as the Communication Hub, I’m Stuck button, and SPAARC prompts. Experiences of teachers and students who have used SPIN will be discussed. Teachers can customize a lesson in SPIN or input their own lessons with help from the presenters. By the end of the session, teachers will be able to use SPIN effectively with the ability to share the notebook with all of the teachers at their school. Use of SPIN is free and is found at https://spin.cehd.gmu.edu/login.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to use SPIN to download and edit a lesson from the Global Marketplace, or create their own lesson in SPIN. Teachers who have used SPIN note that this has helped their students understand data practices explicitly.

SPEAKERS:
Erin Peters-Burton (George Mason University: Fairfax, VA)

Create interactive questions with randomizable values for your students using our completely FREE tool!

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to use my tool to create interactive, randomized questions to use with their students!

SPEAKERS:
Jack Replinger (FormerTeacher / Founder: , WA)

Using the Disciplinary Core Ideas and a research-based “citizen science” approach, science educators contributed their own test items, and helped to revise existing test items in order to address crucial issues such as difficulty, gender, and racial/ethnic bias that were present in the item analysis characteristics. We share the analysis and results of these efforts so that educators can assess their own test items to be more inclusive of all students’ understandings in one of the dimensions of the 3D-approach to learning. Learn what changes contributed to improvement of the item as well as what types of changes or revisions made the item worse than before. We also share results of field testing of these items in student classrooms and discuss the importance of incorporating students’ misconceptions into the response choices to capture their true understanding of science concepts as outlined in the DCIs.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn to evaluate assessment questions that you use to assess students’ sensemaking of elements outlined in the NGSS DCIs. Are the questions free of bias, not too difficult, indicative of overall student performance? Do they include common misconceptions that students hold? Utilize a free resource.

SPEAKERS:
Philip Sadler (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA), Cynthia Crockett (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA)

Struggling with your PLC community? Going to Teacher Pay Teachers and spending your money to find lesson plans? We can find a better way to support teachers through an open resource PLC. Due to increasing teacher burnout, teacher shortages, and high teacher turnover our team felt inclined to find ways to better support teachers in the day-to-day classroom environment (new teachers, substitutes, long term absences). Our science PLC will present the strategies, resources, and digital tools we utilize to create a PLC that functions at a higher level. We will discuss strategies for reducing turnover, keeping up teacher morale, and implementing large projects for large groups.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn about our method for streamlining science planning within our PLC.

SPEAKERS:
Samantha Huber (Science Teacher: Topeka, KS), Kathryn Louderback (Washburn Rural Middle School: Topeka, KS), Mackenzie Casey (Science Teacher: Topeka, KS)

SPIN has 3 customizable lessons for data-focused investigations in Chemistry on Periodic Trends, Thermodynamics, and Stoichiometry. Teachers can also input their own lessons into SPIN. One of the teachers who created the lessons in the notebook will be presenting. The first 30 minutes presenters will give teachers accounts in SPIN and show how students can use the notebook and the metacognitive support features such as the Communication Hub, I’m Stuck button, and SPAARC prompts. Experiences of teachers and students who have used SPIN will be discussed. In the final 30 minutes, teachers will customize a lesson in SPIN or input their own lessons with help from the presenters. By the end of the session, teachers will be able to use SPIN effectively with the ability to share the notebook with all of the teachers at their school. Use of SPIN is entirely free and is found at https://spin.cehd.gmu.edu/login. There are also lessons available in biology, Earth science, and physics.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will learn how to use SPIN to download and edit a lesson from the Global Marketplace or create their own lesson in SPIN. Teachers who have used SPIN note that this has helped their students understand data practices explicitly.

SPEAKERS:
Zachary Minchow-Proffitt (Teacher: Leesburg, VA), Erin Peters-Burton (George Mason University: Fairfax, VA)

Student engagement is a vital element for effective science instruction (Heddy & Sinatra, 2013). However, students typically become less engaged in science as they advance in school years (Ofsted, 2015). Superheroes have been a mainstay in popular culture and multimedia for decades. Science teachers can harness this widespread interest to enhance lessons, broaden assessments, and increase student engagement. Participants will examine multiple superhero examples, each with applications to specific NGSS performance expectations. They will also consider research content from science journals and organizations (National Geographic, Scientific American, NASA, NOAA, WHO, etc.) to catalyze further exploration and extensions. In addition to specific activities, teachers will practice analyzing popular culture and research for wider engagement. They will also review important copyright parameters and “fair use” in the classroom, with an emphasis on appropriate implementation.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants in this interactive session will examine a variety of multimedia superhero examples, with a focus on immediate classroom implementation AND legal copyright “fair use.” In addition to specific lessons, teachers will practice analyzing and applying media and research to engage students.

SPEAKERS:
Daniel Bergman (Wichita State University: Wichita, KS)

How do you see what science knowledge your students bring to the units you are teaching in your classroom? This session will showcase a STEM Teaching Tool of Self-Documentation where students give you, the teacher, insight as to what knowledge they bring to your science unit along with their cultural stance. The presentation will show how self-documentation is used in a middle school science classroom. Teachers will also go through the steps of self-documentation themselves, as well as be presented information about what information students can share about what Science Sense they might have.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. This session will provide knowledge of how to use self-documentation in the classroom. 2. Teachers will understand the importance of gaining your students' perspective in what they bring to your classroom culturally. 3. Self-documentation gives teachers knowledge of student misconceptions.

SPEAKERS:
Betsy Lawrence (Summit Trail Middle School: Olathe, KS)

Goodbye, grading labs and lab reports -- Hello, lab practicals! Come learn how we’ve planned, implemented, and graded lab practical assessments in our SBG AP Physics 1 course. They are quick, individual, hands-on, aligned to science and engineering practices, and appropriate for an AP course.

TAKEAWAYS:
We will share how we’ve developed non-traditional lab assessments related to each unit in our standards-based grading AP Physics 1 curriculum. Presenters will share examples, recommendations, and challenges for teachers to think about as they implement lab practicals.

SPEAKERS:
Kristen One (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL), Kristy Wrona (Adlai E. Stevenson High School: Lincolnshire, IL)