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Every math and science teacher of a certain age has seen it, probably multiple times. Many of us have shown it in our classes. It’s the scene from the movie Contact (Zemeckis, 1997) where the character played by Jodie Foster first hears from the aliens. It’s exciting, dramatic—the pulsing noise from space pushing through the […]

Struggle is a regular part of mathematics class: students struggle to get started, to carry out a process, to express misconceptions and errors, and with “uncertainty in explaining and sense-making” (Warshauer, 2015, p. 385). We have been investigating the struggles of prospective mathematics teachers (PTs) in a middle school methods course (Kamlue & Van Zoest, […]

Although it is perhaps a bit peculiar to apply Shakespeare to physics teaching career contemplations, the notoriously misinterpreted question of “Wherefore art thou?” begs us to look for answers in our students. We believe it is vital to scrutinize the “wherefores” of successful physics teachers, in both the classic meaning (why teach physics?) and the […]

Engineering learning is a lifelong process that starts from a very young age as children discover the world through tinkering, touching, and being curious. Some refer to children as natural engineers (Dorie et al., 2014; Genalo et al., 2000). Young children naturally and informally engage in engineering-related behaviors and activities (Petroski, 2003). However, at the […]

Inspired by a challenge to design a research study of teacher effectiveness based on measures beyond student test scores, we were awarded a Noyce Track 4 research grant from the National Science Foundation to explore teacher effectiveness through culturally responsive education and core practices. The first year of our study, Investigating Effective Teaching Through a […]