Keynote & Invited Speakers
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2024
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KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Okhee Lee New York University Title: STEM Education with Equity and Justice In recent years, there have been instructional shifts from traditional to contemporary approaches in science and language education with all students, including multilingual learners. By harnessing the emerging consensus across science education and language education, the education system has made progress in creating more equity-centered educational opportunities for all students. With pressing societal challenges (e.g., climate change, air and water pollution) further exposing injustices that disproportionately impact minoritized student groups, the education system should advance more justice-centered education. The presentation traces instructional shifts from traditional to contemporary to potential future approaches to integrating STEM with equity and justice across research, policy, and practice. Biography Okhee Lee is a professor in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. She is committed to advancing research, policy, and practice that promote STEM and language learning for all students, particularly multilingual learners. Lee was a member of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) writing team and served as leader for the NGSS Diversity and Equity Team. She also was a member of the Steering Committee for the Understanding Language Initiative at Stanford University. Her work involves integrating science, language, and computational thinking with a focus on multilingual learners. Her latest work addresses justice-centered STEM education with multilingual learners by integrating multiple STEM subjects, including data science and computer science, to address societal challenges using the case of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the early 1990s, her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation. Lee brings research and policy to practice. Her team developed a yearlong fifth-grade science curriculum called Science And Integrated Language, or SAIL, that translates contemporary science standards into classroom practice with multilingual learners. The curriculum is in a field trial at New York City Public Schools with funding from the National Science Foundation. Using the SAIL curriculum, Lee’s team published teacher resources in collaboration with the New York State Education Department. In addition, her team published teacher resources in collaboration with the National Science Teaching Association and made them available across the country and internationally. Lee provides leadership for major organizations and institutions across multiple fields, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Educational Research Association, Center for Applied Linguistics, National Academy of Education, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, National Science Foundation, New York State Boards of Cooperative Education Services, New York State Education Department, and New York City Department of Education. |
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INVITED SPEAKER
Jill Wertheim SCALE Science at WestEd Title: The Good (and Even Better) News about the Search for High-Quality Science Assessments As Director of SCALE Science at WestEd, Dr. Wertheim builds school, district, and statewide capacity to advance all students' science learning through the use of student-centered, asset-based assessment practices. Her capacity-building activities build on work initially conducted in her role as the Director of Science at the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE), where Dr. Wertheim directed research and development for the Stanford NGSS Assessment Project (SNAP), developing new tools and processes to guide the field of science assessment in conceptualizing how performance assessments and rubrics could be designed and used to support implementation of new, 3-dimensional science standards. Prior to moving to Stanford, Dr. Wertheim was a researcher focused on using assessment to strengthen teaching and learning in earth science at AAAS Project 2061 and in geography at National Geographic. She holds a Ph.D. in the Geological Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a BA in Geology and Music from Middlebury College. |
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2024
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FELLOWS SPEAKER
Joseph Krajcik Michigan State University Title: Using Classroom-Based 3-Dimensional Assessment Tasks to Promote Student Learning: The Critical Role of Feedback The Framework for K-12 Science Education offers a transformative vision for science classrooms, where students actively engage with disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and scientific and engineering practices to make sense of complex phenomena and solve challenging problems. This revolution in science education has prompted a corresponding shift in student assessments. Rather than solely evaluating knowledge, assessments should involve students making sense of phenomena by integrating these three dimensions, requiring learners to use scientific reasoning. To support learners in developing a more sophisticated and flexible understanding, we also need to shift our perspective on assessments from being a tool of measurement to one of facilitation for deeper learning. This shift requires providing students with effective feedback that allows learners to develop a more sophisticated and flexible understanding. Effective feedback is productive, comprehensible, actionable, and aligned with students' learning paths. When receiving such feedback, students are better equipped to build a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of the three dimensions of scientific knowledge. In this session, Professor Krajcik will share his expertise on how educators can offer feedback that fosters the development of students' more sophisticated and flexible understanding of the 3-dimensions of scientific knowledge. Biography Joseph S. Krajcik serves as director of the CREATE for STEM Institute, a Lappan-Phillips professor of science education, and a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, USA. CREATE for STEM (Collaborative Research for Education, Assessment and Teaching Environments for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) is a joint institute between the College of Natural Science and the College of Education that seeks to improve the teaching and learning of science and mathematics kindergarten through college through innovation and research both in the USA and globally. During his career, Joe has focused on working with science teachers to reform science teaching practices to promote students’ engagement in and learning of science through the design, development, and testing of project-based science learning environments. In addition, he aims to explore and advance knowledge in creating engaging learning environments for all learners. Professor Krajcik is currently the principal investigator and co-principal investigator on various projects to design assessments and curriculum materials aligned with the Next Generation of Science Standards (NGSS) to promote student usable knowledge. He served as the lead writer for developing Physical Science Standards for the NGSS and the lead writer for the Physical Science Design team for the Framework for K–12 Science Education. He also served on the PISA expert science team for the 2025 PISA Framework and on the leadership team development team for the 2028 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). He recently completed two randomized control studies to test the efficacy of project-based learning in supporting student and social-emotional learning. Joe has authored and co-authored curriculum materials, books, software, and over 100 manuscripts, and he makes frequent presentations at international, national, and regional conferences. Joe served as president of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), from which he received the Distinguished Contributions to Science Education Through Research Award in 2010. He received the 2014 George G. Mallinson Award from the Michigan Science Teachers’ Association for the overall excellence of contributions to science education over a significant period. Joe was elected to the National Academy of Education in 2019, an honor reserved for the nation’s most outstanding scholars in education. In 2022, Joe received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Tartu in Estonia. In 2020, Joe received the prestigious McGraw Prize in Pre-K-12 Education, and in 202, the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE) Prize for Excellence in Educational Design and Development. Joe is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Educational Research Association. He was honored to receive a Distinguished Professorship from Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea, in 2009 and a Guest Professorship from Beijing Normal University in Beijing, China, in 2002. In 2005, Joe was the Weston Visiting Professor of Science Education at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. He spent 21 years at the University of Michigan before attending MSU in 2011. The University of Michigan recognized Joe's commitment to graduate student education by presenting him with the Faculty Award for Distinguished Graduate Mentoring. Before receiving his Ph.D., Joe taught high school chemistry and physical science in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for eight years. |
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INVITED SPEAKER
Christopher Harris WestEd Title: Assessment and Instruction Together: A Dynamic Duo for Supporting Three-Dimensional Teaching and Learning How can we use classroom-based assessments to their most powerful benefits for teaching and learning? Today’s vision for science education that is emphasized in the Framework for K-12 Science Education (Framework) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is changing how we think about the role of assessment in classrooms. All too often, classroom-based assessment is used solely as an evaluation opportunity. Yet, the Framework and NGSS place the spotlight on assessment as a partner with instruction to enhance teaching and elevate students’ three-dimensional learning. In this presentation, I explore how assessment can be valuable for classroom pedagogy, especially when it is integrated within instruction and used formatively to guide the progress of student learning. I will illustrate how assessment can be used in in-formative ways and offer practical guidance for bringing science assessment and instruction closer together. Biography Christopher Harris serves as Senior Director of Science and Engineering Education Research at WestEd. His work focuses on the design, implementation, and study of instructional innovations that support science teaching and learning in K–12 classrooms. For over a decade, he has been involved in developing scalable approaches to address the NGSS through curricula, assessments, and professional learning models that support teachers in creating engaging, interactive, equitable, and accessible learning experiences for students. His research often involves collaborative work with districts and schools for the purpose of informing both research and practice. Current collaborations involve developing instructionally supportive assessments for NGSS classrooms and studying the impact of NGSS-designed curriculum materials on teaching and learning. His publications have addressed science curriculum and assessment, science teaching practice, supporting student motivation, educational innovation, and the role of project-based learning in STEM education. |