This study addresses the inadequacies of the traditional ninth-grade science curriculum at The Charter School of Wilmington (CSW) and proposes a focused initiative to enhance the curriculum's relevance and effectiveness. The current Integrated Science & Research curriculum lacks socioscientific inquiry, neglecting to incorporate social issues…

In the general activity of daily life, it is easy to miss our dependency on the Earth's ecology. At the same time that people are living apparently separate from the environment, our impact on the Earth is increasing. This study seeks to understand how teachers can bridge this persistent disconnect of daily life from ecology and human impact.…

In the context of an education reform in Quebec, this case study illustrates how a science teacher's practice was redefined with nine classes over a period of four months on a specific, integrative theme inspired by issues of daily life in an attempt to increase her students' motivation and to better make sense of some scientific concepts…

Evaluating the impact of instructional innovations and coordinating instruction, assessment, and testing present complex tensions. Many evaluation and coordination efforts aim to address these tensions by using the coherence provided by modern cognitive science perspectives on domain-specific learning. This paper introduces an alternative…