Student-centered teaching practices such as active learning continue to gain momentum in college science education. Many instructors committed to these innovative practices transform their classrooms beyond the standard lecture. Nevertheless, widespread implementation of these practices is limited, because the learning benefits for students are…

A tension in designing classroom learning involves balancing the questions and interests of students with the goals of teachers and standards. One approach to navigating this tension in science classrooms is to simultaneously support and constrain students' questions about an observable natural phenomenon in the classroom and then take up those…