CREATE Science Seminar Speaker: Dr. Brian Reiser

The 2017-2018 CREATE Science Seminar Series continue with a presentation by Dr. Brian Reiser, Professor of Learning Sciences, Northwestern University, on November 15, 2017.
The presentation is titled “Developing and Teaching with Storylines that are Coherent from the Students’ Perspective”.

Abstract: I will explore the characteristics of coherent storylines for the Next Generation Science Standards, in which each step-in students’ learning is motivated by the questions students have articulated in trying to make sense of phenomena and gaps they have identified in the explanations they have built so far. I will present design principles for supporting this type of coherence in curriculum design and teaching strategies that anchor storyline investigations in phenomena, support students as partners in determining where to go next in investigations, and incrementally assemble pieces of disciplinary ideas across a unit. I will present data from elementary and middle school classrooms examining the influence of these strategies on student work and on their perceptions of their own science learning.