• Utah Effective Teaching Standards > Standard 1: Learners and Learning
  Element 3: Respecting Learner Backgrounds and - Demonstrating respect for each learner and exhibiting actions consistent with recognizing learners’ diverse backgrounds and perspectives as assets to the classroom community.
• Utah Effective Teaching Standards > Standard 2: Instructional Design Clarity
  Element 1: Content - Demonstrating a comprehensive understanding of Utah Core Standards, communicating relevance of content, communicating clear pathways to student mastery and designing learning experiences aligned to clear learning intentions and success criteria.
• Utah Effective Teaching Standards > Standard 3: Instructional Practice
  Element 2: Assessment Practices - Critically analyzing evidence from both formative and summative assessments to inform and adjust instruction and provide feedback to students to support learning and growth.
• Utah Effective Teaching Standards > Standard 3: Instructional Practice
  Element 3: Relevance - Providing relevant learning opportunities that value students’ interests and backgrounds and allow learner agency and choice in accessing learning and demonstrating competency.

To earn this microcredential you will need to collect and submit two sets of evidence demonstrating your effective and consistent use of appropriate science instructional strategies. You will also complete a short written or video reflective analysis.

This stack of microcredentials must be completed sequentially starting with Microcredential #1 in the Classroom Practice in Science stack.

This microcredential is not available for educators with a secondary certification.

This microcredential stack completes the competencies for one requirement area of the Elementary Science Endorsement. These competencies are the same regardless of the pathway the educator selects to complete, microcredential stack or university course. Also of note, these competencies are structured to lead the educator through a series of experiences. First, the educator analyzes the purpose of the Learning Intentions and demonstrates proficiency in them (This is typically the first and possibly the second microcredential in the stack). Then, the educator plans, implements, and reflects on instruction for the identified Learning Intentions. The last microcredential in the stack involves educators reaching out to support others in their school, district, state, or nation. This focuses on developing leadership skills and promotes building a professional network of support. Through these experiences, the educator demonstrates competency of the knowledge, skills, and dispositions for the specific requirement area of the educator endorsement.

Research from A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (National Research Council, 2012), states that “to develop a thorough understanding of scientific explanations of the world, students need sustained opportunities to work with and develop the underlying ideas and to appreciate those ideas’ interconnections over a period of years rather than weeks or months” (p. 26). This document also asserts that “The framework focuses on a limited set of core ideas in order to avoid the coverage of multiple disconnected topics—the oft-mentioned mile wide and inch deep. This focus allows for deep exploration of important concepts, as well as time for students to develop meaningful understanding” (p. 25). This places the focus on students using the other two dimensions of science instruction identified in The Framework (NRC, 2012), crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices, to deepen understanding of disciplinary core concepts. Of note, The Framework (NRC, 2012) document is the foundational resource that informed the development of the current Utah Science with Engineering Education (SEEd) Standards (USBE, 2019). Within these standards, the concept of sensemaking of core ideas through crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices is a foundational principle of science education. However, for teachers to include appropriate sensemaking experiences into instruction, they must also understand how to develop it in students. This microcredential focuses on teacher understanding of student sensemaking as a foundation for building effective science instruction in Grades K-6.

Reference: National Research Council. (2012). A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New K-12 Science Education Standards. Board on Science Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

A teacher friendly research document that explains the three dimensions of science including science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas. Each dimension is explained in depth within its own chapter. The disciplinary core ideas are grouped into major disciplines (i.e., Physical Sciences; Life Sciences; Earth and Space Sciences; Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science). Each discipline is explained in a separate chapter. The report also describes developmentally appropriate learning progressions.

This book explores how to support student sensemaking of science concepts.