1. Science and Engineering Practices & The Inclusion of Engineering in the Framework
Philip Bell
Learning Sciences Graduate Program Institute for Science & Math Education University of Washington
Introduce self
Important things to note:
National Academies
Framework
Guide standards

2. Ready, Set, Science!
Science education should focus more on the central practices associated with multiple arenas of scientific work… including the activities, use of tools, and forms of talk that support sense-making and knowledge work.

3. AI: characterize how each idea is developed in the Framework
Students learn science best by engaging in the practices of science. Classrooms can productively be considered scientific communities writ small—where students engage in sustained investigations involving a full set of coordinated practices. 3

4. Three Dimensions Scientific and engineering practices
Crosscutting concepts
Disciplinary core ideas 4

5. Science and Engineering Practices
I think of practices as an 8 point booster shot for inquiry!
Science and Engineering Practices
1. Asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering) 2. Developing and using models 3. Planning and carrying out investigations 4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking 6. Developing explanations (science) and designing solutions (engineering) 7. Engaging in argument 8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings.
For each, the Framework includes a description of the practice, the culminating 12th grade learning goals, and what we know about how they can progress over time 5

6. Why Practices?
‘Practices’ highlight how scientists and engineers engage in inquiry—how they do their work—through a coordination both of knowledge and skills.
Engaging students in these practices help them learn how scientific knowledge is developed and applied.
The practices in the Framework are considered to be central to science and engineering.
They engage students productively in inquiry, support important learning processes, and help students understand aspects of the science and engineering enterprises.
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings. 6

7. Background Research & Practitioner Guides
Ready, Set, Science!
Background Research & Practitioner Guides 7

8. Practice 1: Asking Questions (Science) and Defining Problems (Engineering)
Questions are the engine that drive science and engineering. Asking scientific questions is essential to developing scientific habits of mind. It is a basic element of scientific literacy. Science education should develop students’ ability to ask well-formulated questions that can be investigated empirically.
SAMPLE RESEARCH QUESTIONS: Generated by a student group studying infectious disease transmission using a computer model:
1) How does poverty affect the spread of disease?
2) How does changing the probability of antiviral treatment, the efficacy of the antiviral, and the efficacy of vaccination affect the spread of disease?*
* We are making the assumption that countries with a high level of poverty will have less access to antiviral treatment and vaccination, and that these methods of treatment would have less potency compared to wealthier countries.
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings. 8

9. Practice 2: Developing and Using Models
Scientists and engineers construct conceptual and mental models of phenomena. Conceptual models are explicit representations that are in some ways analogous to the phenomena they represent. They include diagrams, physical replicas, math representations, analogies, and computer simulations / models. Students should represent and explain phenomena using multiple kinds of models, learn to use modeling tools, and come to understand the limitations and level of precision of particular models.
”LEFT: physical model of how nicotine influences neuronal functioning; how nicotine mimics other chemicals, binds to neuron receptors and stimulates the reward pathway in the brain: Ask students which ping pong balls represent the nicotine (theones tossed to the students holding the “dendrite” ropes) and which are the dopamine (the ones in the “axon terminal” bucket). 9

10. Practice 3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Scientists investigate to: (1) to systematically describe the world, and (2) to develop and test theories and explanations of how the world works. The latter requires investigations to test explanatory models and their predictions and whether inferences suggested by the models are supported by data. Students should design and conduct different kinds of investigations—laboratory experiments, field investigations, and observational inquiries.
Some investigations should be guided; others should emerge from students’ questions. 10

11. Practice 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Collected data must be presented in a form that can reveal patterns and relationships and that allows results to be communicated to others. Students need opportunities to analyze both small and large data sets. They need to be able to evaluate the strength of a conclusion that can be inferred from any data set.
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings. 11

12. Practice 5: Using Mathematics, Information and Computer Technology, and Computational Thinking
Mathematical and computational tools are central to science and engineering. Math is one of the languages of science and serves a major communicative function in science. Math also allows ideas to be expressed in a precise form and enables the identification of new ideas. Mathematics (including statistics) and computational tools are essential for data analysis.
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings. 12

13. Practice 6: Constructing Explanations (Science) and Designing Solutions (Engineering)
Scientific explanations are accounts that link scientific theory with specific observations or phenomena. Scientific theories are developed to provide explanations that illuminate particular phenomena. Students should be engaged with standard scientific explanations, and they should be asked to demonstrate their developing understanding by constructing their own causal explanations —which supports conceptual learning.
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings. 13

14. Practice 7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence
The production of scientific knowledge depends on the process of reasoning that requires a scientist to make a justified claim about the world—to construct arguments from evidence. Other scientists attempt to identify the claims weaknesses and limitations. Students should construct scientific arguments showing how data supports claims, help identify possible weaknesses in scientific arguments, and refine their arguments in response to criticism.
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings. 14

15. Practice 8: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Being literate in science and engineering requires the ability to read and understand their literatures. Reading, interpreting, and producing text are fundamental practices of science. Communicating in written or spoken form is another fundamental practice of science.
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings. 15

16. Science and Engineering Practices
1. Asking questions (science) and defining problems (engineering) 2. Developing and using models 3. Planning and carrying out investigations 4. Analyzing and interpreting data
5. Using mathematics and computational thinking 6. Developing explanations (science) and designing solutions (engineering) 7. Engaging in argument 8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings. 16

17. Issues That Might Come Up Around the Transition to Practices
The term may be mistakenly conflated with the colloquial sense of ‘practices’ as the ‘repetitive performance of activities or skills’
Where’s inquiry? The focus on practices is not a new idea—although it may be a new term for many with this intent. In the Framework, practices are a refinement of the previous accounts of inquiry and investigations
Takes into account the research literature on productive ways of engaging learners in science learning
The focus on ‘inquiry’ served an important purpose for the field, but it came to mean too many different things in practice
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education. 17

18. Understanding the Science and Engineering Enterprises
Where’s the nature of science? This focus on practices offers the opportunity for students to stand back & reflect on how these practices contribute to the accumulation of scientific knowledge and to engineered solutions.
With support, they can develop an understanding of epistemic knowledge of science—e.g., what is meant by observation, hypothesis, theory, model, claim, explanation.
AI: characterize how each idea is developed in the Framework
Equity, Practices & Inclusive Instruction
Equitable learning can be promoted with practices by leveraging the sense-making practices students bring to the classroom—e.g., digital fluencies, forms of argument and story-telling, mathematical practices, etc. 18

19. Discussion
What are the implications of this set of scientific practices for curriculum and instruction within your state context?
What are the implications for professional development, assessment and science teacher education that you can anticipate?
You can refer to a summary of the scientific practices with the left-hand column of Table 32 (on page 3-29).
AI: characterize how each idea is developed in the Framework 19

20. The Inclusion of Engineering in the Framework

21. From a STEM learning perspective, the engineering design pursuits of youth have had a problematic relationship with the school curriculum
AI: characterize how each idea is developed in the Framework 21

22. We are leveraging the ‘professional worlds’ around shared knowledge, action-based logic, and a scale of values for judgment (cf. Becker, 1982).
This translation work is a good place to look for interdiscursivity as one way in which it is accomplished.
We are exploring the possibility of drawing explicit parallels between the sociomaterial practices of children’s elective pursuits and those of STEM disciplines.
Rt Image:
There is an increasing demand for citizens who are technologically literate about the built world and who can enter engineering and technology related fields
LIFE • Everyday Science & Technology Group 22

23. Engineering Highlights
Engineering has long been part of science education, but it has been made more visible in the Framework
Framework outlines two core ideas related to Engineering, Technology & Applications of Science
Engineering material was trimmed back from July 2010 draft
More of a focus on design (in Practices and a Core Idea) and on the applications of science and interaction between engineering, technology, and science
Framework outlines a set of engineering practices—many of which are parallel to the scientific practices
AI: characterize how each idea is developed in the Framework 23

24. Why this focus on Engineering?
“any [science] education that focuses predominantly on the detailed products of scientific labor—the facts of science—without developing an understanding of how those facts were established or that ignores the many important applications of science in the world misrepresents science and marginalizes the importance of engineering.” (NRC Framework, Ch. 3)
Students should: (1) learn how science is utilized—esp. in the context of engineering design—and (2) come to appreciate the distinctions and relationships between engineering, technology, and applications of science.
AI: characterize how each idea is developed in the Framework 24

25. Disciplinary Core Ideas: Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science
ETS1 Engineering design How do engineering solve problems?
ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting an Engineering Problem
What is a design for? What are the criteria and constraints of a successful solution?
ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions
What is the process for developing potential design solutions?
ETS1.C: Optimizing the Design Solution
How can the various proposed design solutions be compared and improved?
Helen 25

26. Disciplinary Core Ideas: Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science
ETS2 Links Among Engineering, Technology, Science, and Society How are engineering, technology, science, and society interconnected?
ETS2.A: Interdependence of Science, Engineering, and Technology
What are the relationships among science, engineering and technology?
ETS2.B: Influence of Engineering, Technology and Science on Society and the Natural World
How do science, engineering, and the technologies that result from them affect the ways in which people live? How do they affect the natural world?
Helen 26

27. Engineering Practices (see Table 3-2 on p. 3-29)
A problem, need or desire defines a problem to be solved
Models and simulations are used to analyze systems—to look for flaws or test possible solutions
Engineers conduct investigations and collect data to help specify design criteria and to test their designs
Engineers analyze data collected to compare solutions under specific constraints with respect to design criteria
Mathematical and computational representations of established relationships / principles are integral to design
Engineers design solutions through a systematic process (where scientists construct explanations)
Argumentation is essential to finding best possible solution by comparing alternatives and evaluating multiple ideas
Engineers need to clearly and persuasively communicate their work to produce technologies
• People learn science (or engineering) best by engaging in sensible versions of the practices of science (or engineering)
• Inclusion of engineering
• engineering shares a focus on many of the practices, but is significantly different in practices 1 & 6 (with the underlined sections)
• Practices are not a new beginning. They are an evolution of our thinking about inquiry, building upon recent learning research in science education.
• The shift to practices allows the science education community to refine and focus what has been meant by science inquiry—which has come to take on a range of meanings. 27

28. Suggested Reading…
While scientific research can lay the foundation for new technology, it is engineering development that allows ideas to become reality.
AI: characterize how each idea is developed in the Framework
“Science is about knowing; engineering about doing.”
It is the inherent practicality of engineering that makes it vital to addressing our most urgent concerns, from dealing with climate change and natural disasters, to the development of efficient automobiles and renewable energy sources. 28

29. Discussion
Given this increased emphasis on engineering in the Framework, what issues do you anticipate coming up in your state contexts? For example, what specific capacity concerns might exist for the teaching of engineering?
What partnerships already exist—or need to be developed—with industry, higher education, or organizations to help with the engineering layer? What are the issues there?
See Chapter 8 on Engineering Core Ideas and the right-hand column of Box 3-2 (on page 3-29) to summarize engineering practices.
AI: characterize how each idea is developed in the Framework 29