Navigating Elementary Science Teaching and Learning

Introduction.- New perspectives on the use of cases in elementary science teacher preparation.- Enhancing the learning of prospective and practicing elementary teachers through case-based pedagogy: Philosophical underpinnings.- Case-based pedagogy as an instructional tool.- Case-based pedagogy as a research tool.- Towards an expanded vision of elementary science teaching and learning.- Overview of the organizational structure of the book.- Section 1: Contemporary approaches to teaching science in the elementary grades.- Evidence-based learning.- Confronting what it means to participate in STEM/STEAM.- Engaging young children in maker spaces.- Building culturally responsive science classrooms.- Children's engineering by design.- Ambitious science teaching practices.- Section 2: New roles for technology in elementary science.- Fostering experiences with modeling and coding in the elementary years.- Instructional innovations with cellphones, iPads and personal technology.- New media literacies.- Ethical issues involving the use of low and high level technologies with young children.- Section 3: Creating inclusive elementary science learning environments.- Working against deficit models.- Differentiating science teaching and learning.- Meeting the science learning needs of children with Asperger's or along the autism specturm, or other exceptionalities.- Section 4 Engaging children in socio-scientific issues.- Teaching about climate change.- Citizen science.- Democratizing science for young children.- Issues around the teaching of evolution (as it relates to young children).- Fostering youth activism.- Section 5: The tensions of standards-based science instruction.- Considering issues of high-stakes assessments.- Responding to increasing demands for accountability.- Taking pedagogical risks in an era of high-stakes assessments.- Section 6: Diverse ways of assessing young children's science understandings.- Using students' funds of knowledge.- Eliciting and responding

Sophia Jeong is an assistant professor of science education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University.  Her scholarly work draws on actor-network theory to explore ontological complexities of gender and race by examining socio-material relations in science classrooms.  Broadly speaking, her research interests focus on equity issues in science education through the lens of rhizomatic analysis of K-16 science classrooms, re-conceptualizing the notions of teacher change, teachers' teaching, and students' learning as assemblages.  As a science teacher educator, she is passionate about fostering creativity, encouraging inquisitive minds, and developing socio-political consciousness through science education.  She has co-authored seven book chapters and is currently the co-editor of the book examining case-based pedagogy in elementary science education.  She has participated in international research collaborations with scholars from Korea, China, Turkey, and Singapore in STEM/ STEAM education.  Lynn Bryan is a Professor at Purdue University who is jointly appointed in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and Department of Physics and Astronomy. She also serves as the Director for the Center for Advancing the Teaching and Learning of STEM (CATALYST). She began her career in science education as a high school physics teacher, and since then has devoted her career to working with K-12 science teachers to bring contemporary practices and leading-edge science content into pre-college classrooms, most recently with an emphasis on the role of science education in addressing crucial societal challenges by promoting social justice. Her area of research includes science teacher education, particularly teachers' development and enhancement of knowledge and skills for teaching science for society through the integration of STEM disciplines; teaching science at the nanoscale; and teaching science through