Publications

Two children and a staff member are working together during a science activity.

The value of outdoor environmental education programs for girls and youth of color: cultivating positive dispositions toward science and the environment

Outdoor environmental education (OEE) programs can provide a valuable entry point for youth of color and girls who may have felt excluded and/or marginalized from traditional science learning experiences. This study investigated: (1) Can OEE programs contribute to the development of positive dispositions toward science and the environment?, and (2) Are there differences in effects by racial/ethnic and gender identity, or interactions thereof?

Children playing on Pheena the Whale

Scientific sensemaking supports science content learning across disciplines and instructional contexts

Science consists of a body of knowledge and a set of processes by which the knowledge is produced. Although these have traditionally been treated separately in science instruction, there has been a shift to an integration of knowledge and processes, or set of practices, in how science should be taught and assessed. We explore whether a general overall mastery of the processes drives learning in new science content areas and if this overall mastery can be improved through engaged science learning.