AAAS Describes Its 2012 Contribution to US Science Education. (December 20, 2012)

Alan Leshner, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), has given the following summary of the association's contribution to furthering science education in the United States:

Focusing on kindergarten through grade 12, visiting scholar Linda G. Roberts began addressing the untapped potential of education technology in learning resources for students and professional development for teachers. During the summer, a workshop at AAAS sought to help middle school teaching methods catch up with the new technology of mobile devices. The new AAAS "Active Explorer" project turns students' smartphones into creative, hands-on learning tools. This fall, AAAS-trained "Mathletes" competed in Olympiads in Tunisia and Mexico in a program to increase participation of underrepresented minority students in higher mathematics. AAAS also organized a conference of colleges and universities to promote a program that provides funding and support for STEM majors and professionals preparing to teach in elementary and secondary schools in high-needs districts.

During the year, Project 2061, AAAS's long-term literacy initiative, continued to reform science curriculum, launching a new assessment module giving middle and early high school teachers the tools to create tests targeting key ideas in 16 science topics. Middle school teachers also began using a chemistry module to prepare students for high school biology as inventive models aided visualization of biological growth at the molecular level. Project 2061 developed a green schools curriculum with a prototype for Grade 8 that uses data from sustainable school buildings to teach important science, math, and technology concepts. Work began on a four-year study of student understanding of energy concepts at the elementary, middle, and high school level.

Initiatives at the college and graduate level include the new Science Prize for Inquiry-Based Instruction (IBI), designed to broaden awareness of outstanding science and engineering modules for introductory courses. The "Vision and Change" conference at AAAS examined the reform of undergraduate biology from acquisition of information to applying new information and thinking critically. During a national conference co-sponsored by AAAS, undergraduate and graduate students presented their research and at a second conference, a dozen panels provided input for graduate research studies.