Drawing on a national probability sample of precollege students, science teachers, and schools in Qatar, QIAS aims to; (1) assess students’ interest in, and attitudes toward, science, and the ways in which these variables change during the school years; (2) identify factors that impact students’ interest and attitudes, including their dispositions toward pursuing college science and scientifically-based careers; (3) characterize the prevailing modalities of science teaching in the various types of precollege Qatari schools; and, (4) examine the relationship between students’ interest and attitudes and their science learning experiences. QIAS will make significant contributions to Qatar research, policy, and practice.

This project evaluates the efficacy of computer-based programs to foster primary-grade children’s fluency with single-digit addition and subtraction facts. The PI’s theory- and research-based programs incorporate features that may promote fact fluency, including relatively novel efforts to promote discovery of patterns and relations underlying whole fact families. Systematic comparisons of experimental and control conditions involve at least 60 children at risk for academic failure (e.g., pupils from low-income families or a minority group). Training experiments evaluate programs with different fact families and include gauging retention and transfer of fluency and effects of age and risk factors.

This project seeks to develop a mathematics assessment system for young children that can be used by education professionals. The plan is to design the Early Mathematics Assessment System (EMAS), a tool which will measure a broad range of mathematical content knowledge and proficiency skills of children. Once developed, the next steps are to develop a software format that can be used on a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), and then to ensure the reliability and validity of the EMAS. The last goal in the project is to assess how the EMAS is used by evaluators.

Dr. Bresler counsels and teaches on research and development issues for Hogskoken/Stord/Haugesund (HSH) staff and students, in particular the different research projects and programmes connected to different profiles in the Master Programme ICT in learning. The field of work engaged is related to the different profiles of the Master degree program on ICT in Learning at HSH; national, international and local seminars and conferences; and research and development guidance and advice. The work is performed as physical visits to Stord/Haugesund, online seminars, and on-demand consultations via internet.

The Postdoctoral Fellows Program provides a breadth and depth of research-related experiences to prepare fellows for full engagement in academic professional life. Senior faculty/project members will provide mentoring. Researchers will train four Postdoctoral Fellows for 2 years in this program. The research opportunities offered include: (1) innovations in formative and summative assessment; (2) development of methods for assessment of complex performance; (3) disciplinary practices of discipline areas captured in written reports and essays; and (4) exploration of the affordances of social media for peer-to-peer learning. Fellows will select a research project for concentrated involvement.

The purpose of this preliminary case study is to identify and describe high school mathematics teachers’ discourse-based formative assessment practices (DAP) by focusing on extended discourse episodes that occur in classroom instruction. The goals of this preliminary project are to: (1) document each teacher’s formative assessment practices; (2) make qualitative discernments about their formative assessment practices; (3)consider if there is a relationship between their practices and demographic differences across school settings; and, (4) consider how the findings inform the conceptualization of future studies about DAP, and teachers’ professional learning experiences for DAP.

This project trains pre-service teachers, in-service mainstream teachers, and bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers at the elementary and middle-school levels. The first goal is to comprehensively improve teacher education program at UIUC for pre-service teachers so that the latter can provide instruction to accelerate Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students’ language acquisition, literacy, and content knowledge. The second goal provides professional staff development over the academic year. The third goal addresses the state and local shortage in bilingual and ESL teachers by increasing the number of teachers (pre-service and in-service) who take courses for their bilingual/ESL approvals.

This project trains preservice mathematics teachers committed to teaching in high needs schools. In Phase I, students learn and apply the latest theories and practices for supporting marginalized students to learn mathematics. The program provides summer internships for recruitment of diverse and qualified preservice teachers, the Noyce Seminar, ongoing mentoring with an experienced Chicago Public School teacher, and access to the particularly rich and diverse array of summer enrichment programs operated by the University of Illinois. Results will improve STEM education among marginalized populations across the nation and successfully increase teacher placements in high needs Illinois schools.

This collaborative effort among the Center for Writing Studies, the College of Education and the Writer’s Workshop provides resources and support for teacher-centered professional development in the teaching of writing through a Summer Institute, continuity programs, and community outreach. UIWP helps teachers a) see themselves as writers for life, students of writing, and leaders in the teaching of writing; b) become more confident, proficient, and thoughtful teachers; and c) improve their own teaching practices. The UIWP also provides opportunities to engage in new technologies for the 21st Century for the improvement of teachers’ own writing and that of their students.

We will develop a learning progression for scientific modeling, explore its implementation in two grade bands across elementary and middle school, and examine teacher and students' developing practices. UIUC will be a research site to collect teacher and student data in elementary classrooms regarding research questions focused on use of models and modeling practices across disciplines and the relationship between scientific modeling and content learning. Data will be collected and analyzed focusing on inservice and preservice teachers understanding and use of scientific models and modeling. UIUC will assist in development of surveys, and/or interviews for 4th-7th grade students and teachers

This masters’ degree program deepens elementary school teachers’ knowledge, integrating science, mathematics, and pedagogy with an inquiry-oriented approach. Emphasizing “sense-making” while learning, it brings together faculty and teacher interests from geometry, astronomy, probability, and entomology. Principal partners include Curriculum and Instruction; Educational Organization and Leadership; Educational Psychology; Office of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education; Mathematics; Entomology; Atmospheric Sciences; Illinois Natural History Survey; School of Earth Systems, Environment and Society; College of Engineering, and Decatur Public schools. World-renowned researchers, featured Illinois campus scholars are also inspirational instructors, engaging young people, providing content expertise, and powerful experiences for science and mathematics teachers.

Project NEURON brings together the University of Illinois’s Neuroscience Program, the College of Education's Department of Curriculum and Instruction, the Office for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education and local teachers to develop and disseminate curriculum materials linking cutting-edge science with national and state science standards. This project creates professional development opportunities for teachers and graduate students, includes a formative and summative evaluation and a dissemination mechanism. Project goals include: (1) developing and disseminating curriculum modules for use in secondary science classrooms; (2) improving instructional practices of secondary science teachers; and, (3) improving student engagement in and learning of science.

This project explores how boys’ and girls’ early experiences differ at both school and home, and how those differences relate to gender disparities in K-5th grade mathematics achievement. In the study's first component, students’ home experiences, classroom experiences, and attitudes toward mathematics are compared by gender. The second and third components focus on the relationship between those student experiences and gender gaps in kindergarten mathematics achievement. In the final component, relationships among girls’ and boys’ attitudes toward mathematics, experiences, and achievement, are examined. Throughout the study, interactions among gender, race/ethnicity and SES are explored.

This program prepares researchers to conduct rigorous research that is relevant to mathematics education. The program provides fellows with a rich set of experiences and skills needed to conduct mixed-method and quantitative research that will improve U.S. mathematics teaching and learning with diverse populations. Fellows work with a range of faculty who conduct classroom-based research and analyze large-scale mathematics data (including ECLS-K and NAEP). The postdoctoral program at UIUC helps fill the national need for scholars who have a blend of expertise in mathematics education, research design and data analysis.

This project will develop a ‘Web 2.0’ environment which provides feedback for learners and supports formative assessment. It supports the capture of text, image, table, diagram, video and audio, thus allowing the construction of a wide range of multimodal texts such as scientific reports, writing in language arts, and social studies projects. There are three formative assessment processes and learner feedback mechanisms: 1) a commenting and editing module; 2) a review and rating module; and 3) a semantic tagging module. Classroom-based research and development involve overlapping and iterative processes of feasibility analysis, technical specification, software development and beta testing.

Scholarship in social and entrepreneurial leadership and distributed leadership frame EnLiST’s efforts to build and sustain a state-wide Illinois community of highly qualified science teacher leaders, transforming K-12 science teaching and learning through intensive professional development and innovative school projects. Teacher leaders gain cutting-edge scientific knowledge, research experiences in University laboratories, and effective pedagogical repertoires, as well as entrepreneurial leadership and transformative skills. They return to their districts empowered to energize and transform STEM teaching and learning. Core partners include Education, Physics, Chemistry, Business, Champaign Unit 4 District, Urbana School District #116, and Thornton High School District #205.