I am an associate professor of teacher education with three overlapping areas of research interests anchored around ambitious teaching practice. First, I frame classrooms as science practice communities. Using lenses from Science, Technology, and Society (STS) and the History and Philosophy of Science (HPS), I examine how teachers and students negotiate power, knowledge, and epistemic agency. Second, I examine how beginning teachers learn from practice in and across their varied contexts. Third, I investigate how teacher preparation programs can provide support and opportunities for beginning teachers to learn from practice. I have a background in biology and taught secondary life science for four years. Phone: 517-353-0664 Address: Michigan State College of Education
Department of Teacher Education
Scientists and science educators have argued that learners (students, preservice teachers, and in... more Scientists and science educators have argued that learners (students, preservice teachers, and inservice teachers) should understand knowledge construction in science, in addition to figuring out disciplinary core
Rigor and Responsiveness in Classroom Activity, 2016
Background/Context: There are few examples from classrooms or the literature that provide a clear... more Background/Context: There are few examples from classrooms or the literature that provide a clear vision of teaching that simultaneously promotes rigorous disciplinary activity and is responsive to all students. Maintaining rigorous and equitable classroom discourse is a worthy goal, yet there is no clear consensus of how this actually works in a classroom. Focus of Study: What does highly rigorous and responsive talk sound like and how is this dialogue embedded in the social practices and activities of classrooms? Our aim was to examine student and teacher interactions in classroom episodes (warm-ups, small-group Conclusions/Recommendations: This paper challenges the notion that rigor and responsiveness are attributes of curricula or individual teachers. Rigorous curriculum is necessary but not sufficient for ambitious and equitable science learning experiences; the interactions within the classroom are essential for sustaining the highest quality of scientific practice and sense-making. The data supported the development of a framework that articulates incremental differences in supporting students' explanatory rigor and three dimensions of responsiveness. We describe implications for using this framework in the design of teacher programs and professional development models.
Recent studies reveal people from marginalized groups (e.g., people of color and women) continue ... more Recent studies reveal people from marginalized groups (e.g., people of color and women) continue to earn physics degrees at alarmingly low rates. This phenomenon is not surprising given reports of the continued perception of physics as a masculine space and the discrimination faced by people of color and women within the field. To realize the vision of an equitable physics education, fully open to and supportive of marginalized groups, teachers need ways of seeing equity as something that is concrete and actionable on an everyday basis. In our work, teachers have found value in intentionally reflecting on their instruction and their students explicitly in terms of race, gender, and other social markers. We find they are then better positioned to build equitable physics classrooms. Without a focus on specific social markers, common obstacles such as color-evasiveness emerge, which obstruct the pursuit of equity in classrooms.
ABSTRACT I investigated how five first-year teachers—all peers from the same science methods clas... more ABSTRACT I investigated how five first-year teachers—all peers from the same science methods class framed around ambitious instruction—used resources to plan and learn in schools that promoted pedagogy anchored around information delivery. The participants engaged in different cycles of resource-driven learning based on the instructional framework they readily enacted. Three participants who enacted ambitious instruction created generative cycles, and two participants who engaged in delivery pedagogy limited their learning in narrowing cycles. Regardless of the learning cycles, students' science ideas became the core resource for each participant. However, the participants who readily enacted ambitious instruction used students' ideas in conjunction with other prioritized resources including “face-to-face” tools, planning tools, and high-leverage practices. The participants who engaged in delivery pedagogy used students' ideas along with resources valued in their school contexts, such as knowledge-embedded tools (textbooks and curricula) and department norms for teaching.
If you look at the table of contents in any science curriculum, you will see a list of topics. So... more If you look at the table of contents in any science curriculum, you will see a list of topics. Some of these topics are usually one or two word labels like: ecosystems, optics, chemical bonding, earthquakes, or inheritance. Some topics are thematic and cut across different subject matter. Examples of these might be: cycles in nature, conservation of energy, or the relationship between form and function.
The foundational document of the current science standards movement—the Framework for K-12 Scienc... more The foundational document of the current science standards movement—the Framework for K-12 Science Education—is grounded in research about how students from diverse backgrounds learn science and the conditions under which they can participate in knowledge-building activities of the discipline. We argue that teacher educators should use powerful principles for instruction, derived from the research referenced in the Framework, to inform the design of courses and other preparatory experiences for novices. This implementation strategy contrasts with an alignment approach, in which novices would be asked to familiarize themselves with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), integrate student performance expectations into lesson plans, and teach activities similar to those described in the NGSS. We describe the more principled approach as a “three-story challenge” in which students, teachers, and teacher educators have responsibilities to learn and to take up new roles in the educational system that are fundamentally different from the status quo.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our teacher preparation program shifted to an online setti... more At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our teacher preparation program shifted to an online setting, disrupting a key feature of practice-based teacher preparation: preservice science teachers’ (PSTs) approximation of rigorous and responsive instruction during extended pedagogical rehearsals, called macroteaching. Given this unplanned shock to their preparation, we examined how PSTs viewed macroteaching and their evolving participation in the teaching rehearsal. Using a situative perspective, we collected multiple forms of data. We found that although PSTs wanted to enact rigorous and responsive instruction, their participation was deeply affected by the sudden shift to an online setting. Our analysis of video-recorded lessons confirmed PSTs’ observations that their instruction became less rigorous and responsive over time. We conclude with questions about teacher preparation during the pandemic.
Scientists and science educators have argued that learners (students, preservice teachers, and in... more Scientists and science educators have argued that learners (students, preservice teachers, and inservice teachers) should understand knowledge construction in science, in addition to figuring out disciplinary core
Rigor and Responsiveness in Classroom Activity, 2016
Background/Context: There are few examples from classrooms or the literature that provide a clear... more Background/Context: There are few examples from classrooms or the literature that provide a clear vision of teaching that simultaneously promotes rigorous disciplinary activity and is responsive to all students. Maintaining rigorous and equitable classroom discourse is a worthy goal, yet there is no clear consensus of how this actually works in a classroom. Focus of Study: What does highly rigorous and responsive talk sound like and how is this dialogue embedded in the social practices and activities of classrooms? Our aim was to examine student and teacher interactions in classroom episodes (warm-ups, small-group Conclusions/Recommendations: This paper challenges the notion that rigor and responsiveness are attributes of curricula or individual teachers. Rigorous curriculum is necessary but not sufficient for ambitious and equitable science learning experiences; the interactions within the classroom are essential for sustaining the highest quality of scientific practice and sense-making. The data supported the development of a framework that articulates incremental differences in supporting students' explanatory rigor and three dimensions of responsiveness. We describe implications for using this framework in the design of teacher programs and professional development models.
Recent studies reveal people from marginalized groups (e.g., people of color and women) continue ... more Recent studies reveal people from marginalized groups (e.g., people of color and women) continue to earn physics degrees at alarmingly low rates. This phenomenon is not surprising given reports of the continued perception of physics as a masculine space and the discrimination faced by people of color and women within the field. To realize the vision of an equitable physics education, fully open to and supportive of marginalized groups, teachers need ways of seeing equity as something that is concrete and actionable on an everyday basis. In our work, teachers have found value in intentionally reflecting on their instruction and their students explicitly in terms of race, gender, and other social markers. We find they are then better positioned to build equitable physics classrooms. Without a focus on specific social markers, common obstacles such as color-evasiveness emerge, which obstruct the pursuit of equity in classrooms.
ABSTRACT I investigated how five first-year teachers—all peers from the same science methods clas... more ABSTRACT I investigated how five first-year teachers—all peers from the same science methods class framed around ambitious instruction—used resources to plan and learn in schools that promoted pedagogy anchored around information delivery. The participants engaged in different cycles of resource-driven learning based on the instructional framework they readily enacted. Three participants who enacted ambitious instruction created generative cycles, and two participants who engaged in delivery pedagogy limited their learning in narrowing cycles. Regardless of the learning cycles, students' science ideas became the core resource for each participant. However, the participants who readily enacted ambitious instruction used students' ideas in conjunction with other prioritized resources including “face-to-face” tools, planning tools, and high-leverage practices. The participants who engaged in delivery pedagogy used students' ideas along with resources valued in their school contexts, such as knowledge-embedded tools (textbooks and curricula) and department norms for teaching.
If you look at the table of contents in any science curriculum, you will see a list of topics. So... more If you look at the table of contents in any science curriculum, you will see a list of topics. Some of these topics are usually one or two word labels like: ecosystems, optics, chemical bonding, earthquakes, or inheritance. Some topics are thematic and cut across different subject matter. Examples of these might be: cycles in nature, conservation of energy, or the relationship between form and function.
The foundational document of the current science standards movement—the Framework for K-12 Scienc... more The foundational document of the current science standards movement—the Framework for K-12 Science Education—is grounded in research about how students from diverse backgrounds learn science and the conditions under which they can participate in knowledge-building activities of the discipline. We argue that teacher educators should use powerful principles for instruction, derived from the research referenced in the Framework, to inform the design of courses and other preparatory experiences for novices. This implementation strategy contrasts with an alignment approach, in which novices would be asked to familiarize themselves with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), integrate student performance expectations into lesson plans, and teach activities similar to those described in the NGSS. We describe the more principled approach as a “three-story challenge” in which students, teachers, and teacher educators have responsibilities to learn and to take up new roles in the educational system that are fundamentally different from the status quo.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our teacher preparation program shifted to an online setti... more At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our teacher preparation program shifted to an online setting, disrupting a key feature of practice-based teacher preparation: preservice science teachers’ (PSTs) approximation of rigorous and responsive instruction during extended pedagogical rehearsals, called macroteaching. Given this unplanned shock to their preparation, we examined how PSTs viewed macroteaching and their evolving participation in the teaching rehearsal. Using a situative perspective, we collected multiple forms of data. We found that although PSTs wanted to enact rigorous and responsive instruction, their participation was deeply affected by the sudden shift to an online setting. Our analysis of video-recorded lessons confirmed PSTs’ observations that their instruction became less rigorous and responsive over time. We conclude with questions about teacher preparation during the pandemic.
What does it mean for students to "do" science? Building on research from the 1980s and 1990s tha... more What does it mean for students to "do" science? Building on research from the 1980s and 1990s that called for students to "do" science in classrooms, reform efforts such as the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) have infused a slew of ideas about science teaching and learning into daily conversations among teachers, administrators, parents, and policymakers. Perhaps some of these ideas sound familiar: project-based learning, inquiry, hands-on, phenomenon, argumentation, explanation, modeling, and science practices. These ideas, along with many others, sound promising when encountered in professional development sessions, various journals, newspaper articles, and in conversation with colleagues. After all, people invested in science education, especially teachers and administrators tasked with designing science learning opportunities, care about students, their learning, and their science possibilities in the future.
This comprehensive volume advances a vision of teacher preparation programs focused on core prac... more This comprehensive volume advances a vision of teacher preparation programs focused on core practices supporting ambitious science instruction. The book advocates for collaborative learning and building a community of teacher educators that can collectively share and refine strategies, tools, and practices. A renewed interest in practice-based teacher education paired with increasingly rigorous requirements, notably the Next Generation Science Standards, has highlighted the importance of teachers’ deep disciplinary knowledge. This volume examines the compelling ways teacher educators across the country are using core practices to prepare preservice teachers for ambitious and equitable science teaching. With contributions from a wide network of teacher educators focusing on science education in various geographical and institutional contexts, Preparing Science Teachers Through Practice-Based Teacher Education serves as a valuable resource both for teacher educators and for administrators.
Responding to recent reform efforts, such as the Next Generation Science Standards, which call fo... more Responding to recent reform efforts, such as the Next Generation Science Standards, which call for students to learn science practices, this book proposes a conceptual reframing of the roles of teachers and students in formal and informal science learning settings. Inviting the field to examine the state of "science practice," it provides concrete examples of how students, supported by the actions of educators, take on new roles, shifting from passive recipients of information to active participants in conceptual, social, epistemic, and material features of science work.
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Papers by David Stroupe
A renewed interest in practice-based teacher education paired with increasingly rigorous requirements, notably the Next Generation Science Standards, has highlighted the importance of teachers’ deep disciplinary knowledge. This volume examines the compelling ways teacher educators across the country are using core practices to prepare preservice teachers for ambitious and equitable science teaching.
With contributions from a wide network of teacher educators focusing on science education in various geographical and institutional contexts, Preparing Science Teachers Through Practice-Based Teacher Education serves as a valuable resource both for teacher educators and for administrators.