Research

Daphne Project - Supporting Beginning Science Teachers in Natural Selection Instruction (funded by the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation)

‘Daphne’ is a three-phase study that will explore how a map of student ideas and misconceptions about natural selection can help to develop beginning teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, leading to a subsequent increase in student learning. Funding for the study began in July 2007 and the study will be conducted during the 2008-2009 school year.

‘Supporting Autonomy in Science Classrooms’ (funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Max Planck Society)

Dr. Furtak is the primary researcher in this experimental study exploring the effects of cognitive and procedurally supportive teaching on student learning and motivation. The study is taking place in Berlin-area international schools during the fall of 2007.

 ‘Using Evidence’ in Reasoning about Sinking and Floating (funded by the National Science Foundation and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)

This project supported the development of a new analytic framework designed to examine the development of scientific reasoning in elementary, middle, and high school . The framework has been applied to the measurement of different facets of reasoning in science classrooms, specifically with regard to the development of written assessments and the analysis of video recordings of whole-class discussions from classrooms in the US and Germany.

 ‘Romance’ Project (funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing)

A nationwide experimental study, conducted during the 2003-2004 school year, that explored the effects of formative embedded assessment on student learning. The study was a collaboration between Stanford University and the University of Hawaii, and Dr. Furtak participated as a member of the assessment development team and a mentor to the middle school science teachers who participated in the study.