Scientific Skills and Processes in Curriculum Resources

Increasingly, the science education community has recognized the need for curriculum resources that support student development of authentic scientific practices, rather than focusing exclusively on content knowledge. This paper proposes a tool for teachers and researchers to assess the degree to which certain curriculum resources and lessons achieve this goal. After describing a method for reflecting on and categorizing curriculum resources, I apply the method to highlight differences across three teaching methods: Modeling Instruction, Physics Union Mathematics, and a traditional, lecture-based approach.