Making Sense of Sensemaking: Designing Authentic K-12 Stem Learning Experiences

By TJ McKenna

Book Overview

Dive into the transformative world of science education with this groundbreaking guide. Learn how to navigate the journey from traditional teaching to a dynamic, student-centered approach that emphasizes understanding over rote learning. Grounded in the latest educational research and aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), this book provides practical strategies for creating K-12 classrooms where students actively engage in scientific practices, explore real-world problems, and build knowledge through inquiry and collaboration. Readers will learn how to design lessons that foreground sensemaking through the integration of disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices to make learning relevant and exciting. Teachers, educational leaders, and professional development providers will find valuable insights for supporting teachers in this shift, ensuring that science education becomes more equitable and effective for all learners. Making Sense of Sensemaking provides the tools and inspiration to elevate science education and cultivate scientifically literate citizens ready to tackle the challenges of the future. Book Features: Describes what sensemaking is, why it is important, and how to design learning experiences that foreground sensemaking. Provides tangible examples of sensemaking experiences that can easily be incorporated into work in K-12 classrooms, university methods courses (preservice), and professional learning sessions (inservice). Shows how to develop teacher capacity for sensemaking and ways to build sensemaking into a lifelong journey of learning. Provides models, pedagogical strategies, and tangible examples that can be immediately implemented. Offers guidance and rubrics for assessing STEM learning experiences in K-12 classrooms. For more resources, including a searchable phenomena library, check out ngssphenomena.com.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0807786861
• ISBN13: 9780807786864
• Release Date: May 2025
• Publisher: Teachers College Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.3" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Kindergarten to Grade 12