Preservice Secondary Science Teachers' Implementation of an NGSS Practice: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

We investigated six preservice secondary science teachers' implementation of reform-based science, in particular, their teaching of theNext Generation Science Standards'(NGSS) science and engineering practice ofusing mathematics and computational thinking. A modified version of the Task Analysis Guide in Science served as our conceptual framework: It assesses both theintegrationof practices and content (i.e., the kind of thinking required), and thecognitive demandof tasks (i.e., the level of thinking required) in teachers' lessons. We used this framework to qualitatively analyze our preservice teacher participants' edTPA (teacher performance assessment) lessons-including their written commentaries, video-recorded lesson excerpts, and student work samples-for their implementation of theNGSS using mathematics and computational thinkingpractice. We examined (1) the integration of the mathematical content and practices outlined in theCommon Core State Standards for Mathematicswithin the targetNGSSpractice, and (2) the cognitive demand of the mathematics in relation to science and mathematical practices. We found that four of our six preservice teachers implemented lessons that were integrated and cognitively demanding: These participants used the mathematics to move students' understanding of the science phenomena forward. However, the other two participants implemented lessons that integrated mathematical content and practices but were low in cognitive demand. We conclude with implications for how teacher education programs can better support preservice teachers' implementation of lessons that are both integratedandcognitively demanding so as to promote students' mathematical reasoning and scientific sensemaking.