ENHANCING PEDAGOGY WITH CONTEXT AND PARTNERSHIPS: SCIENCE IN HAND

Two activities, one on heat/work and one on dynamic equilibrium, are described for three high school classes (n=55) in the USA. The curriculum addressed showcases strategies to use with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. The two lessons described follow the context ACS method (Application, Career opportunities, and Societal impact). ACS, or real-world context application, relies on a strong foundation of teaching concepts while developing enhanced learning experiences for K-12 students. The research described probes the problem of student engagement and content learning in STEM coursework and provides evidence for the potential of utilizing context ACS. The activities demonstrate how to use ACS to maximize student engagement and emphasize formative assessment during lesson implementation. Analysis of the data shows that students exposed to ACS lessons drawing from partnerships to connect real-world applications to core content make gains of 17% in aggregate.