Ambitious Science Teaching

Ambitious Science Teaching outlines a powerful framework for science teaching to ensure that instruction is rigorous and equitable for students from all backgrounds. Drawing on the emerging research on core teaching practices and their extensive work with preservice and in-service teachers, the authors present a coherent and aligned set of resources for educators striving to meet the considerable challenges that have been set for them. The practices presented in the book are being used in schools and districts that seek to improve science teaching at scale, and a wide range of science subjects and grade levels are represented.

"Ambitious Science Teaching offers teachers a toolbox of strategies to embed in our twenty-first-century classrooms to welcome all students' ideas, help them engage in well-constructed storylines, and build and revise their models with adequate time for sense making through discourse, all in the service of a strong scientific explanation. Windschitl, Thompson, and Braaten have made a welcome and important contribution to science teaching with equitable access to science learning for all students."
--MaryMargaret Welch, PK-12 science program manager, Seattle Public Schools

"Ambitious Science Teaching empowers science teachers to meet the rigorous demands of the Next Generation Science Standards. By implementing a toolkit of teaching routines, science educators can engage all students in challenging science practices. The teaching strategies outlined by the authors will transform your classroom into a place where students explain, argue, and model like real scientists and engineers."
--Tanya Katovich, vice president, Northern Illinois Science Educators, and chemistry teacher, Hoffman Estates High School

"Ambitious Science Teaching provides four sets of practices for teachers to engage in to promote three-dimensional teaching and learning in their classrooms. Each chapter offers excellent guidance on how teachers implementing new standards can help their students succeed."
--Ted Willard, editor, The NSTA Quick-Reference Guide to the NGSS

Mark Windschitl is a professor of teaching, learning, and curriculum at the University of Washington and a former secondary science teacher. Jessica Thompson is an associate professor in teaching, learning, and curriculum at the University of Washington and a former secondary science teacher. Melissa Braaten is an assistant professor of science education at the University of Colorado Boulder and a former elementary, middle, and high school science teacher.