Project Overview 

Scientific Sensemaking about Place-based Phenomena (SSPP) is an innovative professional development program designed to transform science education in rural elementary schools. This National Science Foundation-funded initiative addresses the critical need for high-quality, phenomenon-centered science teaching in rural areas.

By focusing on locally significant, place-based phenomena, the project aims to engage and inspire young learners while empowering teachers to create more relevant and authentic science learning experiences. The program brings together educators from Montana, Maine, and Hawaii, fostering a collaborative network of rural teachers and administrators. Participants will engage in a three-year professional learning journey, developing their pedagogical design capacity to incorporate place-based phenomena into their science teaching. This approach not only enhances student engagement but also prioritizes local communities and cultures in the scientific sense-making process.

Through this initiative, we aim to unlock the transformative potential of dedicated rural educators, providing them with the tools and support needed to revolutionize science education in their schools. By bridging the gap between research and practice, this project seeks to create lasting positive impacts on science teaching and learning in rural elementary classrooms across diverse geographical and cultural contexts.

Major Aims 

  1. Form a cohort of elementary teachers, administrators, and researchers from Montana, Maine, and Hawaii to support one another while comparing challenges and opportunities in rural education focused on place-based phenomena.
  2. Work with 8 teachers and 4 administrators from four rural Montana elementary schools over three years to engage in high-quality science instructional units.
  3. Train teachers to adapt national materials to local scientific phenomena, producing more place-based and culturally relevant materials.
  4. Support teachers in developing their own customized unit based on local scientific phenomena.
  5. Empower teachers and administrators to act as future change agents to engage school-wide transitions to local phenomena-based science.

Funding acknowledgement

Scientific Sensemaking about Place-based Phenomena: Mobilizing Rural Elementary Teacher Learning to Propel School-Wide Transformation is supported by the National Science Foundation under award number 2405436. Montana contacts are Suzanne (Suzi) Taylor, Jeanette (Jeannie) Chipps, and Rebecca Richter, Montana State University Science Math Resource Center. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the National Science Foundation.

For more information

Contact Rebecca Richter at [email protected], or see further grant project details here (external website).