Introduction of Emerging Science into the Classroom-the Case of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology

Nanoscience and nanotechnology incorporate aspects of chemistry, physics, biology and engineering to create highly interdisciplinary fields. Research is rapidly developing strategies for creating new products and technologies by controlling matter at the nanoscale. The new information and technologies resulting from this research will have broad societal implications, and will be realized in the fields of healthcare, and the sustainability of agriculture, food, water, energy, environment, and beyond. To understand the new discoveries and technologies resulting from nanoscience research requires a population with a high degree of science literacy, something that most Americans do not possess. It is the responsibility of our national, state and local education leadership to prepare a much larger cross-section of our population with the science and engineering knowledge required to function in a highly technological society and to secure our edge in discovery and innovation that will sustain our economic prosperity.

The interdisciplinary nature of nanoscience and nanotechnology as well as most emerging science fields sets them apart from the disciplines contained in the traditional grade 7-12 curriculum. This interdisciplinary nature necessitates erasure of the curricular demarcations that have traditionally been made between the science disciplines. However, science in American schools tends to be taught with strict divisions between disciplines. The disciplines are taught in an arbitrary sequence with little to no reference between them. Thus, introducing nanoscience to the classroom brings with it a broad set of challenges. The National Science Foundation has funded the National Center for Learning and Teaching Nanoscale Science and Engineering ( NCLT ) to develop leaders in nanoscience and engineering teaching and learning and to explore various ideas related to nanoscience. One of the primary goals of the NCLT is to explore how ideas in nanoscience and nanotechnology can be incorporated into 7-12 classrooms.

As a Center, we are conducting research in many areas to determine how to successfully incorporate nanoscience into the curriculum. To support student learning, we must first identify where it might be appropriate to introduce nanoscience concepts into the science curriculum. As we work to answer this question, we also must determine whether nanoscience can be used to support and perhaps enhance student learning of topics that are contained in traditional science curricula (e.g. the forces that govern interactions between atoms and molecules). Additionally, as nanotechnology begins to have a greater impact on our lives, we may be able to leverage it to motivate students to explore and learn traditional science more deeply. In this case, we ask whether we can identify appropriate phenomena for diverse learners to explore in order to learn nanoscience.

Another major research goal of NCLT is to explore how students develop ideas about the nature of matter and size and scale over time. In order to provide a conceptual explanation of most nanoscale phenomena, a deep and thorough understanding about the structure and properties of matter is required, as well as an understanding of what the nanoscale is. Only then can students begin to understand how the nanoscale differs from the macro-, micro-and atomic scales not just in terms of size, but also in terms of the properties and behavior of matter. Thus, understanding the developmental trajectory of students' conceptions of size and scale and the nature of matter, and how they develop connections between and within these topics is critical for supporting student learning about nanoscience.

Because nanoscience is an emerging scientific field, professional development of teachers plays a significant role in the introduction of nanoscience into the classroom. Teachers must be introduced to new content and strategies for introducing that new content to their classrooms. In addition, teachers must learn to teach the traditional curriculum differently by finding and then communicating connections between the disciplines to the students. To accomplish this, NCLT is also exploring issues with respect to developing models of professional development.

Here, we report on the diverse research that the NCLT has undertaken to prepare for the introduction of nanoscience and nanotechnology into classrooms. Towards student learning, we describe in detail the motivation potential of nanoscience phenomena and concepts, and discuss the development of students' understanding of size and scale. We discuss the development and validation of a learning progression for student understanding of the nature of matter. Lastly, we report on strategies for designing professional development for an emerging science such as nanoscience and nanotechnology.

• Exploration of Student Understanding and Motivation in Nanoscience (pdf)
  Kelly Hutchinson², Namsoo Shin¹, Shawn Y. Stevens¹, Molly Yunker¹, César Delgado¹, Nicholas Giordano² and George Bodner²
• The Development of Students' Conception of Size (pdf)
  César Delgado¹, Shawn Y. Stevens¹, Namsoo Shin¹, Molly Yunker¹ and Joseph Krajcik¹
• Using Learning Progressions to Inform Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Design (pdf)
  Namsoo Shin¹, Shawn Y. Stevens¹, César Delgado¹, Joseph Krajcik¹ and James Pellegrino³
• A Design-Based Approach to the Professional Development of Teachers in Nanoscale Science (pdf)
  Lynn Bryan² , Shanna Daly², Kelly Hutchinson², David Sederberg², Randal Batchelor², Eric Hagedorn⁴ , William Fornes² & Nicholas Giordano²

1 University of Michigan
2 Purdue University
3 University of Illinois-Chicago
4 University of Texas at El Paso
5 Rutgers University