Are your students struggling to reliably control variables in their science investigations? In this session, we will explore how the first five lessons of the CASE pedagogy can transform how your students approach fair testing and multivariable problems. You will be introduced to the 5 pillars of CASE; Concrete Preparation, Cognitive Conflict, Social Construction, Metacognition, and Bridging.
Rather than just teaching the "rules" of investigations, you will learn how to facilitate metacognitive dialogue that forces students to reconstruct their own understanding. We will also showcase the "CASE for Teachers" online course. Using real classroom transcripts from the course workbook, you will practice evaluating student cognitive levels (from early concrete to late formal) to inform your questioning strategies.
Aims: Share pedagogical approaches: Introduce the 5 pillars of Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) to help bridge the cognitive readiness and demand gap.
Solve recurring classroom problems: Provide specific strategies from the first five CASE lessons to help students master the control of variables in investigations.
Improve student thinking through dialogue: Disseminate methods for using classroom dialogue transcripts to accurately evaluate and strategically elevate student cognitive levels.
Showcase a new resource: Launch the "CASE for Teachers" online course by demonstrating its interactive workbook and video simulations.
Background: Research indicates a significant gap between the high formal cognitive demands of the science curriculum—which requires abstract reasoning like controlling variables—and the actual developmental readiness of early secondary students. Many students naturally struggle to isolate variables to ensure a "fair test." Drawing on the proven CASE intervention, this session explores how shifting our pedagogy towards five constructivist pillars can systematically upgrade student thinking from concrete observations to formal scientific reasoning.
