Dr. Richard Steinberg, Professor, Program Director, Science Education, The City College of New York 

Making Sense of How Students Make Sense of Science: 

Upon arriving at City College of New York in 1999, Dr. Richard Steinberg was told how students are different and that the challenge of reforming instruction based on science education research was too great. “Their academic preparedness is too weak.” “They lack motivation.” “They come from diverse languages and cultures.” Over the last 20 years, Dr. Steinberg had the opportunity to work with high school students, college students, and science teachers from across New York City. In this presentation, Dr. Steinberg described his implementation of instruction that is based on research on how students learn. He presented data showing that students can thrive when given the chance to participate in the process of doing science while engaging in approaches that match what is known about how students learn.