VMC3 Resource Center

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) specify that students should engage in the Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) to support scientific sensemaking. One SEP that helps students form conceptual understanding of scientific phenomena is Developing and Using Models. Although there are many ways to model, the VMC3 Resource Center focuses on the process of visual modeling through scientific drawing. Research has shown that drawing is an active process that stimulates learning of both concrete and abstract phenomena better than other strategies, such reading, self-explanation, and imagining.

You might introduce drawing at various points in the instructional process. Early in the process, you can see how students apply prior knowledge and insightful thinking. Later in the process, such as after students have been exposed to data or core content, you can see how students demonstrate building of new knowledge. During modeling, you can guide students in drawing discrete scientific concepts, interpreting their own thinking processes, recognizing patterns and relationships among different hand-drawn elements, and identifying any misconceptions in their visual models. The VMC3 Visual Library can scaffold modeling activities by providing ideas for how scientific content and sensemaking can be shown through drawing. To further support the sensemaking process and enhance student engagement, the NGSS encourages learning through SEPs in conjunction with crosscutting concepts (CCCs). The VMC3 Formative Assessment Quick Prompts highlight connections between visual modeling and the CCCs, providing prompts to reveal and further stimulate student sensemaking.

Visual models do not need to be perfect exemplars to be useful. In the example below, we see both building blocks and room for improvement in a student’s understanding of antibiotic resistance. Specifically, the student has shown that they know some of the key events that happen with antibiotic resistance. Their model includes bacterial presence, exposure to antibiotics, and the role of replication. Yet the visual model does reveal a potential misconception that antibiotics might change some bacteria so they may become resistant (rather than resistance having variance ahead of exposure). Through targeted questioning, self-assessment, and/or feedback to the student, using the Formative Assessment Quick Prompts for the CCC of Patterns and the Sensemaking Components of Movement/Motion, Zoom in/out, and/or Flow of Matter, you can assess this student’s current level of understanding and use that assessment to further their learning.

Example supporting research:

Brod, G. (2021). Generative learning: Which strategies for what age? Educational Psychology Review, 33(4), 1295-1318

Schmeck, A., Mayer, R. E., Opfermann, M., Pfeiffer, V., & Leutner, D. (2014). Drawing pictures during learning from scientific text: Testing the generative drawing effect and the prognostic drawing effect. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 39(4), 275-286.

Crosscutting concepts are a core part of 3-Dimensional science instruction (Disciplinary Core Ideas, crosscutting concepts, Science and Engineering Practices, NGSS Appendix G) yet have received the least attention of any dimension. This “lesser focus” is something also echoed by the teachers we have worked with at both the service and pre-service levels. Some have even asked why they should include CCCs in their instruction and how these positively impact students’ learning. While research into CCCs is still in its infancy, there are several ways that student engagement with them can support learning. Below are the crosscutting concepts of the NGSS:

• 1) Patterns
• 2) Cause and Effect
• 3) Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
• 4) Systems and System Models
• 5) Energy and Matter
• 6) Structure and Function
• 7) Stability and Change

There is general consensus that one should not view the CCCs as “vocabulary” that student must memorize and need to later define. Rather CCCs should functions as “lenses, bridges, tools, or heuristics” ⁶ that a teacher cues student to use in order to explore science phenomena. Thus, a teacher must explicitly plan for CCCs as part of their lessons and include the language of the CCC being targeted (e.g. “What patterns do we see in the data?”) to promote student use in the classroom. In this way, teachers should focus on student use of CCCs to support learning and not them in isolation. This is the approach taken in the VMC3.

CCCs can be used by students as resources that support their ability to engage with phenomena in meaningful ways¹. These can be thought of as “cognitive tools” that allow students to engage with a scientific phenomenon through different mechanisms (i.e. different cognitive tools) to further the depth and accuracy of their analyses². This aligns with the perspective that some teachers have which argues that CCCs have the potential to increase the power of student explorations³ and support their sensemaking around science phenomena⁴. There is also evidence that CCCs can be transferred across knowledge domains and thus be useful across science disciplines⁵. In conclusion, CCCs can be positive contributors to student learning when implemented in the classroom.

References:

¹Cooper, M. M. (2020). The crosscutting concepts: Critical component or “third wheel” of three-dimensional learning? Journal of Chemical Education, 97(4), 903-909.

²Underwood, S. M., Kararo, A. T., & Gadia, G. (2021). Investigating the impact of three-dimensional learning interventions on student understanding of structure–property relationships. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 22(2), 247-262.

³Lee, S. C., & Arias, A. M. (2024). Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Initial Knowledge for Teaching Related to Crosscutting Concepts Within 3D Learning and Teaching. Journal of College Science Teaching, 1-9.

⁴Vick, N., Novak, M. J., Voss, D. C., Reiser, B. J., & Rivet, A. E. (2024). Helping Students Use Crosscutting Concepts to Guide Sensemaking of Anchoring Phenomena. The Science Teacher, 91(4), 44-51.

⁵Lindgren, R., Morphew, J. W., Kang, J., Planey, J., & Mestre, J. P. (2022). Learning and transfer effects of embodied simulations targeting crosscutting concepts in science. Journal of Educational Psychology, 114(3), 462.

⁶Rivet, A. E., Weiser, G., Lyu, X., Li, Y., & Rojas-Perilla, D. (2016). What are crosscutting concepts in science? Four metaphorical perspectives. Singapore: International Society of the Learning Sciences.

When the word “assessment” comes to mind, many people picture quizzes, tests, and other tangible (and often high-stakes) products. These tend to be assessments of learning, or more summative ways to check a student’s understanding after the learning has occurred. In the VMC3, we emphasize formative assessments for learning and as learning, where sensemaking is valued as a nonlinear process of growth and exploration. 

Formative assessment (FA) is a process that involves a cycle of planning/goal-setting, task design, feedback, and reflections/adaptations. FA can be more formal and explicit (think of weekly homework or worksheets turned in at the end of class), and it can be more implicitly integrated into daily instruction. When you circulate the room asking targeted questions, provide verbal or written feedback on a student’s work, or prompt a student to self-reflect on their own learning, FA is happening. 

Through FA, you and your students can glean real-time information about the learning that is unfolding. The VMC3 focuses on the portion of the FA spectrum that is deeply integrated with daily instruction and provides bite-sized information that can be acted on quickly - tapping into what a student is thinking and giving them support to take the next step. The resources here are designed to support not only lesson plans and big-picture decisions but also those minute-to-minute strategies for nurturing responsive, inquisitive, and self-reflective classrooms.