Local phenomena and problems take on added significance during the COVID-19 pandemic. From a science perspective, through project-based learning, students integrate science disciplines as they investigate a driving question to explain a phenomenon and use engineering to design solutions to a problem. All students bring with them a vast array of cultural and community resources that help them make sense of phenomena and problems. From an equity perspective, through place-based learning, students apply science and engineering to their daily lives in local contexts of home and community. Local phenomena promote both equity and science (Lee 2020).
The three articles in this issue highlight phenomena and problems that students experience in their homes and communities. In contemporary approaches, all students are making sense of phenomena and problems as scientists and engineers do in their work. Some students learned science, but science did not make sense to many students. In traditional approaches, scientists and science teachers defined canonical knowledge of science disciplines, which was typically presented in science textbooks. Making sense of phenomena and problems becomes more important with equity at the center hence, “all standards, all students.” Traditional approaches are “flipped” to adopt contemporary approaches. Because contemporary approaches involve using and applying knowledge for a particular purpose, they are referred to as knowledge-in-use or what knowledge does, not what knowledge is according to traditional approaches. Traditional approaches focused on individual learners’ mastery of discrete elements of science content, while contemporary approaches emphasize that students make sense of phenomena and problems as scientists and engineers do in their work. These instructional shifts highlight the distinction between traditional and contemporary approaches to science learning. Central to the vision in the Framework and the NGSS are three instructional shifts: (a) explain phenomena and design solutions to problems, (b) engage in three-dimensional learning, and (c) build coherent learning progressions over time.