CET Publications

CET Research Briefs

What Are Preadolescent Readers Doing Online? A Survey of Upper Elementary Students' Digital Reading, Writing, and Communication (July 2016) by Amy C. Hutchison, Lindsay Woodward, and Jamie Colwell 

This 8-page brief was excerpted from a Reading Research Quarterly article by Hutchison et al.

Recommendations for teachers based on their findings include: 

• Provide students opportunities to participate in online activities in which they provide information or create content.
• Provide students with social media experience in school settings.
• Begin instruction in Internet navigation, reading, and writing in earlier grades.
• Help students become informed and critical consumers of online images and videos.
• Encourage girls to see themselves as more capable technology users.
• Use digital technology to get male students more interested in reading. 

High School Chemistry Teachers' Views of Engineering Inclusion Before and After a Professional Development Program (June 2017) by Sarah B. Boesdorfer

This 6-page brief reports findings from Boesdorfer's 2013-15 CET-sponsored study.

Considerations for science education professional development providers based on her findings include:

• Teachers view engineering positively, but likely have a naive view of it, assuming it is more similar to science than it is.
• As with most preconceptions, teachers' preconceptions about engineering are difficult to change.
• Science teacher educators should focus on helping science teachers learn to incorporate the processes/skills of "defining problems" and "optimization" into their classrooms.
• When curriculum reform requires changing teacher preconceptions, intensive and sustained professional development is necessary.