I was recently reading the January - February 2025 issue of “Science Scope”, a publication of the National Science Teaching Association.

In this issue, I read the section, “From the Editor’s Desk,” written by Patty McGinnis.  She wrote an article entitled, “Helping Students Make Sense.”

Creating a classroom in which the emphasis shifts the learner role from “learning about” to “figuring out” requires students to engage in the collaborative task of sensemaking.  The type of classroom discussion is critical to sensemaking.  STEM Teaching Tools, at:

https://stemteachingtools.org/tools

can help you plan for student discussions.