The Crosscutting Concepts: Critical Component or “Third Wheel” of Three-Dimensional Learning?

Abstract

Three-dimensional learning is the name given to the vision for science education described in the National Academies consensus report A Framework for K–12 Science Education . Of the three dimensions described in the Framework, the Disciplinary Core Ideas and the Science and Engineering Practices have been enthusiastically adopted by many in the science education community. However, the third dimension, Crosscutting Concepts (CCCs), has received less attention. Indeed, some researchers have begun to question both the necessity and the theoretical rationale for the CCCs. That being said, emerging work both supports the use of the CCCs and provides practitioners with approaches to their use that not only hold potential for supporting students’ construction of deeper and more useful knowledge but also may provide an approach to learning that is more equitable. In this paper, examples highlight the use of CCCs as lenses, tools, bridges, or “rules of the game” (epistemic heuristics), that can support sensemaking about chemical phenomena in the context of three-dimensional learning.

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