Glossary
STEM teaching terms, clearly defined
Plain-language definitions of the instructional terms teachers meet in modern math and science planning—from thin-slicing and consolidation to CER and formative assessment.
- Thin-Slicing
- Thin-slicing is an instructional design strategy that sequences tasks in small, purposeful increments. Each task keeps enough of the previous one to feel accessible while changing a single feature that advances the learning, producing a low-floor progression toward a challenging goal.
- Thin-Slicing guide
- Building Thinking Classrooms (BTC)
- Building Thinking Classrooms is a framework developed by Peter Liljedahl describing practices—such as thinking tasks, visibly random groupings, and vertical non-permanent surfaces—that maximize the amount of time students spend actively thinking during a lesson.
- Building Thinking Classrooms guide
- 5E Instructional Model
- The 5E Instructional Model is a constructivist learning cycle developed by BSCS. Its five phases—Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate—guide students from surfacing prior knowledge through investigation, formal explanation, application, and assessment.
- 5E Instructional Model guide
- Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER)
- Claim-Evidence-Reasoning is a framework for constructing scientific explanations. Students make a claim that answers a question, cite evidence (data or observations) that supports it, and provide reasoning that uses scientific principles to link the evidence to the claim.
- Claim-Evidence-Reasoning guide
- Consolidation
- Consolidation is the phase of a lesson where the teacher selects and sequences student thinking to make the central idea explicit. It turns the experiences created by a task progression into named, transferable learning rather than leaving strategies disconnected.
- Warm-Up
- A warm-up is a brief activity at the start of a lesson used to activate prior knowledge, review a prerequisite skill, or spark curiosity about the day’s topic. Effective warm-ups prepare students for the lesson without consuming instructional time meant for the main task.
- Exit Ticket (Exit Slip)
- An exit ticket is a short formative assessment collected at the end of a lesson. Students answer one or two focused questions so the teacher can gauge understanding of the objective and plan the next lesson or reteaching accordingly.
- Formative Assessment
- Formative assessment is any low-stakes check for understanding used during instruction—exit tickets, warm-ups, questioning, or quick quizzes—whose purpose is to inform teaching and give students feedback, rather than to assign a summative grade.
- Scaffolding
- Scaffolding refers to temporary supports—such as sentence starters, worked examples, models, or prompts—that help students accomplish a task they could not yet complete independently. Scaffolds are gradually withdrawn as students gain competence.
- Productive Struggle
- Productive struggle is the effortful problem-solving students experience when a task is within reach but not immediately solvable. Maintaining productive struggle—rather than removing all difficulty—is associated with deeper conceptual understanding and retention.
- Low-Floor, High-Ceiling Task
- A low-floor, high-ceiling task has an accessible entry point that lets every student begin, while offering enough depth and extension to challenge the most advanced learners. Such tasks support mixed-readiness classrooms without separate assignments.
- Differentiation
- Differentiation is the practice of adjusting content, process, or product to meet the varied readiness, interests, and needs of students. In lesson materials it often appears as scaffolded support versions, tiered tasks, or accommodations that keep the learning goal constant.
- Worked Example
- A worked example is a completely solved problem presented with each step visible. It reduces cognitive load for novices by modeling a solution path, and is most effective when paired with prompts that make students explain or extend the reasoning.
- Cloze Activity
- A cloze activity presents text or a solution with strategic blanks that students fill in. In STEM it is used to scaffold reasoning—revealing structure while requiring students to supply key terms, steps, or values.
- Spiral Review
- Spiral review interleaves previously learned material into current practice at spaced intervals. By repeatedly revisiting skills over time, it leverages distributed practice to strengthen long-term retention and prevent forgetting.
- Fluency Practice
- Fluency practice is targeted repetition designed to build automaticity with foundational skills—such as number facts or procedures—so that working memory is freed for higher-order reasoning during complex tasks.
- Phenomenon-Based Learning
- Phenomenon-based learning anchors instruction in a real, observable event or problem that students investigate and explain over time. Central to NGSS and OpenSciEd, it drives learning through the need to make sense of the phenomenon rather than through disconnected topics.
- POGIL
- POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) is a student-centered approach in which small groups work through carefully designed activities that guide them to construct concepts from data or models, while developing process skills like teamwork and communication.
- Standards Alignment
- Standards alignment is the practice of matching lesson objectives, tasks, and assessments to specified learning standards—such as Common Core Math, NGSS, state standards, TEKS, or IB—so instruction targets the intended knowledge and skills and can be verified against a framework.
- Discovery / Inquiry Learning
- Discovery or inquiry learning positions students to investigate questions, test ideas, and construct understanding before formal explanation. Guided inquiry—where the teacher structures the investigation—is generally more effective than fully unguided discovery.
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