The interdisciplinary science education group, which brings together faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and consultants with a range of scientific and pedagogical backgrounds, studies: A) the environmental factors that influence adolescents’ motivation to engage in science learning in and outside of schools, B) novel ways of representing individual’s science knowledge on a given topic and its development across time, facilitating the development of learning progressions, C) the development of scientific practices and core scientific ideas that are fundamental across all scientific disciplines, D) coordination of curriculum across the scientific disciplines, and E) the costs and benefits of introducing abstract scientific ideas to young students. Most of the groups’ research is focuses on middle school students, but there are also some projects involving elementary and high school students.