Dr. Sage Andersen was selected to receive the NARST 2026 Outstanding Doctoral Research Award (ODRA) for her dissertation titled “Reimagining Science Teacher Learning through Core Practices of Storyline Instruction.”

This honor recognizes that Dr. Andersen’s dissertation was judged by her NARST colleagues on the ODRA committee to have the greatest merit and significance in the field of Science Education from among all dissertations nominated for the award this year. Dr. Andersen completed her dissertation at The University of Texas at Austin on April 10, 2024, under the direction of Dr. María González-Howard.

Grounded in sociocultural theories of learning and practice-based teacher education, this three-paper dissertation investigates how preservice teachers can be supported to take up storyline instruction with critical intentionality. Storyline instruction positions students as capable sensemakers and epistemic agents, anchoring learning in meaningful phenomena and student-generated questions. Dr. Andersen first conceptualized six Core Practices  of Storyline Instruction through a theoretical document analysis of existing scholarship and curriculum resources. She then examined how preservice teachers, participating in a redesigned science methods course, took up and leveraged these core practices in their planning and rehearsals of instruction. Finally, she developed a practical rubric to help teachers evaluate and strengthen existing curricula toward more coherent, phenomenon-driven, and justice-oriented science teaching.

Together, the studies contribute a coherent framework for supporting teacher learning that keeps teaching practice and justice-oriented visions of science education in sustained conversation. This work advances research on practice-based teacher education and offers concrete tools for fostering more equitable and transformative possibilities in K–12 science classrooms.