In the summer of 2015, I made the decision to follow my passion for improving scientific literacy among students of all ages and backgrounds. That meant leaving traditional academia and focusing on a broader base of younger students. I chose to work with IXL Learning, an innovative company in the heart of Silicon Valley, dedicated to providing high-quality, engaging online resources to both students and teachers. IXL had just announced the addition of science to their already-existing subject lineup of math and English language arts. I joined a small, but growing team of educators dedicated to bringing the exciting world of science to K-12 students.
Since then, I've been involved in the design, research, review, testing, and release of dozens of science skills aimed at elementary and middle school students. Millions of students across the United States now have access to that engaging, pedagogically rigorous content. My current work involves both continuing the development of our elementary and middle school offerings and researching our expansion into the high school grades.
IXL encourages young students to adopt a discovery-centered approach to learning science. The skills that students can explore through IXL.com are engaging, thought-provoking, and carefully designed via an extensive research, writing, and review process. Using IXL, students can construct animal and plant life cycle diagrams, make predictions about thermal energy, explore types of ecosystems, form hypotheses based on observations, and more! Click below to go directly to the IXL Science page. You can try out up to 10 questions a day for free!
