Leadership for instructional improvement: A design research approach to integrating makerspace and project-based learning in science classrooms in an urban middle school

Effectively integrating creative experiential learning opportunities into classroom-based science instruction to enhance students’ applied learning continues to be a challenge for many middle school educators. This article explores how educators in one urban middle school leveraged design research thinking in conjunction with collaborative data-teaming processes to develop a targeted professional learning intervention program to help seventh- and eighth-grade teachers learn how to integrate Makerspace hands-on experiential and project-based learning activities into their STEM instructional practices to better engage students in applied science learning in middle school classrooms. A literature-informed discussion is included on how the middle school principal and the school’s instructional improvement team utilized focused professional development activities and intensive Professional Learning Community (PLC) conversations to positively transform teachers’ pedagogical