Teaching Beyond Content: Making Academic and Disciplinary Norms Visible Across the Transition to Postsecondary Science

Discussions of readiness for postsecondary science often emphasize content mastery and standardized performance. Yet students who are curious, academically capable, and successful in structured secondary classrooms may still encounter unfamiliar expectations in first-year science courses. This viewpoint article, grounded in retrospective reflection across secondary science and introductory biology teaching, argues that this transition involves two overlapping domains: general academic norms, such as time management, help-seeking, and interpreting instructions, and disciplinary science norms, such as asking investigable questions, using evidence, troubleshooting, and persisting through uncertainty. Drawing on literature concerning self-regulated learning, engagement, social learning, scientific practice, and the hidden curriculum, the article frames readiness as a set of practices developed through repeated participation rather than as a fixed student trait. Practice-based examples illustrate how expectation mismatches become visible in communication, laboratory preparation, and responses to unexpected results. Implications emphasize explicit modeling, supported practice, equitable and inclusive participation, and shared responsibility among secondary teachers, postsecondary faculty, and instructional leaders, while distinguishing the gradual release of general classroom scaffolds from individualized IEP, Section 504, and postsecondary disability accommodations.