The geological sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (geo-STEM) have the capacity to investigate and address geological and environmental challenges. Many of these challenges (e.g., pollution, flooding, and slope failure) unjustly impact lower socio-economic communities in urban and rural settings where there is limited access to…

The STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute (SEIRI) is a unique independent interdisciplinary unit at Indiana University Indianapolis. An internal evaluation survey was developed to properly assess the strengths and weaknesses of the institute. The design of the survey followed aligning the institute's mission with the programming…

Existing research primarily examines the impact of structured, credit-bearing service learning in undergraduate chemistry, leaving the potential contributions of co-curricular service learning and its lasting influence on chemistry graduates underexplored. Therefore, this mixed-methods study aimed to assess the lasting impact of co-curricular…

This study describes an educational strategy of forming transdisciplinary work teams--with students from different careers and semesters--for developing academic projects as a collaborative learning tool. This strategy was implemented in the elective course Process Design, which involved developing projects in industrial processes. As a final…

Through a combination of internal and external collaborations, consumer-based energy education designed for hard-to-reach audiences was successfully delivered statewide by an interdisciplinary Extension team. Program participants representing rural residents, senior citizens, and low-income audiences demonstrated improvements in knowledge and…

Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education for young people is a challenge for national health systems in low-and middle-income countries. This study analysed SRH education among adolescents in a low-income neighbourhood of Brazil from the perspectives of young people themselves, primary healthcare providers, and school teachers. Using…

Professional societies and institutes have stressed the importance of a dialogue between scientists and the public over the past decades. Especially the life sciences include many highly relevant research topics pertaining not only to scientific progress but also to decision-making in society. Surprisingly, few educational researchers and…

University efforts to galvanize work that is often siloed and disconnected across departments is supported by collaborative and creative initiatives. Campbell University's mission to support community engagement at multiple levels of university life, while also emphasizing faith and vocation, is an example of how one university is modeling this…

Mentorship has been shown to have a positive influence on mentees but less research is available on the impacts for mentors, particularly those involved in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) outreach. As we work to enhance STEM engagement through outreach programs that include mentoring, understanding the impact on mentors that…

An authentic, interdisciplinary, research and problem-based integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) project may be ideal for encouraging scientific inquiry and developing teamwork among undergraduate students, but it also presents challenges. The authors describe how two interdisciplinary teams (n=6) of undergraduate…

The development of the liaison model in academic libraries has had important implications for the relationship between librarians and teaching faculty members. Modes of outreach to departments are conditioned by a variety of factors, and can have a profound effect on the library's image on campus. This case study describes and analyzes programming…

This paper examines the impact of a structured, multi-dimensional reflection track of a 16-week pilot programme in experimental pedagogics (XP) in The Netherlands. XP is an elective undergraduate programme in which students investigate socially relevant educational problems in local communities and design educational interventions to address these…

The popularity of service learning is increasing, especially at a time when college students want to make a greater impact in their communities. However, service learning has not been extensively assessed in courses based in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This article provides a case study of how incorporating service learning…

Background: Many disciplines use outdoor fieldwork (OFW) as an experiential learning method in higher education. Although there has been an increase in research into the pedagogical approaches of OFW, the use of OFW is contested. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to synthesize the OFW literature across a range of disciplines to identify common…

This paper theorizes and provides evidence of a "Research Communication Continuum" in which acquisition of skills conducive to communication with broader audiences contributes to greater efficacy in cross-disciplinary discourse and collaboration among scientists and engineers engaged in research; and, vice versa, acquisition of skills…