This study explored the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) attitudes and self-efficacy of secondary students identifying as Black South African, multi-racial or Afrikaans South African, or Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe nationals who participated in a non-formal STEM education camp programme. Using Bandura's social cognitive…

This study explores how a biology teacher from a summer science program engaged high school students of color in a three-week science unit exploring community health at the intersection of history, race, place, and power. The goal of this study is to better understand what community-driven science looks like in a science classroom when a health…

This study aimed to explore the implementation of project-based learning (PBL) principles in informal STEM education, focusing on the experiences of Underrepresented Racially Minoritized (UUREM) girls during a week-long residential STEM summer camp. Utilizing a single case study design, the researchers investigated how PBL facilitates engagement…

Purpose: This paper aims to describe the results of a qualitative case study of three beginning elementary teachers' knowledge-in-practice of multicultural science education. Design/methodology/approach: Data included interviews, focus group discussions, audio-recorded lessons and daily field notes through the course of a month-long summer science…

The authors draw on their own experiences as practitioners, one as a Biology and Agriculture teacher in Kenya, and the other as an educator in a summer science program serving African American youth in a city in the Midwestern United States. They document and analyze moments of language contestation and explore the use of the construct of…

The merits of three approaches (explicit, reflective and implicit) to Nature of Science (NOS) teaching and learning in the context of a summer research experience on high school student participants' NOS ideas were explored in this study. The effectiveness of explicit over implicit approaches has been demonstrated in school contexts, but less…

Our longitudinal study unpacks how an informal summer science and mathematics enrichment program influenced the educational pathways of four first-generation college-bound students. Through the lens of identity-in-practice and navigations, we explore their figured worlds of science, positioning and authoring of self in science as they applied to…

Students have access to the Internet at their fingertips via e-tablets and smart phones. However, the STEM fields are struggling to remain relevant in students' lives outside the classroom. In an effort to improve high school science curricula and to keep students engaged in the classroom, we developed a technology-rich bioengineering summer…

Biomedical preparatory programs (pipeline programs) have been developed at colleges and universities to better prepare youth for entering science- and health-related careers, but outcomes of such programs have seldom been rigorously evaluated. We conducted a matched cohort study to evaluate the Stanford Medical Youth Science Program's Summer…

The goal of the Howard Hughes Science Institute (HHMI) supported science program is to train one staff member to become a science lead within each of the elementary schools in the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) district. The specific objectives of the first year of HHMI grant project were to: (1) provide approximately 20…

Background: There is a growing body of research on situational interest (SI). Yet, we still know relatively little about how SI is supported in the classroom and the academic benefits of SI. Aim: The current study investigated (1) contextual antecedents of SI; (2) potential benefits of SI for academic outcomes; and (3) SI as a mediator of…

Students with blindness or low vision are often discouraged from full participation in laboratory science classes due to the inadequacy of current methodological approaches and the lack of sophisticated adaptive technologies. Consequently, these students rarely go on to pursue advanced studies and employment in the sciences. In response to his own…

This document presents a study related to teacher education programs in general, but with specific attention directed to, National Science Foundation (NSF) institute programs for in-service teachers. The study was designed to answer questions pertinent to an assessment instrument designed and used with the Ball State University NSF institute…

The Summer Science Camps (SSC) Program supports residential and commuter enrichment projects for seventh through ninth grade minority students who are underrepresented in science, engineering, and mathematics. Eligible organizations include school districts, museums, colleges, universities, and nonprofit youth-centered and/or community-based…

By the end of the 1960-61 school year, the National Science Foundation had provided some 75,000 opportunities for secondary mathematics and science teachers to study in its Teacher Training Programs. A study was designed in July 1961, involving questionnaires and interviews, to obtain information on non-applicants for these programs and to compare…