Many rural communities are looking for inexpensive and innovative ways to engage youth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). University Extension 4-H programs offer a unique platform to increase rural youth exposure to STEM and build important life skills. This study employed a mixed-methods approach to examine ways in which…

Pre-service teachers rarely receive training on how best to serve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) high school students. We tested whether participating in LGBTQ-focused service-based learning or LGBTQ-focused didactic training improved pre-service teachers' knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and skills for serving LGBTQ…

This article introduces an innovative model of social work course development, teaching, and implementation. Using the principles of antioppressive education and community-engaged learning, the authors (a former student and faculty member) codeveloped and subsequently taught a course that explored writing, voice, social justice, and the…

Research indicates that work-integrated learning (WIL) experiences enable students to develop both generic and work skills as well as helping students identify their future academic and career directions. This study used pre- and post-survey instruments to evaluate the effectiveness of a WIL placement to develop work skills of students in…

Debates on how best to educate young children have been raging over the last 100 years--more often fuelled by ideological preferences rather than empirical evidence. To some extent this is hardly surprising given the difficulty of examining pupil progress in a systematic and comparative way. However, the introduction of a new child-centred…

The people around us - as well as the methodical progression of education through content - often shape our relationship to the world. Currently, Earth is at a crossroads, which requires humans to act and live more sustainably with an intentional environmental ethos, whether for literal survival or for slowing Earth's resource degradation.…

The occurrence of equine abuse/neglect cases is an ongoing issue. However, officials responding to equine cases are rarely experienced in handling horses. Therefore, workshops teaching basic horse husbandry were offered to better equip and prepare officials to respond to equine cases. Trainings consisted of both classroom and hands-on sessions.…

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder with different levels of severity. Although the exact causes of ASD is not yet known, nor is there a medical cure for ASD to date, special facilities and schools have been established to help individuals coping better and becoming more independent. With the advancement in Virtual Reality…

In looking for further understanding of how teacher-educators enhance their professional knowledge and expertise, this paper explores how involvement in a design-based study focused on implementing pedagogies of practice occasioned learning. Driven by our desire to prepare beginning teachers to do the work of ambitious mathematics teaching, we…

This article reports on an Australian project involving preschool and kindergarten children learning about 'giving' and the environment. Teachers designed learning modules based on the Learning by Design framework, which views pedagogies as knowledge processes, and conducted action research to explore the impact of learning about 'giving' on…

Early childhood teacher preparation programs play a critical role in preparing teachers to work with young children, yet the field knows relatively little about how these programs carry out this important function. The culminating classroom-based experience, generally termed "student teaching," is an important component in teacher…

While there is no single profile of the adult learner in the 21st century, there exists a common desire to obtain a degree in higher education. Adult learners as a group are comprised of a large number of women and individuals from various racial/ethnic groups. In addition, they often possess varied learning styles and maintain multiple roles and…

Traditional professional development lacks the creative, experiential, and differentiated learning needs of 21st-century teachers. Although some studies examine pre-service training, many in-service teachers' learning needs are not met during school professional development due to the passive learning environment. Traditional professional…

This paper describes the design, implementation and impact of a non-placement WIL project, focusing on the development of students' responsible leadership competencies through a third-year undergraduate unit -- Responsible Leadership. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic the WIL project pivoted from face to face delivery to online. The WIL project…

This study compares interview data from four pre-service teachers who took part in an ethnographic study in 2006 whilst on their teacher education course and then were interviewed again in 2015 about their subsequent careers. Their conceptualisations of knowing and of becoming a teacher are explored in order to comment on the process of learning…