Education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is essential to achieving continued technological advancement. The most critical years for instilling knowledge are during childhood, and a strategic way to accomplish this is through playful materials. Therefore, there is a need to develop more inclusive solutions to achieve…

In 2017 Purdue evGrand Prix hired a K-12 Indiana public educator (the author) to write instructional material that could be implemented into participating teams' high school science and engineering classrooms. The goal was to create science-based integrated STEM learning experiences that complement the construction and racing of a 48-volt electric…

In Thailand, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is being promoted to support science student teachers by conducting projects to extend their learning skills and to turn them into innovators. This study aimed to develop a professional development programme (PDP) based on biomimicry to improve STEM project creation for…

When thinking of early childhood STEM, images of active, play-based design challenges, experiences with robotics/coding, or hands-on experiences with open-ended materials (e.g., balls, ramps, loose parts) often come to mind. While these are certainly images that align with developmentally appropriate early childhood STEM practices, some of the…

While the benefits of active learning to student experiences are well documented, less is known about active learning in online education, especially regarding the development of 21st century skills (e.g., communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity). Specifically, open questions remain concerning the contribution of different…

Techno-mathematical Literacies (TmL), which are defined as a combination of mathematical, workplace and ICT knowledge, and communicative skills, are acknowledged as important learning goals in STEM education. Still, much remains unknown about ways to address them in teaching and to assess their development. To investigate this, we designed and…

This study aimed to analyze articles published in the Web of Science database from 2012 to 2021 to examine the educational goals and instructional designs for STEM education. We selected articles based on the following criteria: (a) empirical research; (b) incorporating instructional design and strategies into STEM teaching; (c) including…

Researchers suggest that solving ill-structured problems using project-based learning approaches is one way to engender STEM learning outcomes. However, project based learning poses unique challenges in practice, including the translation of technical information, design of scenarios, facilitation of instruction, and management of student…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine any correlations between an increase in knowledge from activities which utilize self-paced learning, inquiry-guided learning, and collaborative learning pedagogical strategies and students' intentions to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and computer science…

This article describes an intentionally mutually-beneficial partnership between a university, a local school district, an international company with local presence, and a community to design and create a school focused on STEM education and project-based learning. This article provides a thorough description of the iterative process of…

Achieving an in-depth understanding of unfamiliar science concepts has been found to be difficult when learners can not index science language to relevant sensorimotor experiences. Ongoing research in embodied cognition highlights the importance of relevant sensorimotor experiences in understanding and learning new information. Aiming to foster…

This ethnographic study reports on the findings from seven English secondary schools that participated in Project Faraday. The project was funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families to build innovative learning environments to encourage students into upper secondary inquiry-based STEM. Despite the innovative classrooms, the…

Graduate students intending to pursue an academic career in the sciences have much to gain by learning to teach science but often have limited training opportunities. In response to this need, we designed a one-semester course, Learning Design in Science Education (LDSE), in which students receive formal training in pedagogical theory with role…

The current study describes preliminary findings from the Xavier University of Louisiana Mobile Outreach for Laboratory Enrichment (XULA-MOLE) project, which is a collaboration between Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA), a Historically Black and Catholic University, and participating 9th-12th grade classrooms in the central New Orleans area…

This article describes the development of the Teaching and Learning Inquiry Framework (TLIF) and applications for its use. For decades teacher preparation and support has been dictated by a narrow mindset in which academic disciplines have been taught in isolation. This landscape, however, is evolving to align with the view that the world is…