Integrating hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education with a focus on the engineering design process into elementary school curricula has been associated with positive outcomes, including enhanced student understanding and increased interest in the topics. Here, we evaluated third grade student interest and perceived…

In 2018, the U.S. Federal government published a STEM education strategy report outlining a vision with three goals (building a strong foundation for STEM literacy, increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM, preparing the STEM workers for the future) for providing Americans access to high-quality STEM education and acquisition of future…

The rapid developments of Science and Technology call for individuals to have strong academic knowledge and creativity. Research shows that students acquire creativity after either curricular or extracurricular activities in subject matters. However, there is not much research examining students' creativity through integrative learning activities,…

Introduction of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experiences to students exposes them to a variety of future career options while teaching them critical thinking and problem-solving skills. In many calculus classes, students feel that the material they are learning is abstract and not related to the real world. As a result,…

National data shows that despite gains over the past twenty years, females remain underrepresented in the engineering workforce. Education's role in supporting the engineering pipeline cannot be ignored. Middle school teachers who lack integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (iSTEM) efficacy are less likely to engage students,…

The intersection of modeling and STEM practices offers a promising avenue for creating an integrated STEM curriculum. However, research on designing modeling-based STEM (m-STEM) curricula is limited, particularly concerning how the curriculum affects the learning of students with different spatial abilities. This study developed a four-round…

Nationwide, low numbers of students are entering STEM-related fields. This is especially true for underrepresented populations and students from rural areas where access to STEM enrichment programs is limited. This qualitative study researched the impact of Micro STEM Fests on 1st to 5th grade students and investigated participating teachers'…

Positive mentoring experiences are crucial for retaining and advancing those who hold marginalized identities in STEM, as they foster a greater sense of belonging and self-efficacy that encourage these students to persist in their fields. Marginalized identities in STEM include, but are not limited to, women, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People…

A critical evaluation was performed comparing final course grades earned by dual-degree STEM students with their peers in the corresponding single-degree programs. The goal was to understand if students in a dual-degree STEM program can obtain grades comparable to their single program peers. There is no published analysis on how the final course…

Through funding from the National Science Foundation to create a Research Experience for Teachers site at North Dakota State University, the authors provided summer research experiences to current secondary (6th to 12th grade) educators to improve their understanding of the civil engineering field and develop new curriculum modules for their…

Teachers can play critical roles in challenging or reinscribing dominant narratives about what counts as STEM, who is seen within STEM disciplines, and how these disciplines should be taught. However, teachers have often experienced STEM in limited ways in their own education and are thereby provided with few resources for re-imagining these…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013) promote a new vision of K-12 science education that emphasizes the importance of integrating engineering practices into science education. Recent engineering studies have highlighted design approaches that focus on designers' empathy, such as human-centered design (Hess & Fila,…

Adaptive learning supports online instruction by offering feedback to students using machine learning. In a funded study, adaptive learning was used in a flipped STEM course at three universities for pre-class preparation. We conducted a comparative analysis with and without adaptive learning. The assessments were a final exam and concept…

 Today's elementary teachers are expected to teach the engineering practices included in the National Research Council's Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. Recent studies have indicated that teachers are less self-efficacious in teaching engineering than in other subject areas. Project Lead the…

Contribution: This work examines the impact of a unique precollege STEM education initiative during its two pilot years. The study contributes to the growing body of research by unpacking the needs of and the impact on an important stakeholder group (i.e., the teachers) in the engineering education ecosystem to help inform the future design and…