The need to increase science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduates is great. To interest more students into STEM degrees, we made our graphene biosensor research portable, inexpensive, and safe to demonstrate technology development to high school students. The students increased their knowledge of biosensors and proteins, and…

In response to a report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, President Obama issued a challenge to the U.S. education system to create more than 1,000 new STEM-focused schools, including 200 high schools. Inclusive STEM-focused high schools--which focus their efforts on females, minorities, and students who are…

Scientists and teachers have worked together to produce teaching materials for the Very Small Radio Telescope (VSRT), an easy-to-use, low-cost apparatus that can be used in multiple laboratory experiments in high school and university physics and astronomy classes. In this article, we describe the motivation for the VSRT and several of the…

The main areas of difficulty experienced by those teaching and learning organic chemistry at high school and introductory university level in Ireland have been identified, and the findings support previous studies in Ireland and globally. Using these findings and insights from chemistry education research (CER), the Organic Chemistry in Action!…

Building a human-powered flying craft can be much more complicated than one would first imagine. There are no "premade" plans available for this type of craft. In addition, the crafts needed to be built with some "style," or in other words, they should represent something other than a flying machine. The concept of launching a…

Project-based learning and academic integration are integral parts of the automotive technology program at Greenville High School. This Ohio comprehensive school has used both of these strategies for the past 15 years and their success is reflected in nine state SkillsUSA gold medals and one bronze, in addition to eight gold medals earned at the…

"Potemkin schools" is used as the phrase to capture what a US science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) public speciality high school becomes as a result of its institutional branding. By way of an examination of the efforts of one teacher drawn into school branding through his "inquiry-based reform" of an Advanced Chemistry course,…

Although many states in the United States are adopting policies that require all students to complete college-preparatory science classes to graduate from high school, such policies have not always led to improved student outcomes. There is much speculation about the cause of the dismal results, but there is scant research on the processes by…

The BioBridge Professional Development model was created to bring current and relevant science into the high school classroom. The purpose of this intervention was to connect teachers with relevant science and to create innovative, hands-on activities that engage students, with the goal of increasing student interest in STEM careers. To this end,…

Since its initial funding by the National Science Foundation in 2004, the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) has worked to understand the infusion of engineering design experiences into the high school setting. Over the years, an increasing number of educators and professional groups have participated in the expanding…

This study was conducted to describe a high school engineering curriculum, identify teaching strategies used to increase math and science literacy, and discover challenges and constraints that occur during its development and delivery, as well as what strategies are used to overcome these obstacles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with…

West Springfield High School sits on the outskirts of Washington, D.C., in Fairfax County, Virginia. WSHS is home to a thriving and growing technology education program. In recent years, the program has exploded from less than 175 students to well over 425. These numbers are expected to continue to grow in the foreseeable future. In 2002, the…

Back in 1992, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded grants to five curriculum development teams and charged them with the task of starting over. Five years later, each of the development teams had produced an innovative and "integrated" curriculum. All represented notable departures from the commonly encountered, calculus-driven high…

This paper discusses the congruence between various types of teaching and learning in representative science curriculum projects and the organizational patterns of secondary schooling common at the present time in England, Scotland, the United States and Australia. (JH)

A qualitative descriptive case study explored courses of action for educators and leaders of math and science educators to implement to help students achieve state assessment standard and postsecondary success. The problem focused on two demographically similar rural high schools in Southwest Washington that demonstrated inadequate rates of…