Despite calls for both research and curricular implementations that support underrepresented students' exploration of STEM topics, curricula that apply principles of embodied cognition, such as the use of sports to teach science, are still needed. Further research may also serve to clarify how underrepresented students construct knowledge over…

Heavy metals are a recognized toxic environmental contaminant, even at very low concentrations. There have been well-known events in the last decade within the US of high amounts of lead in the drinking water supplies of cities, leading to detrimental effects within its population. Ways have been found to remove this metal, and others, from water…

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly ubiquitous in society, conversational agents such as Siri, Alexa, and ChatGPT are shaping the experiences of younger generations. However, these young users often lack opportunities to learn about the inner workings of these AI technologies. One way to foster such learning is by empowering…

The American Chemical Society (ACS) Project SEED (Summer Experiences for the Economically Disadvantaged) program has been exposing students to chemistry-related research for over half a century. The program was created and designed to recruit and prepare high school students from economically challenged households to explore and build their…

How to address the gender gap in STEM has been widely debated. Among the ways to encourage females to pursue STEM careers are outreach programs offered by schools and universities. This manuscript reviews the implementation of a novel program, the Women in Science Experience (WISE), a STEM-focused residential summer camp for high school females,…

Experiencing the emotion of awe can facilitate a perspective shift called small self that reorients one's focus toward the wellbeing of the collective. In the present study, I followed 12 adolescents in two summer science programs to investigate how the instructional design informed students' relationships to the large, complex scientific…

Multicultural education invites teachers to support students in critiquing the foundations of a given discipline, with the aim of reimagining that discipline and the purposes it serves. In this paper, we present a series of cases in which high school physics teachers who are enrolled in a summer professional development course expressed vexation…

Studies suggest several key aspects of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) integration for teachers, but translating the findings and recommendations of these studies into fruitful changes in teachers' classroom practices remains a challenge. In this study, an assessment of teachers participated in an intensive professional…

Increasing the participation of students of African descent and other minoritized populations in the scientific workforce is imperative in generating a more equitable biomedical research infrastructure and increasing national research creativity and productivity. Undergraduate research training programs have shown to be essential tools in…

This article uses key concepts of Anzaldúan philosophy to describe the Mosquitoes & Me summer camp as "ciencia zurda" or "left-handed science." It details a day-in-the-life portrait of Elena, a first-generation Latina middle schooler, as she experiences the opportunities that Mosquitoes & Me provided for self-other…

Study abroad attempts to prepare students to effectively work in a multi-national environment. This study compares students' experiences in a unit operations laboratory course offered in multiple modalities: at students' home university, and four- and eight-week study abroad. The results examine the impact of support on students' learning and…

Most people meet insects with fear and disgust, even though few insects pose health risks; in fact, many are beneficial and their absence would adversely affect human life. Such misunderstandings lead to insect conservation being important but unpopular. We addressed these concerns as part of a broader effort to establish an ongoing outreach…

Microscopy is not specifically mentioned in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and consequently secondary education limits its use to learning parts, procedures, and observing fixed specimen slides. However, when alternative approaches (See Section IV in this paper) are encouraged, microscopy provides opportunities for hands-on…

This research presents results of a longitudinal study of a three-year in-service teacher professional development program that was focused on improving grades sixth through eighth students' science achievement, science literacy and increasing science interest in five urban middle schools. The key program elements included: (1) a summer teacher…

The COVID-19 global pandemic significantly impacted both the academic and social and emotional development of middle school students. This article describes the benefits of implementing an interdisciplinary, project-based summer school program to support middle school students as they adapted to in-person learning after school closures due to the…