This qualitative, phenomenological study examined the impact of the Puko?a Kani ?Aina grant project that provided eight instructors at the University of Hawai?i West O?ahu a professional development opportunity. This study examined how the eight, representing the Mathematical, Natural and Health Science [BSNS, STEM Degrees] Division, were offered…

This study uses qualitative storytelling methodology to explore the culturally responsive practices of five educators in Hawai'i who are instructional, school, and community leaders. Part of a larger study on a place-based resilience and sustainability graduate certificate program at The University of Hawai'i at Manoa, more broadly, we trace how…

This study examines differences in teachers' uptake of critical language pedagogy during a 16-week graduate course. Drawing on narrative constructs of personal, professional, and linguistic identity, the study shows that the more tightly teachers integrate hegemonic language ideologies into their various identities, the more hesitant they are to…

Given the growing global environmental threats, shifts to increasingly binary thinking that isolate and polarize discourse, and the erosion of caring for each other and our places, the authors believe it is imperative that we change the way science and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education connect with communities and are…

Video games, such as the popularized game Minecraft, have been used in a variety of educational settings and learning contexts. Though academic findings of video game usage are mixed, increases in learning competencies, skills and engagement were apparent. While faced with creating an alternative learning plan for teaching kaikua?ana and kaikaina…

The film "Moana" creates a universe that is at once imaginative and familiar in that it is a fanciful depiction of real-world issues related to the environment. This sets the stage for an engaging series of activities with important content implications integrating environmental issues into elementary social studies. "Moana" is…

Introduction: The purpose of the study was to identify effective teaching strategies to bridge the gap between theory-based and practical-based approaches to teaching a history curriculum. Methods: A qualitative exploratory case study was used. Twenty educators who taught history in K-12 classrooms participated in the study. Semi-structured…

The recent call for education to support student creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking has required a change in traditional views of teaching and learning. Teachers are being asked to engage in creative work in order to bring about innovative educational practices. However, when teachers are asked to make pedagogical changes, the…

The purpose of this study was to examine how Hawaiian music teachers describe their uses of Hawaiian culture-based educational approaches in the music classroom. The theoretical lens of culture-based education framed the study in that it emphasizes increased attention to questions of cultural restoration within Indigenous communities. A collective…

The main problem for teachers working with students who have various disadvantages is that many of them lack extrinsic motivation and they can get discouraged very easily as they hate feeling less capable than their peers. As a film enthusiast, the author appllied and won an Education Innovation Teacher Challenge grant to run a film-related…

Often, teachers enter a community in which they are considered the "Outsiders" and are tasked with learning and teaching about the "Other." This qualitative case study focused on how K-12 Hawai'i Department of Education public school teachers, from backgrounds different from their diverse learners changed their perspectives and…

This brief from the Region 19 Comprehensive Center describes universally effective teaching practices and demonstrates how a school faculty might choose and adapt strategies and actions to fit the specific needs and dreams of their students. The authors suggest how faculties in four distinct Pacific region communities might utilize a continuous…

In this paper, we describe a study of cosmic ray muon rates and energies at various elevations on Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. The study was originally conceived as an extension to the upper-division modern physics laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and used the TeachSpin Muon Physics apparatus (abbreviated TSMP below) from that…

Based on Vygotsky's (1978) Sociocultural Theory, this multicase study explored the ways in which engagement in mentored research activities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) influenced the academic and professional aspirations of five Native Hawaiian undergraduate mentees and their persistence in higher education. The…

It is well argued by many educational theorists that modernist views on education have kept schools in the United States similar to those of one hundred years ago when Dewey (1916) advocated for more democratic views of education. Dewey (1916) warned against the hierarchical structures in education, describing how information to be learned in…