This paper reflects on the classroom use of the "Star Trek" American science fiction television franchise to teach critical and emotional geographies to undergraduates specializing in science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM). Both science fiction and STEM education are ambivalent and contradictory scenes of social…

Interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is more important than ever since the Pandemic ravaged our nation's medical resources and personnel. This exploratory study, intended to establish and characterize potential identifiers and markers of student interest development in an inquiry-driven learning…

Many science fiction conventions host interactive sessions and activities related to science fiction, fantasy, and popular culture media for the public. Specialized sessions known as "science tracks" are spaces where science professionals and conference attendees discuss and question the science embedded within science fiction fandoms.…

Greater emphasis on ethical issues is needed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The fiction for specific purposes (FSP) approach, using optimistic science fiction texts, offers a way to focus on ethical reflection that capitalizes on role models rather than negative examples. This article discusses the benefits…

The informal learning environment of the Museum of Science Fiction's "Escape Velocity" event offers an integration of science and science fiction in a variety of activities, talks, events, exhibits, and panels to further attendees' interest. This study examined the efficacy of this event as a learning experience through a survey of…

Previous research illustrates the collaborative nature of adolescents' multimodal composing processes. However, few studies have specifically focused on how different modes influence student interactions over time. This study examines how multiple modes (e.g. text, music, visuals, and animations) mediated middle schoolers' composing processes as…

In this paper, we examine the relationship between participants' childhood science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related experiences, their STEM identity (i.e., seeing oneself as a STEM person), and their college career intentions. Whereas some evidence supports the importance of childhood (i.e., K-4) informal STEM education…

The current K-12 educational system often does not engage students in interdisciplinary learning. To address this need, we developed an integrated STEM + L (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Digital Literacies) afterschool programme in which middle school students took discipline-specific roles (writer, scientist, artist, and engineer)…

Science identity has been widely discussed in recent years; however, research on its development in multimodal composing environments, especially in formal classroom settings, has yet to be fully investigated. This qualitative study unraveled the science identity development of sixth-grade students as they created multimodal science fiction…

Since the advent of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs, first in K-12 and now in college curricula, many variants of STEM have arisen to include other disciplines in developing cross-disciplinary literacy among students. This paper briefly defines our own variant STE[A]M branch within the context of cross-disciplinary…

Spurred by concerns about an inadequately sized science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, there has been a growing interest in out-of-school time (OST) science activities as a means to foster STEM career interest. This study examines the association between OST science activities and STEM career interest in university…

Understanding how to better engage young students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is essential. The constraints of U.S. K-12 schools (e.g. insufficient institutional supports, lack of technology access, testing pressures, etc.) often make it difficult to create truly engaging STEM curricula with which students can deeply…

For the forty-second time, the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two volumes. Volume 1 contains papers dealing…