This article details the learning experiences emerging from a research collaboration between a university-based research team and an informal education provider (the STEM Academy). The aim was to enhance the community responsiveness of a series of science clubs for children living in low-income communities in a metropolitan area of Canada. The…

Students have several misconceptions about thermodynamics. However, an understanding of basic concepts in this branch of physics remains fundamental to explain thermal phenomena. The purpose of this activity was to extend students' conceptual understanding of heat, temperature, energy, and thermal insulators and conductors. Two groups of students…

This research evaluated the implementation of a climate science curriculum intervention for students in Grades 4 and 5, including those who were typically achieving and those with difficulties in mathematics, reading, or both. Pre- and posttests of measurement and climate change science concepts were administered at the beginning and end of each…

Background: Over the past three decades, researchers have increasingly advocated for pedagogical practices that privilege exploration, collaboration, problem-solving, and hands-on projects in K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S.T.E.M.). Many researchers have studied the efficacy of these instructional practices, but there has…

The Precipitating Change Project was a 5-year development, implementation, and research study of an innovative 4-week middle school curricular unit in computational weather forecasting that integrates students' learning and use of meteorology and computational thinking (CT) concepts and practices. The project produced a list of CT skills and…

This collaborative action research project documents the exploration and student learning outcomes of COVID-19 socioscientific issue-based lessons. Analysis of student interviews, surveys, and work, combined with classroom observations, revealed that COVID-19 socioscientific issue-based lessons improved students' conceptual understanding of the…

In this article, we explore how children of late elementary to middle school age, from low-income communities in an East-Central metropolitan area of Canada, described their interests in and attitudes toward science in an out-of-school science club program. We used the children's descriptions of emotional engagement to gain insights into the…

The purpose of this mixed-methods research was to investigate changes in preservice elementary teachers' science teaching beliefs and explain how these beliefs influence the way these teachers interpret their science teaching and learning experiences. Supported by the theoretical underpinnings of teacher beliefs and drawings as a tool to…

Based on the results of an online survey of 500 Québec's elementary (K-6) teachers conducted in 2015 that probed the way respondents teach astronomy to their classrooms, their background in S&T, their pre-service education, their aims and goals for astronomy teaching, their attitude toward teaching astronomy, the resources and materials they…

Students' difficulties in scientific argumentation have been widely reported in the literature. Researchers argue that these difficulties result mainly from students' lack of understanding of the goals and norms of argumentation. Therefore, designing and implementing appropriate instructional scaffolds to facilitate such essential knowledge of…

This paper explores the integration of STEM activities in teaching and learning, emphasizing the importance of innovative pedagogical approaches in effectively introducing theoretical concepts, such as variables and functions, and merging them with practical applications. Drawing on existing literature, this study investigates the integration of…

To investigate how early elementary science and technology (S&T) education, with hands-on experimentation and inquiry-based learning, impacts pre-service teachers' attitudes and confidence to teach S&T education, we used a cross-sectional survey. Our participants were 27 pre-service teachers enrolled in an Ontario elementary S&T…

There has been a recent increase in research interest in the ways that visual representation is used to facilitate students' understanding in science classrooms. Yet while many studies have explored individual students' drawing, few studies have looked into drawing as a collective tool to engage students in thinking and talking together in science…

This is the thirty-sixth edition of the Articulation Handbook for British Columbia's public postsecondary institutions. It has been updated for 2021-2022 through the dedicated efforts of the educators who participate in the working and steering committees. Articulation is a dynamic process that will never be completed. It brings order to the Adult…

In this article, the relatively new phenomenon of integrating coding and computer science (CS) related concepts and skills into the K-8 grades is analysed through a comparative analysis of related provincial curriculum initiatives in Canada. First, provincial K-8 curricula that include coding and CS related concepts and skills are identified, as…