The current structure of formal education makes it difficult for teachers and students to hold meaningful conversations to support high-school youth's meaning-making of critical social-justice issues. This paper presents data on three high-school youth's knowledge and experiences with social justice issues during the pandemic. Specifically, the…

This is a story of becoming. In this creative non-fiction essay, I share a case study of an informal science program for high school aged youth that took place over 5-weeks one summer in an urban park in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. I conducted observations, interviews, and artifact analysis to explore how youth environmental interest and identity…

This article presents an exploratory study examining the importance that students attribute to pedagogical strategies focused on bridging learning in-and-out of school. The aim is twofold: to analyse students' views of such strategies in different types of school (personalised learning--PL--and mirror schools), and to investigate whether different…

Teachers in Vietnam need professional learning in order to meet the national requirements of comprehensive educational reform. Teacher professional development encompasses all forms of continuous education for educators. Teacher professional learning is a continual process that begins with schools determining the educational outcomes that are…

Out of school informal learning environments provide an excellent experience for students to develop scientific curiosity and critical thinking skills. Currently, there is a range of methods available for supporting STEM learning. As schools focus on college and career readiness, while giving high school students opportunities to take college…

In this paper we consider the issue of formality in learning. Both formal and informal learning appear to be well-defined in educational discourse, in contrast with non-formal learning which is less clearly articulated. This lack of clarity around non-formal learning has consequences for its recognition by teachers and learners. To contribute to…

Enrollment in high school physics across the United States of America is notably lower than in other scientific disciplines. Given that physics serves as a prerequisite for admission into many STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) degree programs, the lack of completion of this course at the high school level can significantly…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to explore the impact of informal STEM education on underrepresented middle school girls. The study took place within the context of the EUREKA! summer program, a collaboration between Drexel University's Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering and Girls Inc. of Philadelphia and…

This article explores the perception of gender inequality in science and the influencing factors. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with students belonging to a science club; we present it as a case study. This research sheds light on what high school and university students studying Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics…

For many Latinx at-promise youth, college is a critical and high-stakes form of aspirational wealth (Yosso, 2005), one that offers a path to "get out" (Brandehoff, 2020) of their current circumstances and circumvent a life of difficult choices. To get there, one must not only navigate personal and societal barriers, but also navigate…

This study used a constant comparative qualitative research method to explore formal and informal learning strategies teachers use to develop professionally and the impact these learning strategies have on their professional practices. Participants were selected through snowball sampling, consisting of 20 teachers from five high schools in Taiwan.…

Interest affects learning; it also affects students' attitude towards science and career choices. It is therefore urgent to increase students' interest and improve their attitude towards science to face the complex challenges of the future. This study transformed cutting-edge induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) research into an informal science…

Background: Developing pre-service educators' content and pedagogical knowledge is critical for providing high-quality instruction in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Specifically, pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has been identified as one of the most critically needed research areas within engineering…

Video games, as the most frequent tools of computer technologies, have been integrated into classroom teaching through experimental studies. However, there is still much to investigate if and to what extent video game involvement (VGI) in informal settings can influence students' language learning motivation (LLM) in formal settings. Adopting a…

This article describes how I, an American music teacher educator, visited the classrooms of eight Musical Futures Champion Teachers in the United Kingdom and observed their teaching with a focus on informal music learning and nonformal teaching. Musical Futures, a professional development organization in the UK, is the original organization that…