Being immersed in the processes of research can develop undergraduate students' science identities and support their persistence in pursuing science careers. However, it can be difficult for students to find opportunities for engaging in authentic scientific research. The professional staff and scientific objects in natural history museums provide…

Scientist-led K-12 outreach offers many benefits to scientists, teachers, and students; however, many of these programs are top down rather than collaborative. Our team facilitated a museum-based scientist-teacher partnership to co-design a lesson on shark biology for middle school students. Following the implementation of the lesson, we conducted…

Effective communication about science is a core skill undergraduates should learn, but little research has explored how students communicate about culturally controversial science topics. In this study, we explored how Black undergraduate science students took on the role of science communicators in their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Historically, science education has not adequately addressed the concerns and values of BIPOC individuals and women, especially those who fall into both categories. One way that educators are addressing this disparity is by incorporating social justice into their curricula. Climate change is one of today's most pressing issues, and youth have much…

We describe two established STEM camps that went virtual following the outbreak of COVID-19 during the summer of 2020. Our Summer Research Opportunity (SRO) camp engages middle school science fair winners in a forensic research opportunity, while The Immokalee Foundation (TIF) camp introduces middle school students from historically…

Research shows that exposure to the outdoors is beneficial to children and can improve the learning experience for students. The Kids in the Woods program in Gainesville, Florida provides 6th grade students with opportunities to learn science through a series of outdoor activities during their regular science classes. The article reports on an…

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs serving students from low socioeconomic areas are understudied in the literature. More research studies need to be conducted to make informed instructional decisions for students who may be at a disadvantage compared to their peers from higher socioeconomic areas. The purpose of…

While many studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between learning in the arts and students' critical thinking disposition, few studies have investigated the influence of an interdisciplinary art-related teaching approach and its correlation with academic student behavior confidence in anatomy and physiology (A&P). Therefore, this…

School-Based agricultural education increasingly depends upon alternatively certified (AC) teachers to teach agriculture across the United States. Understanding why these individuals become teachers is an important step to better recruit and retain educators who do not complete traditional preparation programs. The purpose of our study was to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether sentence combining with an explicit metalinguistic approach in comparison to typical science instruction was effective in improving written expression and understanding of comparison/contrast in science for eighth-grade students who struggle with literacy. Method: Eighty-four eighth-grade…

This article describes the use of project-based instruction in activities and labs intended to develop higher-order thinking skills with high school students and pre-service teachers through the use of soap making.

Academic conferences are integral to the dissemination of novel research findings and discussion of pioneering ideas across all postsecondary disciplines. For some participants, these environments are spaces to develop new collaborations, research projects, and social bonds; however, for others, conferences can be a place of marginalization and…

Students with disabilities perform below their non-disabled peers in science (National Science Foundation, 2015). The purpose of the exploratory research was to determine if informal science learning activities offered in Florida districts make a difference on the performance of students with disabilities (SWD) on the 2015 8th grade Florida…

Motivation to learn science plays an important role in the persistence, achievement, and career aspirations of students studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Several studies have focused on how supplemental summer programmes build science motivation in undergraduate STEM students, but few studies have focused on how such…

Allowing high school students to fulfill a math or science high school graduation requirement via a computer science credit may encourage more student to pursue computer science coursework. This Education Trends report is an update to the original report released in April 2015 and explores state policies that allow or require districts to apply…